I swear that my fruit trees in Italy seem to take turns being super productive. One year, it was the apricot tree that kicked into overdrive and I made massive quantities of apricot jam. Another year, the cherry tree decided that I really needed cherry vodka […]

Pete and I have an ongoing debate on the word for “watermelon” in Italian. I favour the word Cocomero (co-co-mer-o) while he prefers Anguria (an-gurr-i-a). Both are correct and seem to be used fairly interchangeably. This, however, does not stop me from sending him photos of […]

We have a long weekend coming up as this Monday in Ontario is our Civic Holiday. In Toronto, the holiday is known as Simcoe Day, after John Graves Simcoe. John Graves Simcoe was the first Lieutenant Governor of the Province (Upper Canada) and founded York, which became […]

I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m not a big dessert or chocolate person. I mean if you order dessert, I’ll have a bite, or maybe two, but on the whole, I can eat dinner and pass on dessert. (That being said, I never […]

There is some argument on the origins of Spaghetti alla Carbonara. One school has the classic Roman dish created during the war, using military rations from American soldiers. Another side argues that the name comes from “alla carbonara”, a dish eaten by coal workers. (The heavy […]

I love Bugs Bunny. As a kid, my sisters and I would get up early on Saturday morning to watch cartoons. I still quote Bugs Bunny: “I must have took a wrong turn at Albuquerque”. And whenever I’m at the opera, I still think of […]

The food and ingredients that you can find in Italy are fabulous. If you love to cook, there is certainly a lot here to inspire! My friend Sarah is an amazing chef. She also has absolutely the best story, hands down – she made dinner for […]