It's hot and I've had too much salt. My fingers and toes are like little sausages. My skin is tight. I don't think I...
No More Pickles!
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Meals Articles
Eating the South
In Italy, one can go 100 kilometers and find a very different food culture. There are dishes and combinations found in...
Dear People of Alberobello
Finding out about Alberobello, I itched to stay in a trullo for a couple of nights! Through an internet search, I...
Catanzaro Calabrese Waves
It's no joke that I'm in the "presidential suite" at the Palace Hotel, in the region of Calabria, the town of...
Straits of Messina
Haven't you always heard of "the straits of Messina"? Today I took a train from Taormina, about halfway down the east...
Skewered Veal Guts
Veal guts were caught in my teeth. Coming back from a day trip up the hill to Monreale, I got off the bus at Piazza...
Palermo is “Gritty”
Journal entry from my lunch table: "In piccolo Trattoria Tira Casciuni a Palermo. Stare qui in Sicilia, in Italia, e...
Market Lunch
How can there be any other way to eat? The Saturday market is now just one block away from my apartment and it goes on...
Maiden Octopus
Saturday. Past 10:00 in the evening and the house smells good of octopus cooking since 9:26. A few garlic cloves, a...
Bubblegum & Basketweave in Seattle
As a designer and photographer, one of the most stimulating aspects of being in Italy was its visual lushness. Every...
Figs in Prosciutto Jackets
The inspiration of living in Italy will likely continue on for a very long time. I recently split fresh figs and...
Farmers Market Lasagna
Seattle's chilly summertime is winding down with scattered sunshine following cloudy mornings. Warm evenings are rare,...
Crab at the Water’s Edge
"We're having a crab feed on the beach tomorrow night. Do you want to come?" There's only one answer for that...
Rhubarb Homecoming
Sunday Morning. August 1. (I arrived home yesterday in late afternoon.) Home in the summer chill of Seattle with a 60...
My Raw Meat Salad
I'm going to miss my Insalata di Bresaola, my salad of dried, cured (raw) beef. Boo hoo. They can't bring bresaola...
Carlotta Café – Milano
Octopus as tender as a dream, served warm and simply, with potatoes, olives and olive oil. Fish and pasta prepared and...
Fish Snob That I Am
I have caught and cooked a LOT of fish in my life and I cook it well enough that I'm a snob about eating fish at a...
Tasting Wine with Friends
The grape varieties and resulting wines here in Italy are numerous and quite different than in the U.S. What better...
The Perfect Summer Lunch
When it's beastly hot outside, what could be a more perfect lunch than sublimely-ripe melon with culatello...
Sardenara: Not-Quite-Pizza, with Anchovies
Last Friday, after my whirlwind morning in Genova, I continued on to Sanremo for what was likely my last visit with my...