What Do You Eat When You’re Alone!
I collect cookbooks and one of my favorite books is What We Eat When We Eat Alone, Stories and 100 Recipes by Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin. Deborah Madison is the author of many cookbooks; all are very good. Deborah is the former owner of Greens Restaurant in San Francisco and a Chef who, when […]
What’s Cooking at Il Fiorello
The garden is in full gear and we need to use some of the Bright Lights Chard and fresh sweet tomatoes: add goat cheese and life is good. IL Fiorello hosted Keith and Kathy, Kathy’s Mom, and Brandon for a visit and tour on Sunday. Keith and Kathy are friends of IL Fiorello and we […]
Buy Local to Avoid Economic Adulteration
JOIN US AT THE GREEN VALLEY FARMERS MARKET TODAY BUY LOCAL! BUY CERTIFIED! KNOW YOUR PRODUCER! KNOW WHAT YOU EAT! This Spring we attended a conference at the UC Davis Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, titled Fighting Economic Adulteration in the Market Place. The Secretary of California of Food and Commerce […]
Beyond Bread and Salad
More innovative uses of IL Fiorello Extra Virgin Olive Oil We all love dipping fresh bread in olive oil with a little vinegar. We all love olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a fresh salad dressing. But think beyond bread and salad and expand the uses of bread, olive oil and vinegars. Try toasting […]
The Owls of Il Fiorello
We have an owl! There are lots of owls in the valley but this one has chosen to grace us with her presence. Earlier this year we had an eagle and then found remnants of an owl that became dinner. We did not think that we would have owlets this year. BUT! On Saturday June […]
Italy and Scotland Part 3
PART THREE SCOTLAND MONDAY MAY 20, 2013 Again we woke up early to the sounds of the geese, dogs and doves of the castle and surrounding area. We had another lovely breakfast in the morning room, and delicious cappuccino courtesy of Pierro. With many fond goodbyes and thank yous to the family, we were […]
Italy and Scotland Part 2.5
PART TWO AND A HALF THE ANIMALS OF THE SERRA LUNGA There was a very special day in the Serra Lunga de Alba. A day of celebration of agriculture, and it poured rain. Elisabeth, Mark and I went to Cerasco for a lovely lunch and Barolo wine and walked to the Castle. We had been […]
Italy and Scotland Part 2
PART TWO THE CITY OF BRA WHERE SLOW FOOD WAS BORN, CHEESE, WINE AND GRADUATION. Tuesday May 14, 2013 We set the GPS to Bra and headed to meet Elisabeth and begin the celebration of her graduation from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. We can still see the mountains and the snow but we […]
Italy and Scotland Part 1
PART ONE MILAN, GENOVA, IMPERIA, ITALIAN MARITIME ALPS, CUNEO Wednesday May 9 San Francisco to Milan was an easy flight. As was our transfer from Paris to Milan. Traveling is so much easier when you make connections and planes are on time. We then hopped on the bus from Malspensa airport to downtown Milan. […]
Pruning
After the very long hours of harvest and milling, we pruned our trees – all 1,400! Fortunately we have a crew to help that is knowledgeable and works very hard. Mark and I just follow behind and pick up the trimmings. We plop them into the trailer and then to the compost pile. The truck […]