a prossimo volta

Another visit to Sicily is coming to an end. Bittersweet, as we’ll miss the weddings of dear friends, Pietro and Chiara and cousin Dario to his sweet fiancé. But… we’ll be heading back to a new home in sunny (!) Florida, saying farewell to lovely family and friends in Ohio AND picking up my Mom…

The Necessary Work

Not all aspects of life in Sicily are easy. In the USA, a lot of people have a certain notion of being well-off. Here, a small plot of land (or 6) in the “country” carries a lot of significance. It used to be that families would work the land to sustain themselves and possibly others…

Everyday Focaccia

I know, I know… I’m evil. I am a bread-eating, carb-loving gal who doesn’t believe that all gluten is bad. For thousands of years, all of our ancestors have been making and eating some type of bread, whether flatbread, crispy, cracker-like breads, crunchy-crusted loaves, water, and ground up grains have shaped how we eat. Read…

Shokupan with Tangzhong

The magic of light, delicious homemade sandwich bread is the Tangzhong method; a type of roux made with either milk and flour (milk bread) or water and flour for a simple sandwich loaf called Shokupan in Japanese. If you’ve not yet tried it, read further and give it a try… don’t get discouraged by the…

Going to the Farm

I have had the good fortune of getting to spend the last 10 days with our daughter at Foghino Farm. We’ve been preparing for winter, cleaning out the old, and breathing new life into this century-old farm. There’s something to be said about days of hard work, meals with fresh, farm-raised foods, quiet nights by…

Cinnamon Roll Biscuits 

Yes, biscuits! If you’re looking for a good, flakey, layered with butter, cinnamon and raisins biscuit lightly kissed with creamy, silk-like glaze – look no further!  Crazy menopausal cravings are worse than the pregnancy ones for me- sweet one minute salty, the next… moist (sorry Tyler) one bite, then crunchy the next… wonderful woes of…

Country living

Lazy days, filled with busy work- doing some old-fashioned, homey food stuff!  Bread baking with the slight vinegary scent of pickling… ahhh, simple life🌻

green is the new orange…

Hey, if a tv show can do it (Orange is the New Black – a Netflix Original series), so can I!  This, however, is not another episode of Piper Kerman’s memoir-turned-tv-show, but a tribute to an island. Okinawa, that is. I visited the local fruit market yesterday, and walked away with way too much for…

Pizza in Japan!

It’s been awhile since I have posted. I am motivated now, and have some exciting things for you!  We’ll be firing up the pizza oven today – can you believe we can’t find firewood in Okinawa? Not that anyone wants to build a fire when it’s 117 with the heat index – but, come on!…

Polpette & Busiate

There are hundreds of cuisines in Italy, not to mention the regional specialties. Then of course you have family secrets ~ the one thing you won’t find, spaghetti and meatballs. Oh, you can have a rich red wine-laced tomato sauce to dip the polpetti, or find miniature versions, almost like the Italian version of […]…

no-knead bread

I have easily made over 500 loaves of bread, and this one has magical powers! Truly! As soon as my son cut into the just cooled loaf, I knew it was going to be amazing; but one look at those marvelous holes*, I was transported! Back to Italy, when long, lazy lunches on the terrazzo…