I am becoming a big fan of Mario. And enjoy borrowing his recipes. And maybe changing them a bit to my liking/ease.
And his meatloaf made my day. Actually not just any day; his meatloaf made our Easter. Since we were having guests for dinner, I made stuffed meatloaf in advance of Easter and tucked it [...]

I am in love with ragu. Shall I marry it?
I made this ragu recently for lunch, and my eldest son says to me: “mom, this is the only thing I am willing to eat the rest of my life.” His way of saying: make it again and again and again and again and again… in [...]

I feel like I am making up New Year’s resolutions as a I go. I seem to have sidestepped the pressure of December 31. But the things I want to accomplish continue to hit my mental temples and I feel the need to organize. No surprise there.
One of the things that keeps showing up in [...]

Well we did it. We found a new family favorite—fondly referred to as a default dinner.
Ever since landing in Italy, I have noticed a recurring menu item in restaurants in and around Tuscany: wild boar sauce. You would have laughed—out loud—if you had been there the first time I was trying to explain to a [...]

Actually, I prefer the Italian name: Pollo al Vin Cotto.
Mario Batali’s cookbook, Molto Italiano, has been the perfect resource for me while holed away in my little Florentine apartment. I am devouring all the Italian references and seasonal nuances, loving everything from the Italian subtitles to the descriptions of pasta and types of Italian flour [...]

I didn’t want to cook tonight. I had gone on an interview, cleaned the house, plugged away on the computer, hit the grocer, enjoyed the Florentine sunshine… and it was just ‘one of those nights.’
I am finding my rhythm includes one night a week where I like to pull a kitchen trump card. As in: [...]