Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Il Cenone di Capodanno Posted by Serena on Dec 30, 2013
For most Italians New Year wouldn’t be the same without il cotechino con le lenticchie (cotechino with lentils). According to popular folklore, eating this dish for either il Cenone di Capodanno (The Big New Year’s Eve Dinner) or on the First of January will bring good luck to the rest of the year. Il cotechino…
Il Bargnolino di Ines Posted by Serena on Nov 29, 2013
As I promised in my last post, today I’m going to reveal to you Ines’ secret recipe for il Bargnolino. Bargnolino is our local name (Valdantena near Pontremoli) for Prugnolino, a liqueur made with le bacche di prugnolo = blackthorn berries or sloes. The Latin name for prugnolo (the accent is on the first ‘o’…
Not Just Another Old Italian Church Posted by Geoff on Nov 7, 2013
A few days ago I had to drive Serena’s mother down to the Civico Ospedale di Carrara to have an eye test carried out. We got to the appointment on time but, as usual, there was to be a long delay, so Serena suggested I went off to explore the town whilst she sat in…
November Sunlight Posted by Serena on Nov 5, 2013
After days and days of torrential rain, this morning we finally woke up to a beautiful sunny sky! So, to make the most of it, we decided to go out for a walk. The autumn trees stood out against the clear blue sky, and the mountain streams roared, loaded with rain water. As we were…
Memories of the Tomato Song Posted by Geoff on Oct 17, 2013
In today’s blog, our guest blogger Ambra Sancin shares her memories of a famous song. It was while writing atribute post to the late US-based cookbook author Marcella Hazan that I had an extended tomato moment. Flicking through her many tomato sauce recipes, I remembered how a dish called ‘Pappa al Pomodoro’ came into my…
My Tomato Sauces Posted by Serena on Oct 15, 2013
A few days ago I wrote a post about my busy summer spent making all sorts of conserves (preserves) with the products from our orto (vegetable garden). Today I’m going to share with you a couple of my favourite recipes for preserving tomatoes: Passata di Pomodoro (sieved tomatoes), and Sugo Bella Napoli (Beautiful Napoli Sauce)…
A Busy Summer Posted by Serena on Oct 4, 2013
This summer I have been very busy making all sorts of conserve (preserves) with produce both from our orto (vegetable garden) and kind donations from my friends, who rather enjoy the end products. Let’s see what’s in mia dispensa (my pantry): I started the production line in May with la marmellata di fragole (strawberry jam)…