Baked Baby Eggplant via Japan

Baked Baby Eggplant via Japan

Don’t miss the next recipe video: Subscribe now to my YouTube channel. Baked Italian baby eggplant is a favorite blog text recipe post so we decided to show you how to make it. Let me know if there are other recipe posts or other Italian dishes you want me 

Black Kale Steam/Sauteed with Garlic & Chili

Black Kale Steam/Sauteed with Garlic & Chili

Don’t miss the next recipe video: Subscribe now to my YouTube channel. I love leafy vegetables cooked using this easy steam/saute method. You can have delicious and healthy vegetables on your table in about 15 minutes. Heat up olive oil, garlic and chili flakes in a 

New Year’s Hearty Bean, Ham & Cabbage Soup Recipe

New Year’s Hearty Bean, Ham & Cabbage Soup Recipe

I’m just back from Christmas in the redwood forests overlooking the Pacific on the northern Sonoma coast a few hours north of San Francisco. Our Christmas dinner on top of the ridge included roast turkey and baked ham. When I got ready to head back 

North Beach Shopping Spree Ends with Shadow Ravioli

North Beach Shopping Spree Ends with Shadow Ravioli

“Make homemade ricotta ravioli for Saturday’s dinner,” my Seattle friend told me before she boarded her plane. And so started a day of shopping and eating in North Beach with friends. Those are my shadows on the dining room wall. I’m holding a tray of ricotta 

Roasted Beet Salad Recipe

Roasted Beet Salad Recipe

The Virginia branch of the family gathered at my nephew’s beautiful new house on Smith Mountain Lake in the Blue Ridge Mountains. No one but my sister and brother-in-law knew I was joining 3 generations for this Thanksgiving gathering. As each wave of the family arrived 

Start Thanksgiving Dinner with Crab & Vegetables in a Hot Bath

Start Thanksgiving Dinner with Crab & Vegetables in a Hot Bath

The dungeness crab season started a couple of weeks ago and the harvest is superb. So here’s a simple delicious start for your Thanksgiving dinner, steamed crab and vegetables with bagna cauda, a flavorful anchovy-garlic hot dipping sauce. This is a super easy dish. Buy 

Mighty Minestrone–A Hearty Vegetable Soup Recipe

Mighty Minestrone–A Hearty Vegetable Soup Recipe

There’s been a chill in the air so I decided to make my first soup of the fall season. Minestrone was at the top of my list. It’s easy to make, delicious and good for you. The most difficult part of this recipe is chopping 

Artichoke, Leek & Potato Soup

Artichoke, Leek & Potato Soup

The large artichokes at the farmers market were beautiful. I grabbed 3, heavy and still tightly closed. Should I stuff them, bake them, steam them? Nope. I wanted something quicker to prepare so I decided to make artichoke soup instead. The hardest part of this 

Eggplant “Meatballs”

Eggplant “Meatballs”

An old woman in a soiled white apron stood at the top of the stairs leading to a basement trattoria a cigarette dangling out of her mouth. We were wandering around the backstreets in Naples behind the big fancy hotels facing the marina and Castel 

Broccoli Rabe and Italian Sausage

Broccoli Rabe and Italian Sausage

Here’s one of my favorite dishes that’s easy and quick to make for a weeknight dinner. You’ll be eating in a half hour or so. Roast the sausage in a hot 425 degree oven until they’re golden brown. While the sausage is roasting steam/saute the broccoli 

Raw & Cooked Salad

Raw & Cooked Salad

Summer just arrived and I’m starting to get in the mood for the bounty slowly hitting the market. This simple yet complex salad is my bridge to the new season. Insalata cruda e cotta is an interesting mix of fresh and cooked vegetables and will be 

Escarole 2 Ways

Escarole 2 Ways

The escarole in the market today was gorgeous, light green heads with fresh, tender leaves. I get 2 uses from a head of escarole. Save the yellow-green inner leaves for a simple salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon or red wine vinegar and 

Veal and Spring Peas from Naples

Veal and Spring Peas from Naples

We trained to Naples from Rome and settled in to our apartment in the Spanish Quarter high above Via Chiaia and Via Toledo, Naples major shopping streets. We have a half floor of an old palazzo and our landlady Filomene lives right next door. She 

Roman Kitchen Inspiration

Roman Kitchen Inspiration

I met up with Alessandro, my produce vendor friend in the Campo di Fiori farmers market as the sun began to break through the early morning clouds. I was especially interested in what he harvested from his garden and from the wild. He had these 

A Working Roman Holiday

A Working Roman Holiday

Campo di Fiori, the farmer’s market in the historical center of Rome was ablaze in the morning sunshine. The stalls were overflowing with spring bounty. Peas, artichokes, fava beans, chicory and other leafy treats, even early tomatoes, were everywhere. I was scouting the market as