Patron saints. Every Italian town has one and a local public holiday for celebrating their heavenly protector to boot. Turin, my adopted city of over ten years, is no exception. Here, San Giovanni Battista or…
What can I say except that part of me doesn’t want summer, or rather, the fruit and vegetables that characterise it, to end? Mother nature would seem to agree with me too. There’s still plenty…
It’s TT’s birthday. Or, at least it was earlier in the week when she turned 3. We’re holding her party at the weekend instead, so all the people we’ve invited can come into the verdant…
I’ve been invited over for Sunday lunch by my great aunt and uncle in a town along the Ionian coast between Messina and Taormina. Pranzo, as usual, is an abundant affair. A bevy of dishes is…
The almost eerie perfection of the Baroque reconstruction in Sicily’s Val di Noto. The twelfth century church three metres below street level in the same island’s port city of Messina. The ghost town of Romagnano…
Over the years, I’ve developed a passion for food. Few things make me happier than when I’m chopping vegetables, stirring a risotto or kneading dough in my kitchen. I’m always looking for new things to…
It’s that time of year again. There’s no breeze and all that cobblestone and concrete are conspiring to retain the heat, day in, day out. With no relief from the scorching temperatures, all I want…
I have a confession to make. Unless I’m baking or recipe-testing for this blog, I don’t always take out my kitchen scales to check how much an ingredient weighs. And I don’t think I am…
After moving house (twice!!) last year and having to sort through, amongst many other things, all of the books I’d accumulated over the years, I swore to myself that I would never buy another book….