Food

Pasta Carbonara: No Peas Please

In case you missed it, I’ve decided to cook my way through the past ten years, re-experiencing and re-imagining my travels while learning to cook some really great food. And I’m starting the whole project off with a cheat. I might as well be honest about it. I chose pasta carbonara as my first dish […]

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What’s a Tagliere?

If you go out to dinner with Mike and I in Bologna, there’s a pretty good chance we will insist on splitting a tagliere misto as an appetizer. Tagliere literally means cutting board. A tagliere misto is simply a board filled with regional meats and/or cheeses. We’d probably call it a charcuterie board in the

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What I’m Cooking in Italy

I’m a self taught home chef- over the years I’ve grown from someone who struggled to heat up frozen garlic bread to someone who genuinely enjoys creating meals for her family. The hour I spend making dinner each day is my wind-down time. I have a glass of wine, listen to a podcast, and relax

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The Art of Tortellini

You may know Bologna as the birthplace of bolognese sauce (we just call it ragu here), or mortadella, the ancestor or that rubbery lunch meat bologna. But maybe more importantly, Bologna is the home of one of the greatest pastas ever invented: the delicate and delicious tortellini.

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Italian Hot Chocolate is Serious

It’s been uncharacteristically, unacceptably cold here in Italy lately. Icy winds from Siberia have plunged the continent into a late freezing winter. So it’s the perfect time to duck into a cafe for some hot chocolate. Italian hot chocolate and hot mulled wine, vin brulé, are two of the best parts of winter in Italy.

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