Every Wednesday morning, I climb up a stone stairway. At the top, trucks line outside the walls of Castiglione del Lago snaking up into the centro storico along Via Vittorio Emanuele, the main drag. Everything from the best local & regional fruits, vegetables, and plants to inexpensive cotton towels, cheap socks, tee shirts, shoes and [...]
Author Archives: Gerri
Italian Cooking Class, Pasta
March 15, 2010 – 4:50 pm
For those who think homemade pasta is a burden, take a look at this. It’s monday night. I just came home from work. There are four things in my kitchen that will make a meal tonight with very little work. They are: malfatti, which means badly cut pasta but in fact are leftover cuttings from [...]
Italian Cooking Class, Pasta
March 7, 2010 – 8:00 pm
I love making fresh pasta and I love eating it. My freezer is kept stocked with my favorite homemade sauces: bolognese, duck ragu, wild boar ragu, and tomato sauce. At any time, I can whip up a batch of pasta either by hand or with a Kitchen Aid. I roll it out immediately on the [...]
Caramelized Onions
February 28, 2010 – 6:20 pm
This is for Will who, after reading my piece on artichoke pizza with caramelized onions, wrote: “Caramelized onions are the best thing that have happened to my burgers since cheese” and “that it takes fooorever”. Here’s a tip. Start the onions first. While they are caramelizing, move to the rest of the preparations for your meal. [...]
How Do I Get Past The Hype?
February 21, 2010 – 7:27 pm
This past week I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of students in “Using Public Relations as a Marketing Tool” taught by Howard Geltzer at New York University. As I was preparing my presentation I felt compelled to bring real food into an academic environment since my business is about food and culinary [...]
Pizza Night in School
February 13, 2010 – 3:36 pm
Last night was pizza night in school. I’m always wondering how 42 pounds of dough will turn out in the hands of 16 eager students. Miraculously, with instruction on technique and good ingredients, my students are a changed bunch. I’m always eager to learn why they’re here in the first place, other than they love [...]