Frittelle for Carnevale

After the month-long festivities to celebrate Santa Lucia, then Christmas, New Year's Eve and finally la Befana (don't know who La Befana is? click here and read my last blog post) you would probably expect me to say that things were starting to quieten down and for this frigid winter to be tightening its icy grip. …

A Perfect Autumnal Plum Pie

Mother Nature has changed direction. After the balmy summer nights of July and August, September has arrived. The crisp, damp mornings. Even though now it is accompanied by the sound of tractors heading off to the vineyards and the smell of wine fermenting in the town's cooperative, it still vividly reminds me of pulling up …

Summer’s Here With A Strawberry Genoise Cake

I find the concept of food blogging quite awkward. A casual food blogger is not a professional chef, nor is he or she a recipe-writer. (Unless you have the patience to test each recipe until it has reached perfection, e.g. David Lebovitz.) I personally don't have that kind of dutiful patience. For example, as much as …

Taking a Tart for Labour Day

"Hey Emma, you remember we're leaving at 10am...." whispers the boy, "... well, it's almost 9am and you still have that cake to do!" The done thing in Italy on the 1st May (Labour Day) is to organise a day-out in the countryside. It doesn't matter if you're already living in rural countryside, surrounded by vineyards.... …