At the Zani house, there isn’t a Christmas spent without pasta. It’s often hand-cranked, cut, or stuffed. And so while we get ready to prepare the Christmas Eve menu of cavatelli and buttery crabmeat-stuffed sole, I’m simultaneously scavenging for gifts. Except for his year, I was inspired to simplify with handmade fresh pasta. In this…
Sfogliatelle is one of the Italian pastry seniors. Hailing from Campania, Italy, specifically “a nun’s convent on the Amalfi coast”, the pastry is floral, just like your grandmother’s perfume, layered with decades of history, showing up in Italian pastry cases next to Italian giants, cannoli, pasticciotto, and bomboloni. There are two kinds: sfogliatelle riccia (crispy…
Over here we like a good cake moment, cue the Baskin Robbins commercial theme song my mom and I love to chant “ice cream and cake and cake!” My favorite cake of all time is a boxed yellow cake mix with canned chocolate frosting. For someone who grew up eating home cooked meals and deeply…
This week I’m thinking about crinkle cake. Crispy, crunchy delicious ricotta custard and apple dotted crinkle cake. I have a few sweets up my sleeve these days so expect some more incoming recipes. A little note to crinkle cake: Crinkle cake you are clever with your crispy little layers and tender custard soaked bottom. You’re…
Squash blossoms remind me of Grandma Zani. She used to stuff them like she stuffed her ravioli. I’ve only ever eaten them a handful of times, and it’s been a while, but I almost remember exactly the savory, breadcrumb-cheesy filling. Breadcrumbs are key. You would think I’d ask her why, but instead, we always assumed…
Margarine tried to steal the crumb cake show so I switched it out for Kerry Gold butter. Yes, I know this is bit luxurious but I really wanted to splurge. One of my trivial goals in life is to frequently stash European style butter in the fridge for occasions like this. European butter is known…
We are in peak tomato season, which is why we should all be eating our tomatoes and wearing them too— printed on clothes, drippy juice stains, sticky hands the whole thing. I’m honest when I say I’ve never known myself to be the housedress type, but I tried a few out thanks to Maddie Bing,…
Here me out. This is not exactly what I thought I’d be making this weekend but anything is possible, right? Spam is a synonymous pantry ingredient associated with U.K., USA, Korea, and Pacific Islands. Also, spamelot the goofiest monty python show to be. There’s just so much to say about spam. And I never thought…
I made a charred tomato sauce years ago when I first started cooking and styling photos for my blog. I wanted to revisit the grill with fresh perspective to make Grilled Tomato & Pepperoni Tagliatelle. Somehow it doesn’t seem fair that there aren’t enough grilled tomato recipes on the web! It’s kind of an awkward,…
See Tidbits make it 1.5 oz. Tanqueray Gin ½ oz. Aperol 2 fl oz Blood orange 4 fl oz tonic water ¾ oz Rhubarb simple syrup 1 stalk rhubarb ½ cup sugar ½ cup water Rhubarb sugar to coat rim 1 stalk rhubarb from syrup 1-2 T sugar gather the goods Measure equal parts sugar…