Weekend

 

I'm not one for new years resolutions, in fact to be honest- I hate them, but this year I'm getting back into the groove of things. I may not be able to travel the way that I used to, but there are so many wonderful things right here, so this weekend I decided to not forget pick up my camera and wander around my own backyard.

1. Pannikin Coffee & Tea, Encinitas. I think I go there more now than I ever did in High School but it's a little bit of Brooklyn mixed in with some So Cal sun. 2. Moonlight Beach for a little stroll 3. Meeting up with papa p for a lunch date at Cessy's for some real mexican food 4. Carintas taco! 5. Walk around the farmers market in Carlsbad 6&7 Afternoon stop at the Mission San Luis Rey {can you believe I live right next to it!} I haven't been there since our mandatory fourth grade field trip to the California Missions, but I also appreciate better now than when I was 9.

Re-exploring my own backyard is, for me, taking time to enjoy what I have here, in this moment {and being better about blogging about it!}

Holiday parties are great...and they're even better when you remember to take photos of everything you cooked. Needless to say, everyone left drunk on sauce, spritz's and affogato's and my counter part and I are already mapping out our next great dinner party, this time hiring a photographer instead of relying on each other for photos.  

For a complete run down, click over here! 

the chefs

nom nom nom

Getting back into the Italian swing of things, I've been starting to cook like I did back in Italy. Slowly but surely, the recipes are coming back to me, and I'm trying to make everything (food-wise) just like I had back in Italy.  This last weekend I made the traditional Bolognese ragu for the family.

While you're supposed to eat with tagliatelle, I cheated and just used pasta on hand (bad non-italian)

Buon appetito!

Ingredients:
150 g of onions (half an onion)
70 g of carrots (one full carrot)
50 g of celery  (one full stalk of celery)
50 g of lard (I used olive oil- enough to cover the bottom of the pot and it worked beautifully.)
600 g of beef (1-2 packages)
1 or 2 glasses of red wine (2 in the sauce and 3 for me! the more the merrier)
1 bottle of tomato puree or tomato paste
salt as needed
pepper as needed

Mince all the vegetables and add to the lard (or olive oil) into a single mix. Brown the vegetables on a medium heat until they change their color ( a light hazel color) The rule for an authentice "Bolognese" sauce is "it must be prepared to the way it smells." Yep, no timers here- just your nose. The next step is ready when the you smell the carrot, the celery and the onions in one perfume.

Add in the meat to the vegetables and brown on a high heat. Once the meat is browned add in salt and pepper (to taste) and 1-2 glasses of red wine and keep stirring. Blend until you can't smell the wine and meat separately but together (it works) at that point add in one bottle of tomato puree, stir and let simmer for 2 hours- stirring occasionally.

I made this on a Sunday morning for lunch with the family. The house smelled...well, unbelievable and having the family around the table, wine flowing and spending that quality time with everyone...life couldn't have gotten much better.

le mie cupcakes

If you like cupcakes and Italy, click over to our  we:plan site to check out my dear Bologna friend Paola and her amazing version of American cupcakes! After translating the post for the ladies, my mouth was watering  for their version more than anything you find pre-made in a box here!

buon appetito!

 {photo take by Ms. Paola!}

ringraziamento

I have so much to be thankful for this year, and while I'm not celebrating like last years thanksgiving, I have one better- getting to be with my family this year. 

{photo credit}

As someone once wrote:

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world. If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75 percent of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8 percent of the world's wealthy.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
— Psalm 107:1

** and if you happen to be traveling to Bologna this Thanksgiving, you can stop by ristorante Farina- my Bolognese insiders have informed me that they're making our Thanksgiving dinner celebration their new yearly tradition for local Bolognese. I guess I did leave my mark in Bologna after all. **

Il cibo italiano...finalmente!

Growing up I loved the book Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.  The concept of being able to feel emotions through food sounded so appealing to me. I never realized that the experience that I had in Italy was exactly that. Maybe it was learning a new food and a language with it, or maybe it was being able to cook for someone I loved but whenever I ate in Italy, it reminded me of that book, and feeling those emotions through the cooking.

Of course, life can't always be like that and I've definitely put cooking on the back burner since I've been home. So much so that I've completely stopped all together. It's been a process for me to open myself back up to Italian cusine, so many memories and experiences made those emotions... well...challenging to say the least. Needless to say, I've been slowly venturing back into the world of Italian cuisine. Creating new memories and sharing those experiences with the people that matter most to me, and everyone reading my blog!

One of the most memorable meals I had was out on the balcony of a dear cousin (not mine personally but family all the same). My sister, myself and our friend Whitney had just flown back to Bologna after spending a week in London and Paris. Guillermo and his girlfriend Fabiana cooked all of us dinner immediately after our return to Bologna. Fabiana made the most amazing salad that I'm sharing with you today. We spent the hot summer night out on their balcony overlooking the railroad tracks of Bologna Centrale, speaking Itanglish, drinking wine and giving Nicole and Whitney a truly authentic Italian experience. None of them had ever met before, but it seemed like all were long lost family regardless of any language barriers. These are some of the memories that I will forever treasure in my heart.

The salad is simple, and really that's what's so beautiful about it. All you need is: Arugala (Rucola); Sea Salt (sale del mare); Parmeggiano Cheese (no translation needed there) and Olive Oil (olio d'oliva) e basta!

buon appetito!!

Pesto Pizza

I've been on a hiatus since I moved back on all things Italian, mostly food, but now I'm getting the cooking bug back and this weekend we decided to make some Pesto Pizza. I have to admit, I never once saw this type of Pizza in Italy, but Napoli's got nothing on this goodness. 

What it takes- just one trip to Trader Joe's

*homemade or TJ's wheat dough

*layered Pesto

*honey goat cheese

*sliced tomatoes

Nicole and I have already started thinking of variations, more cooking- Italian and others- to come!

Whats your favorite type of pizza?