PicoBlog

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During the summer months in Sicily, my nonna would very often cook pasta con le zucchine fritte, or in Sicilian Pasta ca cucuzza fritta. Cucuzza is a type of zucchini that you can get in Sicily for a very short period of time in the summer. These pale green zucchini are incredibly long, thin and curvy and they look like dead snakes on the market stalls. The cucuzze work in many different traditional recipes and contexts.

Next week, I’m headed to Rome to give a seminar about “Modern Classic Cocktails” at the Roma Bar Show. I’ll be sharing the stage with famed London bartender Salvatore Calabrese, who is the creator of a modern classic or two … ncG1vNJzZmiqn5eys8DSoqSopqOku2%2B%2F1JuqrZmToHuku8xop2iqlZi2sbGMnpyyp6KawG6%2BxKqsop2d

That’s great and all, but if you want to try something else that’s easy and delicious, try lobster fra diavolo. Like this post? Share it. Share Translated as lobster in the style of the devil, this is a spicy, simple and elegant dish that is best served with lots of crusty bread for dipping. Or on top of pasta. Or both! By the way, the tomatoes I used in this recipe come from Gustiamo… the best place on the internet for Italian food.

What a gloomy week it has been. We had a little snow here – not enough to be interesting and it soon gave way to rain and more mud – the pathways around these parts are slick with it. I’ve tried to get out whenever the sun has broken through, but much of the time I have turned my back on the weather and managed to do a bit of preserving.

Fries / chips / papates tiganites: sweet - salty, crunchy, golden potato goodness. Whatever you want to call them, I firmly believe that here in Greece, we do them better. As our grandmothers are making much finer fare than the tavernas, it’s to them that I look for the ultimate Greek fries recipe. I’m finally back on the island (Corfu!) and nourishing myself, or rather, I’m being nourished by my Yiayia.

Monday, July 11, 2022 Good afternoon! In my sixteen years of Smitten Kitchen-ing, I have evolved from someone who is zucchini-ambivalent to someone who now buys extra zucchini every time I see it at the market. This essentially means I’m walking around with zucchini in my tote bag a several times a week from June through September and I hope you expect nothing less of me. Most of the recipes on SK that use zucchini are a reaction to my initial ambivalence — it never seemed very flavorful or exciting, thus any recipe I felt was worth going to bat blog for, needed to be both.

Hello, Founding Members! Thank you to those of you who could join me last Sunday for our Kitchen Chat and Cooking Class. If you weren’t able to make it, I have the recipes written up for you below. I was unable to download the recording though as my apartment wifi was not up to the task. I am sincerely sorry if you were planning on watching. If you have any questions about the recipes, please let me know.

This past March, I visited Utah at the request of psychologist John Dehlin and the Thrive Beyond Religion non-profit movement. It was a solid opportunity for me to learn more about the LDS organization and its impact on its members. My last trip to Utah was at the request of the Ex-Mormon Foundation in 2000 after my second book, Releasing the Bonds, was published. I became deeply interested in the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (FLDS).