Keeping with the theme of “Summers Bounty” and trying to keep up with all of the zucchini’s pouring out of the garden this time of the year, I offer you this classic recipe for Zucchini Bread.
Zucchini Bread
Summer Guests
So far our summer has been a worldwind of activity, every week we have had new guests arriving even as we say good-bye to others that now depart as lifelong friends.
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Zucchini Fritters
It’s hard to believe but just one month after planting the garden, it is already spewing zucchini! How do they grow so fast?!? It must be all of those hours of daylight, the sun rises here at 5:30 and sets at 8:30 pm. Perfect for aiding and abetting zucchini! So what do I do with all of these zucchini? Of course I have made the sautéd zucchini and zucchini bread but I’m already looking for other ways to prepare it. I remembered these delicious little fritters from a cookbook a friend gave to me years ago so I gave them a whirl and they came out delicious. A nice change from the norm. You can also zest them up with a little curry powder and minced jalopino if you like it exotic!
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Lemon Meringue Pie
Lemon Meringue pie is an American Classic, we have made it in my family for years and everyone loves it. Recently, here in Italy we were having problems with our cell phone carrier, they kept charging us for extra fees and we had no idea why because the fees were explained in Italian and it didn’t translate well to English when we used Google translate, But our good friend Davide came to our rescue. With a brief phone call to our carrier he resolved our problem and even got some cash back! So for a reward he simply asked for a pie, a lemon meringue pie. Well, that’s easy enough!
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Spritz
The Favorite Aperitivo of Italy
Summertime in Italy is Spritz time! In the summer it is especially refreshing to enjoy the icy cool refreshing Spritz, but of course Italians enjoy them year round. In the winter they are relaxing after skiing “Apri Ski” in the “After Ski” Party with a tall orange-tinted Spritz. In every outdoor cafe around 5:00 you will see Italians enjoying a Spritz with little bowls of chips, peanuts and olives.
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Homemade Pizza in an outdoor wood fire pizza oven
Our new house in Italy came equipped with an outdoor pizza oven and a grill, but I have to admit I was a little intimidated by it! The idea is novel and romantic but how, pray tell, does someone actually use an outdoor pizza oven? I grew up with my mom making homemade pizza every week, I shouldn’t be so nervous, but Italians have this affect on me, they always make things seem complicated and make me second guess my cooking abilities. Could an outdoor pizza oven really be that complicated? Is Italian pizza dough really that different then my moms pizza in the electric oven? I was afraid to find out.
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Life Lessons from the Secret Garden
The weather has cooled down after our little heat wave last week, now it is at a very comfortable 80 degrees with a cool breeze. I am enjoying the gardens surrounding the house. I feel like I live in my very own version of the book “The Secret Garden”. Every chance I get I am drawn to put on my canvas gloves and grab my handy trowel and start digging. It’s like an invisible magnetic force that draws me in.
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Our New Town in Italy
We had our first guests at our new house this week, they arrived Sunday on the first really hot afternoon of the summer. Previously we had been happily sitting in the sun soaking up whatever sunshine was available. Then summer happened all in one day and our first guests arrived in the mid day heat. I could barely stand to open my front door, the heat was so intense as it beat down on us. We scrambled to find where to put the outside table so we could be in the shade, we found a nice spot behind the house in a little courtyard.
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Pumpkin Chickpea Lentil Curry
I love this Curry, its full of Indian spices like Gram Marsala, Tumeric, Ginger, garlic and chili. If you can’t find fresh pumpkin where you live you can omit it and it will still be delicious. The coconut milk adds a nice creamy consistency to the lentils and chickpeas. This is a vegetarian recipe that is hearty and filling and gluten and dairy free too! You can stock up your pantry with these dry ingredients and be ready to make this dish even if you are in desperate need of going to the grocery store. Best of all it’s ready in under 30 minutes, so get your rice started and you will be sitting at the table in front of a steaming bowl of curry in no time.
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Chocolate Chip Cookies
So we have passed our first week in our new house in the Itri hills in Italy. It was a week of hauling our things to the new house an hour and a half away. A hectic week of getting situated and figuring out how things work in the new place. But what better way to cozy up in a new house then to bake a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies?
