Sergio’s Homemade Tagliatelle (See photos under Portfolio) On Palm Sunday our friends Sergio & Laura invited us over for his famous homemade tagliatelle. Serafino, Larry and I arrived at their door about 11:00 AM to be greeted by Sergio returning from a half-marathon run. The man is nothing if not driven. The house was filled with the aroma of a long-simmering sauce of tomatoes, two meats and sausages that Laura had started hours earlier (and has promised to share her recipe). We would be a party of eight as their daughter, Alice, was home and Sassi and Gianni would join us. Sasy brought what I would call a pineapple-upsidedown cake just like my mother and grandmother use to make (a definte warm-fuzzy feeling came over me). Gianni, a man of the earth, brought a variety of funghi (mushrooms) that he personally foraged from the woods and then had been gently sauted until tender. I totally flaked on the homemade front and brought a chunk of parmesan cheese (half of the kilo Gianni had brought to our American Breakfast), a cold bottle of proseco and a Columba di Pasqua cake (Easter Dove) from Caffe Guido. This is a traditional cake made in a pan shaped like a dove. Ours was studded with chocolate chips and had a non-traditional chocolate frosting – although there are many different recipes. Laura opened up a pasta table that I am sure has seen generations of pasta making. I had a front-row seat as Sergio dumped 1 Kilo (1 bag) of “0” grind farina on the table, made a well in the center, and cracked 8 fresh eggs into the well. He then added a pinch of salt and a couple teaspoons of olive oil.  Just like on the television shows, with his hands he began to incorporate flour from the inner wall of the well with the eggs and (this is important) did not break through the outer wall of flour until enough was mixed with the eggs to keep them from bolting.   Once he had incorporated “enough” of the flour to make a dough, he brushed the excess aside and began kneading the dough, and kneading, and kneading, and kneading, adding flour as...

An American Breakfast (See photos under Portfolio) One Saturday evening a group of us were having aperitivo when someone mentioned breakfast which lead to eggs, which then lead to someone asking me if Americans ate eggs every morning for breakfast? (As mentioned before, Italians usually only have caffe and toast or a pastry for breakfast.) Someone mentioned we should get together for breakfast sometime, and that was my que. So on 30 March we invited about 12 friends for An American Breakfast at our house. By party day we ended up with 8 friends: Cinzia, Gina, Lucia, Mariella, Laura, Alice, Serafino and Gianni. My party-giving style has now relaxed to look more like it did at home in San Diego, thanks to Laura who said she wanted to help make the recipes. Everyone was assigned an ingredient to bring and those interested helped in the kitchen. I pre-cooked the bacon, sausage and home fried potatoes and made a fruit salad. Cinzia brought 24 just-collected eggs and others brought tomatoes, cheese, juice and prosecco. Our new friend, Jo, made Rice Krispy Treats for dessert – how American is that – but at the last minute was unable to attend to enjoy them. Only Jo, when not able to find marshmallows, would make her own and then melt them into the recipe. They were awesome. Lucia brought some beautiful pastries.  Together we made lemon-ricotta pancakes with fresh strawberries and scrambled eggs with herbs and parmesan cheese. Knowing this would take a while I had made up plates to tide folks over of green apples and celery with peanut butter (common in the U.S. but rare here) and Ina’s herb dip with veggies and toasts and put them on on the two tables. Even though I pointed out the snacks when everyone arrived, no one touched them until we sat down to eat because that’s the way they do it here. Duh, I forgot. Unfortunately Sasy was out of town but her husband, Gianni, was tasked to map out a walk around town for us post-breakfast. People here never cease to fascinate me. Gianni took us on a tour of the many entrance doors in Ascoli with ancient Latin sayings etched in the...

It’s time to talk about some Italian food! Carnevale: You probably remember the photo I posted on Facebook and the blog of the sweet fried raviolis and other treats of Carnevale.  In addition to bringing us a beautiful selection of these treats, our lovely neighbor Antonella brought us two kinds of homemade raviolis.  One plate was stuffed with ricotta and spinach in a yummy sauce of pork.  Then later she had her son, David, deliver a beautiful dish of ravioli’s stuffed with meat in an incredible tomato sauce.  I could just kick myself for not taking a photo of those beautiful dishes!!!  Ravioli is my favorite pasta and I think I blacked out when I saw them and when I awoke they were all gone.  Seriously, they were the best raviolis I have ever eaten in my ravioli-filled life! The multi-course meals we had at the two party locations (Cantina del Arte and Caffe Bistro) were very good but not blog-worthy as they were cooking for a crowd.  But so reasonably priced at 20 Euro per person including the wine! Jo’s Dinner: Our dear angel Grace left for three months in Australia a couple weeks ago and we already miss her a lot.  Our new friend Jo (born in Pittsburg) had a small bon-voyage dinner for her.  As always, we were excited to visit another Italian home and Jo has a reputation as a great cook.   Jo and her husband, Maurizio, have a gorgeous home (condo in US terms) in the Villa Pigna area not far outside of town.  It is full of her handmade lace and other needlework creations as well as those made by her mother.  Grace picked us up and we were joined by Lucia, Serafino and Gina at Jo’s beautifully set table.  There was prosecco and a smooth red wine chosen by Maurizio.  Antipasto consisted of Jo’s homemade water crackers, fig and brandy jam and fresh pecorino cheese, homemade hummus, veggies and olives.  I brought Grace’s favorite, Ina’s crostini with tuna tapenade. Primo was a very unique pasta that I had never seen before called Pizzichero della Valtellina.  It is a buckwheat pasta with cabbage and potatoes that was incredible.  Jo even sent me home...

See photos in Portfolio Arlene’s Birthday: Not noted for his party organizing skills, my wonderful husband planned a very successful small get-together at a local restaurant for my birthday.  For a sure winner he chose Il Desco, rated #1 on Trip Advisor of restaurants in Ascoli.  He invited Cinzia M., Grace & Maurizio, Laura & Sergio, Serafino and Mariella to join us for aperitivo at 7:30 PM (but folks did not show until almost 8 because they never eat before then-will we ever “get it”?). He requested they bring no gifts but most arrived with very thoughtful gifts anyway.  Il Desco is a lovely restaurant to begin with and they set a beautiful table for the occasion.  For what was an unbelievably small cost (15 Euro per person – they had to regret they didn’t charge more) they served us wines and a large selection of tasty spuntino (snacks).  This is often done and considered “dinner.”  I had written detailed descriptions of all the wonderful spuntino in Notes in my IPhone, but since then had to get a new phone and the list is now gone.  I do remember one with roasted pear and pecorino cheese and another of grilled zucchini wrapped around herbed ricotta.  Trust me, the spuntino were creative, beautiful and awesome.  They even served a dolce, mine with a candle in it.  We had a lovely and memorable evening – great job, Larry!   Australia Day Always on the lookout for a reason to celebrate, Grace (our Aussie/Italian friend), invited us over for dinner to celebrate Australia Day on 26 January.  Just as we were about to go out the door at 7:30 to walk to Grace’s (about a 25 minute walk) dear Serafino called to say he’d pick us up.   At the table we were joined by, of course, Marizio, Antonella (Grace’s cousin), Cinzia M., Serafino, Mariella, Lucia, Gina and Jo.  Jo is someone that both Grace and Cinzia had mentioned many times that they wanted us to meet.  She is originally from Pittsburg but moved to Italy when she was just 18 years old.  Her English, however, is so good and so unaffected by the distance that she sounds like she moved here last...

Food – Christmas Holidays Cookies & Truffles: As is my MO, as long as I was making Peanut Butter Cookies, I made a lot.  I had to make the plain ones where you press the fork onto the top because I could not find Hershey’s Kisses to make Peanut Butter Kisses.  What I did not take to Sergio & Laura’s dinner or Cinzia V.’s pizza party, I plated and wrapped up as small gifts for Larry’s barber, my hairdresser, the guys in the grocery store, the ladies in the pharmacy, etc.  This was much easier than the multi-stage mega cookie and tea-bread marathon I did in the US, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Of course, I have a lot fewer people to gift here.  For the angels and neighbors I made Ina’s chocolate truffles with a hint of Cointreau.  All sweets were greatly appreciated and totally unexpected which, as a wise relative recently said, makes it even better.   Olive di Magro (without meat): Whether making them with meat or fish,the trick is to cut the olive away from the pit so you can recompose it.  With a small paring knife, start at the stem and peel at an angle, like peeling an apple without breaking the strip of apple skin.  Per every 50 olives:  mix together 100 grams canned tuna in oil; 80 grams grated Parmesan cheese; 1 egg and fine bread crumbs, a spoon at a time, until you get the right texture (something that will hold together).  Then you make little balls out of the tuna mix (about the size of the pit you removed) and wrap an olive around each ball and squeeze slightly together.  If done correctly, they should hold together just fine.  Then you take 3 bowls and in one put fine flour, a couple eggs stirred in the second and breadcrumbs in the third.  Put the olives into each bowl in that order, and then put aside.  When finished with the olives, they are ready to freeze or fry and serve.  Click here for a video of how to make Olive all’Ascolana, also showing how to remove the olive pit.   Our New Year’s Eve Party: I didn’t want to worry about where...

Food:  Rome & Florence at Christmas The Perfect Bun: On the English web-site www.inromenow.com under the heading Restaurants is a subheading of American.  There is a large ExPat contingent in Rome so here you will find a list of  restaurants where you can get “hamburgers” and other American fare.  Other than the ones I’ve made at home, we had not had a good hamburger in a restaurant in six months, so we were game.  The closest one to the B&B was “The Perfect Bun” which looked like a typical American upscale bar and grill.  The nostalgic menu had 15 kinds of burgers – your classic  burgers plus bacon/blue cheese and chili – but they also had a Hell’s Burger, The Nightmare and The Big Badass Burger.  The menu included chicken wings, ribs, steaks, nachos, burritos and other Mexican fare with brownies for dessert!  We arrived without a reservation at 7:30 ish on a Saturday night and almost didn’t get in (I think the couple behind us were turned away), even though the place is pretty large with two levels.  We noticed that they had a Sunday buffet (all you can eat, which we can’t do justice to) with pancakes, waffles, bagels, omelets, fried eggs, bacon, sausage, country potatoes, American coffee (which Larry had, but I consider a huge step down from Italian caffe) bloody Mary’s and Mimosas – we made a reservation right then for noon the next day.  They also had a carving station with turkey, ham, roast beef, lamb, pastas, chicken and vegetable dishes, salad/fruit bar and great desserts – but we were there for the good ole American breakfast that does not exist in Ascoli.  Yummmmmmm!  Click here for website.  We ate once right on the piazza by The Pantheon and another time on the Campo di Fiori, admittedly for convenience, and both were mediocre tourist meals at a relatively high price.  Rick Steves warned us to just have a drink at these places and go somewhere else for dinner, but we were having too much fun people watching and were too lazy to relocate.  Our bad. Cremeria Monteforte:  Is a great gelateria in Rome that has fruit flavors that taste like biting into the fresh...

An American Thanksgiving in Italy – A little over a week ago I took a Google-translated note to the butcher ordering a 5.5 kg whole fresh turkey to be picked up last Thursday.  Since he speaks no English and I have never seen a whole turkey in Italy yet, I had my fingers crossed hoping to pick up something that resembled a whole fresh turkey.  I was also hoping it was actually in the ballpark of my request size-wise because my oven is pretty small.  Luckily, when Larry and I arrive to pick it up, the butcher proudly brought out what looked like a really large whole turkey surprisingly without it’s head.  He immediately whacked off one wing at the last joint and looked at me and said OK?  Well it wasn’t because I use those wing tips to steady the turkey in the pan, but it was too late now, so I smiled and nodded yes while indicating “no more”!  I don’t know where the giblets went, but I never saw them.  So we picked up some more supplies and took our prize home.  It weighed in at 6.5 kg which, fortunately, still fit in my little oven.  Upon inspection it looked like it put up a fight (a few bruises and torn skin) and there were still more than a few feathers which I spent about an hour plucking with tweezers.  One thing that really struck me is that it looked real.  I mean you could see how this guy could get up and run around.  Proportionally, the legs were long and large and the breasts were, well, normal size.  I always brine my turkey (if not Kosher) but I didn’t have a vessel nor a refrigerator large enough to do that.  I remembered seeing something a while back in Cooks Illustrated about dry-brining, so I check the internet and read up on it.  Actually, I was very pleased with the results and there were no large containers of nasty water involved.  I suggest you try it on your next roast chicken if you haven’t already. As with all American meals I try to prepare here in Italy, the real trick is finding the proper ingredients.  Ina’s apple...

Cinzia’s Polenta Dinner: I have observed that upon entering an Italian home, no matter what size the room, a major part of the square footage is dedicated to a large dining table.  When you arrive at a party, there is no roaming about the room with drink and food in hand making small talk.  People are introduced, you do the right-left Italian air-kiss, and proceed to the table.  (This type of greeting is supposed to be reserved for people who you know well, but my experience is that most folks will greet you that way either immediately or wait until they have known you a few hours.)  Appetizers are put on the dinner table, everyone chooses their seat, the first bottle of wine is opened and the party is in full swing.  This may be because all dinner parties begin at 8 or 8:30 PM, so you need to get right to it.  Once you have taken the time to enjoy the antipasto, the entree appears around 9:30-ish and you won’t finish with cafe and digestives until about 11 or 11:30. A week ago we were invited to Cinzia M.’s home for a “polenta party.”  When the day came, unfortunately, Larry was still struggling with his second bout of bronchitis and made the wise decision not to go.  It was another cold wet night.  We have come to love Cinzia so that I was excited to meet her family, more of her friends and see her home.  Mariella, a lovely woman who is often with us but speaks no English, and Grace picked me up.  When visiting an Italian home, my  experience is that no matter what size the room a major portion of the square footage is dedicated to a large dining table.  Everything was as I imagined.  Her home was warm and inviting with a large beautifully set table.  Her friends were welcoming, relaxed and gregarious.  Her mother is a lovely older Cinzia and, as is often the case, lives in the flat across the hall.  However, upon entering there is a nice stairway immediately to your left that apparently goes nowhere – a great conversation starter! As Cinzia and Grace were the only English speakers at...

SENSI Ristorante, Wine & Cocktail Bar (click here to go to website) UPDATE 2:  We met Cinzia, Grace, Sergio & Laura at SENSI on Saturday night for a very late aperitivo – 8:30 – in their wine bar.  The wine and conversation was wonderful but the snacks they had out, although interesting and plentiful, had been there for a while and were a bit dried out and cold.  As I said, it was a very late aperitivo and we stayed until they closed. UPDATE 1:  Thursday night we went back to SENSI for dinner.   Our new housekeeper had just spent an hour cleaning our stove with a toothpick and we really didn’t want to mess it up so soon.  Again, there were not many people in the dining room but the welcome was warm and food very good.  Since I didn’t have any paper with me, I put the Italian names for our dishes in my iPhone, however, when I look at them now it appears that my auto-correct played mayhem with my notes.  So I shall tell you what we had just in English.  Larry started with small gnocci in a four-cheese sauce with nuts followed by medallions of pork served with mushrooms and crispy bacon which were both wonderful.  I had Oso Bucco (veal shanks) with spinach, which was very tasty.  We thought we were finished but the Chef offered us free dolce – which we did not turn down.  We were served individual chestnut cakes with a sauce of vino cotto – yum. This summer, when we would walk to and from the train station, just behind the baptistry we would pass the sign for this restaurant.  But when you looked inside renovations were in process.  I have to admit I had forgotten about it until the other day when Larry brought home a card and asked when we were going to give it a try.  Coincidently, a day later when I stopped by Cinzia M.’s office there was a letter on Sensi letterhead on her desk.  I asked if she knew much about the restaurant.  She explained that they were serving all the highest quality organic foods, beautiful dishes, and the owners were quite...