I like a personal challenge, particularly when it involves food. So when my son invited a few friends to a sleep over, I resisted the immediate gratification I would receive from indulging them with a breakfast of pancakes, doused in syrup with a side of bacon. Imagine those happy faces. Instead, I decided to make oatmeal. And guess what? They all loved it! Yes, sure, bacon sells, but so do oats! Come and cook with us! Continue reading “An Ode to Oats”
My mom has always loved the ocean. Lucky for us, as it meant that we spent at least a few weeks a year enjoying time on the beach. We travelled all over the Mediterranean sea, primarily Italy, Greece and Turkey. Growing up in the mountains, this was a special treat. I still remember a dinner we had in Cefalú, a small fishing village along the northern coast of the island of Sicily. Sizzling on the grill were delicious lamb sausages that had a particularly interesting flavor that really spoke to me. It was tangy, aromatic and full of a complexity foreign to the Italian and Tyrolean cuisine I grew up with. I immediately fell in love with that unique taste but only much later realized that it was za’atar. To this day, sweet childhood memories return whenever I eat this spice mixture. Let me introduce you to the lovely flavor that is za’atar. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “From A to Za’atar!”
Sometimes things get lost in translations. Take what we call Omelett, for example. It is different from your pancake or “omelet” and goes by the French name of “crêpe” which if pronounced incorrectly, doesn’t sounds like anything you would want on a plate. Whatever you call it though, these light, soft and delicious flimsy delivery devices provide the starting point for one of my kids favorite dinners. This love for crepes dates back generations, as I fondly remember my Omi making paper-thin and aptly-named “OMEletten” for me. Family history puts me at a record 14! Not sure if that says more about my insatiable appetite, or my Omi’s love for cooking and feeding us all delicious food! Come and make some crepes with us! Continue reading “Crêpe, Omeletten, Omelet, Pancakes: It’s Confusing…”
There are foods that one either loves or hates, and I’m pretty sure that sardines fall into that category for many of us. I happen to love them – it must be my mediterranean upbringing – but I encourage everyone to give them a try as they are high in all the good stuff! This week, we’d like to entice you all to eat a few more sardines, probably one of the healthiest and most convenient foods on the planet! Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Simply Sardines”
One thing I really like about growing up in my small town in the Northern Alps, is that we have many traditions linked to events throughout the year. Passing down these traditions over time hasn’t been hard, as most families have lived in my area not just for generations, but centuries. In fact, my father’s family dates back to the valley to the early 1600 – we were called da Lacco back then. So yes, it looks like I have broken with traditions by moving away. That notwithstanding, I continue to cherish many of the habits that I have grown accustomed to living in my town. One of them is celebrating Fasching, meaning Carnival, which in our area starts with today, Fat Thursday and runs all the way to Fat Tuesday, better known as Mardi Gras here in the U.S. While there are many things we do every year during Fasching, there is one tradition that is quite unique to my valley, I believe, and it involves a pot of panicia, or barley soup. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Grab that Pot of Barley Soup”
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