Tuna Sauce for Pasta 1 small onion, sliced very finely 2 cloves garlic, whole, in its skin 5 Fresh mint leaves Olive oil 1/3 cup capers Tomato concentrate, preferably the thick, dark red Sicilian version Water from the pasta pot, to thin the sauce 2 cups Tuna, very fresh and …
Even during a crisp November, the Alabama air was cool and humid. The skies were often grey and the ground, a wet looking brown. A sense of melancholy hung on the bare trees like something was missing. Sitting on Aunt Siddy’s porch 1980’s It took two hours to drive from …
The Chhatra Sagar luxury tent village, India: Tasting Royal Rajasthan “Another incredible place! They took Ann Coffaro and I on a guided bird walk. I saw one hundred and twenty new birds in India. My favorite was the Bee-eater. Talk about birding in style! A porter to carry the scope and …
At Cibreo Caffe, alcohol is served in varying degrees of strength throughout the day, but never without food, and rarely does a Florentine order more than one drink. There are morning aperitivi before lunch and evening aperitivi before dinner. The Italians are modest when it comes to drinking, as if there are unspoken …
Feeding large parties that also include a gang of hungry Italian musicians is challenging. With one small kitchen, a few large pots and a lot of volanta..(willingness), I cook pasta for the masses with as much ‘gusto‘ as possible. Gusto also means ‘taste’. Italians are tough critics, so one can’t …
Emily Markel Luebcke, Giulio Picchi, and Graham Markel. Ristorante Cibreo, Florence. June 8th, 2012 Emily and Graham were 12 and 9 when I started. Their sweet natures allowed me to travel back and forth all these years. Emily lived with the Picchi/Vitali family for a semester when she was 15 …
The peach tree was laden down with the softest, peachiest peaches you can imagine. Although a small tree, she took the burden of the bountiful crop. It was a Sunday, a good day for making pies. Miss Peach, took her wooden bowl and filled it up with the sweet, downy fruit. It was a better idea than reading. After all, she’s only six. And reading is far too serious for a summer day with school already just around the corner. Master Peach agreed.
Caroline and I are both Colorado country girls. She lives in the mountains at 8,000 ft with a magnificent view of the Continental Divide and I live in the countryside at 5280 ft next to a creek that spills into two ponds.She is a vegan Kundalini yogini and I am not. I eat everything that’s good, all over the world, and bend my left elbow more than any other body part. Yet, I am as interested in saving the world as she is and believe that all sentient beings deserve kindness including the most minute. It is said that even fleas and spiders experience fear and have a desire for happiness, just like the rest of us, so why not follow that creed when it comes to the small creatures that scare us?
Carlos peddles up with his son and several choice Mexican snacks. He has freshly steamed green chili tamales and these chilled mango ‘flowers’ which he cuts on the spot. He rubs them with lemon, dusts them with cayenne and a pinch of salt. It reminds me of the beach vendors in Mexico, right here on the streets of Longmont, Colorado.
The creek is high, rushing and coffee colored. Surrounding trees are full and green, happy with a full drink of water from yesterday’s rain. The Flatirons sit pretty in the distance looking down on the plains with barely a glow of early morning light coming from a vast, cloudy, yet blue Colorado sky. Birds and hidden animals take delight in the moist air and cool temperatures, and so do I.