Yes! Today is our FIRST birthday! Ok, our blog’s….Isn’t it amazing, Candi? An idea born during one of our get together, when I was recovering from chemotherapy, still going strong. I had a look yesterday. The first recipe you shared on line was the red pesto recipe (which is delicious, quick and I’ve made a lot ever since) on 19th February 2011. I’ve got to say I’ve really enjoyed doing this shared blog EVEN if it’s just me, you and the spammers (what on earth is the point of these people I REALLY do not know!) who access it (well…I know that there are a few faithful followers). It pushes me to experiment and try new things in the kitchen. One of my current catch phrases, after I have cooked something which looks particularly good, is :”I have got to blog this!”, much to my husband’s chagrin who is not allowed to touch it before I have taken a picture of it. Ha ha…Let’s face it: as well as being an achievement in itself, cooking is often a fun, enjoyable shared experience, is it not? Not to mention the de-stressing effect that messing about in the kitchen has! 
Looking back over the past 12 months here are, from the top of my head, some of the new “foodie” frontiers I have crossed on this blog journey: discovering beetroot and Jerusalem artichokes (never cooked with these two vegetables before. In fact I didn’t even know what a Jerusalem artichoke looked like. The ignoramus that I am!), having a go at making jam and chutney (and where have they been all my life? They are SOOOOO easy to make!), making home made gnocchi (much easier than I thought!) learning a few fish names in both languages. I have, of course, tried LOADS of new recipes , much to the delight of family and friends, particularly the female variety. Remember Candi: cooking is an act of love. NEVER feel bad or guilty about spending time experimenting in the kitchen! It is NEVER a waste of time. EVEN when things go wrong (see: misdemeanors). Wasn’t it the great George Bernard Shaw who once said of failure: “Try again, fail again, fail better”? Food for thought…. Have a great day Candi! And thank you for sharing all your good ideas with me….
Archive for the 'Chiacchiere/Chatting' Category
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Domani è il 3 febbraio, San Biagio, medico e vescovo, protettore della gola. Da noi nel milanese è tradizione mangiare il panettone avanzato da Natale. E se non lo hai avanzato tu, sta sicuro che i negozi sono ben felici di sbarazzarsi dei loro avanzi e si precipiteranno a vendere i panettoni a compra due/paghi uno. Noi a casa l’abbiamo avanzato e ora la famiglia mi ha ordinato la cremina che faccio sempre per Natale e Santo Stefano. E’ semplice e di solito è molto gettonata.
We have called this blog recipes and misdemeanors but so far we have only blogged many recipes and NO misdemeanors. So here I am to set the record straight, partly for people like Alessandra who commented on the last recipe feeling inadequate about her culinary skills. The truth is that you can only learn and improve by…well, cooking. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But NOBODY just produces culinary delights from the word “go” without making SOME mistakes. There have to be some trials and errors. Like with many other things. There is a proverb here that says: “Practice makes perfect”. How true! If it’s any consolation, Alessandra, when I got married I could just about fry an egg. To vary on the theme sometimes I would add some ham or cheese, or cheese AND ham to be outlandish. Both myself and my poor husband soon got fed up with the lack of variety so I had to learn…and fast. Ok, it helps the fact I LOVE eating, but let’s face it: food is one of the pleasures in life. Right? We mustn’t feel bad or guilty about liking…loving….food. Continue reading ‘Where are the misdemeanors??’
Aiuto! Le scappatelle costano! E un weekend un po’ allungato di vacanzina si è trasformato in una settimana affannata a seguire. Ma eccomi qui, di nuovo, dopo la mia passeggiata madrilena. Di corsa e quindi ecco una cosa veloce che si può preparare prima e che è doubleface: antipasto o secondo, all’occorrenza. Se si cerca sul web si trova moltissimo sulle proprietà del sedano rapa (o sedano di Verona, celeriac, celery root, turnip-rooted celery or knob celery…). A me piace moltissimo, è ricco di sali minerali e con pochissime calorie. Quindi lo si può usare come “massa” innocua per aumentare la quantità senza dolore molti piatti. Continue reading ‘Insalata di pollo e sedano rapa’
Sarà arrivato l’autunno? Lunghe colazioni domenicali al calduccio mentre fuori è un po’ grigio? Mah… Per ora qualche fogliolina appena giallina occhieggia tra la verzura che resiste. Solo l’edera spicca rossiccia. Ma noi facciamo finta che sia venuto il tempo delle nocciole e delle conserve autunnali, anche perché lassù in Inghilterra, almeno, il tempo farà il suo corso, suppongo.
Lungi da voler entrare in concorrenza con la spalmabile per antonomasia! La sua azienda è un pezzo di storia italiana e si è sempre caratterizzata per correttezza anche come immagine e come scelte pubblicitarie (a parte recenti scivoloni). Ma homemade è homemade e non ho potuto resistere a questa ricetta di Stefania, fortunata proprietaria di un nocciolo. Non è difficile, si può scegliere il cioccolato che più aggrada, insomma, va semplicemente fatta.
As we all love chocolate, I guess, I’ll try to give the recipe in English too, for our English friends. Be mercifull or Lucina just correct my language monsters.
E grazie a Stefania Merlo che ha fatto il lavoro, foto compresa!
And thank to Stefania Merlo who did the job, picture included!
Eh eh lo so che è troppo facile così, ma la ricetta da postare deve stare in frigo per 36 ore… a dopo dunque
The Italian people will of course know what gnocchi are but some of my English friends may not be 100% sure. Well… let me “educate” you: they are little potato and flour dumplings, which you boil in salted water and then dress with any sauce you like (as you would with pasta). You can buy them in many supermarkets in the UK BUT they are not a patch on the homemade variety. I find the ready-made ones rather hard and stodgy, to be honest. The home made ones, on the other hand, are ever so light and fluffy. I had only made potato gnocchi a couple of times before in the past , previous to this attempt that is, and that was AGES ago (and one had been a disaster!) so I decided the time had come to have another bash at it. …I was surprised how easy it was to make them and they really tasted great (or I wouldn’t be blogging them, would I?) so here I am sharing the recipe with you. There are many varieties out there: with potato and spinach, pumpkin, nettles (yes! Nettles!) but I decided on the plain,traditional ones. Who knows? I may branch out in the future and attempt different types. The recipe I used is pretty bog standard. The sauce I dressed them with is a bit rich, I admit, but you can use a simple tomato sauce if you prefer.
P.S. Happy birthday to Laura (Candi’s daughter). 18 today!!!!!
Al supermercato vendono delle buste, tipo quelle del salmone affumicato, con delle fette sottilissime di polpo. Sono abbastanza care, quando il polpo invece non lo è. Ecco il semplice modo di prepararsi questo piatto, perfetto per l’estate, da soli. Per venirne a capo ho girato un po’ per i blog, preso consigli di qua e di là, ma sono soprattutto debitrice alla brava Manuela di La via delle spezie, anche se ho usato il mio solito metodo di cottura del polpo che non prevede acqua.
Continue reading ‘Carpaccio di polpo’
Vi avevamo segnalato due belle riviste di cucina, About food e G2 kitchen, create dall’amicizia e collaborazione tra blogger. Ma non c’è due senza tre. Questa è l’ultima nata…
Questo è un numero speciale sul finger food. Mentre il numero estivo, uscito a giugno, è qui. Buona lettura!
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