Category Archives: Food & Wine
Risotto con Squacquerone e Pancetta
Tonight I had some odds and ends in the fridge that needed using up. If you’ve ever had squacquerone, you might wonder how I had squacquerone that needs using up! But it is what it is. I had squacquerone, pancetta, a shallot and Carnaroli rice and chicken broth hanging around, so this is what we got!
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Tradition meets Instant Pot – Ragù alla Bolognese
Living in Emilia–Romagna, I sure love a good Ragù! I don’t love waiting all day for it though! And while not all modern conveniences work well with traditional recipes, thankfully the modern versions of the pressure cooker, and the Instant Pot specifically, are often a wonderful choice for a faster meal that still brings the flavor, texture and consistency of the original day-long process. Ragù alla Bolognese seemed like a perfect candidate for an Instant Pot time slash, so I took it on!
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Pollo del Contadino
One of our favorite parts of the Fiera del Fungo (Mushroom Festival, or as my husband affectionately calls it the “Fungus Festival”) is the “Cooking Show Pavilion”. Here there are multiple cooking demonstrations and tastings throughout the days of the … Continue reading →
Festa Testarolo Pride in Pontremoli
Pesto is one of those sauces that brings back vivid memories for me. The first time I had pesto was on my first trip to Italy in 1978. As a foreign exchange student in Switzerland (German part), I ended up almost by accident in Vernazza near the end of my year, and the memories of pesto and focaccia stayed with me all my life. Many of my US friends had pesto for the very first time at my dining table (I do make a mean pesto if I say so myself). When I realized that I was to live in a location that is quite literally at the border of Emilia-Romagna (a foodie haven), Tuscany and Liguria, it was almost heaven.
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Pranzo di Ferragosto
Today is Ferragosto. Ferragosto is a national holiday in Italy and many cities empty out to go to the beach, or the mountains. In days gone by, foreign tourists were faced with many closed stores and ghosts towns/cities for much of the month of August. These days you will still be confronted with much quieter tourist locations, but many locales will cater specifically to those natives who opted to avoid the crowds . . .
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Lost in Translation . . . but the Party Continues
My husband is a Scots-Italian. Did you know that even was a thing? I didn’t until I met him 23 years ago. But interestingly, there is a LARGE community of Scots-Italians. My husband’s family was part of a substantial migration of Italians who left Italy for Britain in the early 1900s. Both sets of his grandparents headed to the “Big Island” of sorts to raise their children. The Italians who left Italy for Britain frequently became businessmen, and in Scotland, they gravitated towards Ice Cream and Fish and Chips. There was a time when it was stereotypically accurate to assume that the “chipper” was an Italian.
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American Brown Onion Sauce
Last week this display caught my eye at a local supermarket. An American Burger Sauce. Tucked in between a truffled porcini cream and balsamic vinegar. Two very typical items in Emilia-Romagna where we live. But this Old West American Burger … Continue reading →
Sagre delle Castagne 2017
We’re always told that BorgoTarese “just want to be happy and have fun”. That sounds like a reasonable aspiration to me! We arrived back home on Thursday, and Friday started the celebrations for La Sagre delle Castagne – the Chestnut Festival! I love parties, and I love chestnuts, so that was fine by me. The music was a bit loud Saturday night while we were trying to get over our jet lag, but being happy and having fun requires sacrifice 🙂
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The Terre Di Canossa International Classic Car Challenge
The Terre Di Canossa International Classic Car Challenge comes through our mountain town every year. Our town is in what we’ve come to dub “The Tri-State Region”. So, we are right in the middle of this fun ride!
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