Auguri tutti! Today is the 3rd annual World Nutella Day celebration, brought to you by my bella bloggin’ buddies, Sara at Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso. If you haven’t eaten Nutella, you should immediately report your parents as you were apparently neglected in your formative years … as for me. Well,...Read More
Christmas Eve, or La Vigilia, is one of the biggest feast days in Italy … but, wait. We’ve already talked about that, haven’t we? Known as “The Feast of the Seven Fishes” because southern Italians traditionally served seven different types of seafood, this custom has been passed throughout generations of Italian-Americans, written about and blogged...Read More
With less than two weeks to finish buying gifts, wrapping presents and decorating the tree it might be hard to find time to bake all of your traditional homemade goodies. Need some help? This easy to whip up, no-bake Texas Mud recipe was a staple at my busy mom’s table and now it is global....Read More
This breakfast cake is a favorite with Il Cedro guests and has become our signature morning breakfast cake. After answering repeated requests for the recipe, we decided to type up recipe cards and offer them to our guests. I published this recipe in my newsletter last month and am offering it up to you...Read More
Morzello is a traditional Catanzaresi dish that is served in many local restaurants throughout the area but the best, I’ve heard, is when it is homemade. According to legend, Morzello, or morzeddhu in dialect, was created when an impoverished mother, widowed and alone, was forced to accept odd jobs to support her hungry children....Read More
It’s that time again. The wind is cooling Calabria, our long summer days have turned into 4:45 PM sunsets and fresh tomato salads are being replaced with warm, filling soups. And for me that means dishing out my all-time favorite soup – Mexican Tortilla. Long before I moved to southern Italy and started honing my...Read More
My husband is convinced he is the Italianized version of Chef Gordon Ramsey and prides himself on identifying flavors and duplicating restaurant-style dishes. And he is pretty good. Sometimes he even yells in the kitchen … So today I present to you Peppe’s Triple P Pasta or rather, Pancetta and Porcini Pappardelle This Calabrese specialty...Read More
It’s no secret my Maw Maw is a top chef in my book and once again this month’s La Buona Cucina Americana recipe is inspired from her kitchen. This stove-top chicken and rice recipe was a staple in my southeast Texas home and we would often whip it up when the leaves started falling from...Read More
Remember that blazin’ hot sausage spread I told you about earlier this week? Well, injuries have healed and I’m ready for another go. Are you? This pasta dish is easily made in the amount of time it takes to boil your water. So charge ahead, my friends. And good luck. Ingredients: >> 15-20 cherry tomatoes...Read More
In the land of pizza and pasta who needs to add more starchy sugar to their diets? Uhm … we all do! Enter – the potato. 2008 is the International Year of the Potato – did you know that? I for one am all about celebrating. This is also the first week of the O Foods for...Read More
