January 8, 2023
An adventure in Normandy
The older I get, and with a birthday coming up on Monday that is top of mind, the more I realize that one of the...
CHOW
- Sort Blog:
- All
- Recipes
July 4, 2021
The Venice I love
When we first moved to Italy several years ago we lived in Venice for six weeks in August and ended up loving it more than ever. Several of...
December 5, 2020
In cheese we trust
Living in a country that is all about eating local sometimes we want to run wild and eat things that aren't produced within 50 miles...
July 27, 2020
Orto adventures
This summer we have become more deeply Italian by creating the thing that makes every house complete — an orto — or vegetable garden. Most houses...
May 10, 2020
Fava bean leaves. Who knew?
I recently talked about the WhatsApp cooking in quarantine group I'm part of and how inspirational it is. One member recently got a farm box...
April 18, 2020
WhatsApp, cooking, and happiness
Food and community are core to being Italian. About three weeks ago I had an inspiration to bring the two together in a quarantine-friendly way...
February 23, 2020
Things locals want you to know about eating in Tuscany
Here's a sneak peek of an article I am writing for SmarterTravel. The article will cover ten tips but I wanted to share an excerpt...
September 9, 2019
Aglione: my garlic is bigger than yours
It's the time of year when I start to see giant garlic in the stores and pici all'aglione (which means pici and "big garlic") on the...
June 29, 2019
Apricot Cherry Galette
Our young cherry tree just finished it's work (above) so we had to make one of our favorite summer recipes—an apricot and cherry galette. The...
May 21, 2019
Suddenly a kitchen in Beirut felt a lot like Italy
To add another layer of adventure to our trip to Beirut we cooked with a family in their home, found through a service called Traveling...
April 13, 2019
How I know it’s spring in Tuscany
One of the things I love most about creating Itch is that I'm constantly reminded to keep attentive to what unfolds around me every day....
March 17, 2019
Il Bindi: one table, many courses
In one of my favorite villages in Tuscany, Monte San Savino, a friend spotted a place to eat with just one large table, Il Bindi. I've tried...
March 9, 2019
Venetian spice cake recipe
Last week when I wrote "The Venice you may not, yet, know" I mentioned that one of my all-time favorite desserts, a spice cake, comes...
February 17, 2019
Three ways Italy is different from California
During a frenzied week back in California, where I lived for most of my life, I was stuck by hundreds of differences between the Bay...
February 2, 2019
Dangerous dinners: Vesuvio pasta
One of my favorite discoveries in the grocery store was Vesuvio pasta. It comes from the South of Italy and has loads of nooks and...
January 27, 2019
Spezzatura di maiale: nose to tail in action
After living in Tuscany for six years we were lucky enough to be invited to one of the most storied family events in Italy—the spezzatura...
January 11, 2019
A very fine vintage
In the nearby farm stand where they grow organic vegetables in fields outside the door, and will harvest to your request, they also serve lunch....
December 26, 2018
How Santina makes agnolotti
Our reason for wanting to talk with grandmothers about cooking is to delve into a slice of Italian life: the role that nonne play in...
December 25, 2018
Making pasta with a grandmother
We are starting to develop our series on grandmothers cooking. Curious about what special things grandmothers make for the holidays, we were led to Santina,...
December 8, 2018
Italy in London?
On a recent trip to London I visited an Italian restaurant, Bernardi's, which I'd read about in a Bloomberg review. A starter arrived with some focaccia...
November 30, 2018
Pasta! The Golden Tagliatella scandal
Have you ever looked down at your plate of tagliatelle bolognese and thought to yourself "The dimension of these noodles look slightly wrong?" No? Me...