I am in Ortigia, an island that is part of a Siracusa. Sicily is filled with amazing cathedrals, piazzas, people and food.  Finding a way to connect to the internet has been a challenge.

We start the day with fresh orange juice made with Sicilian oranges from the open-air market that is a twenty minute walk through the Plaza Duomo, down narrow lanes, past gelatarias, cafes and ruins from the 6th century BC.

The food is astounding. I have four more days to eat and gather images and look forward to being back in touch with lots to share.

Charles and I are on our  way to Italy for our son’s wedding. First we need to get to Boston.

We are looking forward to being with him and his bride, Alison. There will be about forty people at the wedding and we expect to have a wonderful time sitting in cafes, eating wonderful food, exploring Suracusa and having many adventures.

I  will post if I can. If I have no internet service, know that I will have lots to share when I get home. Meanwhile, you may want to look at my earlier posts for inspiration.

Play among yourselves, have fun, eat well and don’t get into trouble.

Carol

Last Saturday was a quiet, rainy day. Rain meant no farmers’ market for me.

It was a perfect day to work on the  unfinished painting waiting on the easel in my studio. When I saw our six tree orchard in the painting I wondered if our apples were ripe. From previous owners I knew the orchard had been a source of apples at least since the 1940’s when growing fruit and vegetables was a patriot effort. I walked to the orchard in the rain and came home with a basket filled with fragrant fresh apples from the old trees.

What could be more fitting, then, than to look for a recipe in the 1930 edition of the Chicago Daily News Cook Book that had belonged to my mother-in-law?

In the section titled Cakes and Cookies I found a recipe handwritten on grease stained piece of brown paper. Although, I had been planning to make an apple pie this very short recipe titled “Crumb Cake with Fruit” was intriguing. It read, “Use fingers to mix together one and a half cups flour, half a cup sugar, half a cup butter, and a pinch salt. Add spice. Save three-quarters cup of crumbs. Put rest into bottom of pan. Put sweetened fruit on top. Sprinkle rest of crumbs around. Bake until golden.”

Pretty simple. But how big a pan, how long should it bake and at what temperature? I would have to fill in the details. Here’s how I did it. 

… read more

In the last few weeks I have been spending lots of time with Julia Child and Judith Jones. It all began when I saw Julie & Julia. Wanting more, I read Julia Child’s memoire My Life in France.

Wanting still more, I read The Tenth Muse by Judith Jones. Spending time with these two inspiring women made me hungry for Madeleines. I made a batch of these buttery, golden shell shaped, sponge cakes for the first leg of our trip to Sicily. Here’s how I did it.   … read more

A wonder of modern technology!

I’m not sure how modern this tool is but  it peels, cores and slices an apples in seconds.  This tool is a must have for anyone who has an apple orchard or even one apple tree.

On Thursday, Charles and I are flying to Sicily for our son’s wedding. Matthew and Alison will be married in Siracusa. Sicily is known for its lemons and also for Limoncello – a lemon flavored liquor server over crushed ice.
I met a woman at the farmers’ market last week and she said the most difficult part of making Limoncello is the waiting. It takes at least two weeks between step one and step two. A perfect recipe for me since I will be far away from my kitchen for two weeks. Here’s the first step. … read more