Brrr. We have been hit by a tremendous cold front, which has brought tons of snow (or at least, tons by lake Lugano standards) and very c...

First things first, I'm sure you are all wondering..."what the heck is fregola?" Very simply put, it's a special kind of p...

Excitement is in the air. After spending two months into what can only be described as a slump —a psychological one, mind you— here I am rea...

First things first: my friend Barbara is NOT from Southern Italy. She's not from Italy, period. She's from Lugano, Switzerland, land...

There's been an almost imperceptible shift in the weather around here, one that made me at the same time a little happy and a little sad...

In the past few days I've seen lots of status updates from my American friends counting down the days till the three day weekend, lookin...

  Last night I went to the beach bar here by the lake to have a quick drink and —as it often happens at the Bar Lido— one quick drink turned...

When I was almost two years old, my parents and I went on a summer vacation to Isola del Giglio, a small island off the coast of Tuscany, cl...

So many recipes, so little time. Literally. Between cookbooks, cooking magazines and food blogs, mt list of must-try recipes is getting ridi...

Surprises. You either like them or you don't'. I don't. And that isn't because I'm sort of grump that doesn't enjoy ...

  So, this pasta has a funny Italian name. Fermo degli odori. The thing here is, the name is kind of funny not only because it's an Ital...

What did I tell you about being on a fish kick? I mean, I seriously can't stop eating the stuff. And that's crazy because I've n...

One of the things I missed the most during the nine years I lived in the U.S. is bright red, great tasting tomatoes. Which, come to think o...

When people think of Italy, they envision rolling hills basking in the sunshine and imagine that the weather around here is always mild and ...

I have told you many times how much of a pain in the ass I was a kid and how long my "I don't like/eat this" list was. What I...

Last night I had my going away, which was graciously hosted by my friends Jayne and Bruce. The original idea was for me to make vodka pasta...

I'm sure you've all had a bad day, here and there. Maybe even a bad week. Shit happens. No big deal, right? Right. Well, I guess I...

On the last night our good friends Erica and Jeff were in town from Michigan we were all worn out and tired from four days of too much drin...

  Lately I've been literally obsessed with cioppino, the Italian seafood stew and have been ordering at several local restaurants. The...

Ahhh, the New Year is here. I'll tell you what -2009 couldn't go away fast enough. I had such great expectations and hopes for it an...