briciole

seeded whole-wheat dinner rolls / panini integrali ai semi

what happens when you drop a poppy seedpod (on La FABBRICA del LINO placemat) In the many years I have been hosting Novel Food I have contributed and received contributions inspired by a wide range of literature, from thick novels to flash nonfiction, from intense memoir to moving poems. One category of books notably absent from the Novel Food library is so-called self-improvement books, which examine a life's problem and offer advice on a way forward (I prefer to avoid the word "solution" which is better applied to math problems). The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and... Read more →

apple tart / crostata di mele

a personal take on an Italian classic Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy, the current selection of our Cook the Books Club, is a well-known children's book in the US. It was an interesting read, giving me a glimpse into some of the literature people my age were exposed to during their childhood and a view into rural life and related activities in an age and place quite removed from mine. For Almanzo and his family the year was marked by the seasonal work they did, and that work is described in detail by Ingalls Wilder. There is also moral content, mostly... Read more →

savory zucchini and skyr tart / torta salata con zucchine e skyr

from zucchini and skyr to the finished tart Last month, I spent some time at Gullkistan1, residency for creative people in Laugarvatn, a town in southern Iceland (Islanda) on the shore of this lovely lake: Laugarvatn on a sunny day While there, I read a review2 (recensione) of the memoir The Stones Speak by Icelandic author Þórbergur Þórðarson (Thorbergur Thordarson)3 This is the first book in Þórbergur’s bulk of autobiographical writings dealing with his formative years growing up on a farm on the southern coast of Iceland at the brink of the twentieth century. Þórbergur’s love for his natural surroundings and... Read more →

onion and ricotta tart / torta salata con cipolle e ricotta

onion and ricotta tart in good company (tablecloth by La FABBRICA del LINO) In her memoir Unearthed: Love, Acceptance, and Other Lessons from an Abandoned Garden1 author Alexandra Risen2 tells two stories of discovery: one pertains the garden around the house into which she moves with her husband and young son and the other pertains her Ukrainian-born parents, who were displaced by WWII and finally migrated to Edmonton, Canada, in 1953. The book is a pleasure to read. Each chapter moves forward both the story of the garden's restoration / development and Risen's personal journey through her earlier life and her... Read more →

gluten-free seed crackers / cracker di semi (senza glutine)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] cheese, seed crackers and red walnuts1 (table runner by La FABBRICA del LINO) Please, have your cake or pie and eat my portion too. I am happy with the small plate in the photo. The cheeses are (from the left): Garroxta (goat milk, Catalonia), my homemade Gouda with pecans, Blu di Caravaggio (buffalo milk, Italy; my favorite blue cheese). And the crackers are a perfect accompaniment for all of them. sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, chia and hemp seeds (semi di sesamo, di zucca, di girasole, di chia e di canapa) The current selection... Read more →

gluten-free breaded baked cod bites / bocconcini di merluzzo impanati al forno (senza glutine)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] sitting down to a nice lunch (table runner by La FABBRICA del LINO) As a child I didn't like fish, particularly fried fish (pesce fritto). On the other hand, I liked other fried food my mother made: breaded meat (cotoletta) or chicken breast, battered cauliflower florets, potato croquettes (crocchette di patate) and of course supplì (rice croquette). Later in life I learned to like fish. In general, I don't deep-fry in my kitchen, but I like the crisp crust (crosticina) foods acquire when breaded and fried. Baking breaded foods approximates the result... Read more →

pear sourdough bread / pane al lievito naturale con le pere

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] homemade bread and cheese: a favorite couple (Italian linen from La FABBRICA del LINO) Point Reyes Sheriff's Calls by Susanna Solomon1 is a collection of short stories set in West Marin, one of the most beautiful areas of California. The title of the book comes from the Sheriff's Calls section of the local newspaper, the Point Reyes Light2. Each story starts with an entry from that section. For example, the story that inspired me, "Dressed Only in Jeans," starts with this: From the Sheriff's Calls Section in The Point Reyes Light, November... Read more →

carrot sourdough bread / pane al lievito naturale con le carote

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] homemade bread with homemade cheese: a winning combination Eilish Eam, an Irish child alone in the world, survives in London by playing a glass harmonica1 on the street. Erin Rushton, an American young woman plays the same instrument in concert halls. They are the protagonists of the novel The Glass Harmonica by Louise Marley.2 In 1761, the path of Eilish's life changes dramatically following her meeting with Benjamin Franklin, who lived in London for 16 years between 1757 and 1775. Erin's story is set in 2018. Eilish is deeply attached to a... Read more →

cuchaule: Swiss saffron bread / pane svizzero allo zafferano

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] golden bread in the golden hour The twelfth stop of our World Culinary ABC1 is Switzerland (Svizzera), a country I have visited a number of times. An area we particularly like is Engadin (Engadina). The photo below shows an example of the traditional decorations that grace the façades of buildings in the valley, called sgraffiti, from the Italian graffiare (to scratch)2. traditional decoration called sgraffiti To celebrate this stop, I made my version of cuchaule, a traditional bread from Canton Fribourg that includes saffron among the ingredients. As usual, I took the... Read more →

scone alle fragole / strawberry scones

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] not your typical strawberry scones In The Feast Nearby by Robin Mather, the current selection of our Cook the Books Club, the author tells the story of how she built a new life for herself in a lakeside cabin in Michigan after back-to-back divorce and lay-off. Following the seasons of one year, she describes her food sources, meal plans and preservation efforts, and provides some recipes. I already do a fair amount of food preservation in the form of freezing and fruit preserves. I also bake bread, make cheese, kefir and broth.... Read more →