When life gives you plums, make some jam!

Here we are in the plum season – my parents’ trees are full of plums this year!  So as always, we keep some to eat fresh, some to freeze (for cakes in the later months) and some to make our jam! 

This is real “slow food”; picking the fruits from the tree to eat or cook with… It is also precious, quality family time. I’ve always picked fruits with my mom and these delightful memories will be with me forever. Both of us having fun, talking about everything, laughing…

Let’s make a delicious Sunday breakfast with fresh cherry muffins! Close your eyes and imagine the smell of hot muffins together with the tasty scent of cherries – it is definitely the best Sunday morning treat!

Gnocchi is on my list of comforting food and it is a safe bet that everybody likes gnocchi, right?!

To me, gnocchi needs to melt in the mouth, and be topped with a lot of parmesan… nothing compares to homemade gnocchi!

I always thought it would be long and difficult to make brioche… I was so wrong! There is nothing easier!

Following my last trip to Japan, I have developed an addiction for “Melon Pan” メロンパン!

What is “Melon Pan”? Melon Pan is a sweet Japanese bread topped with crispy cookie dough, filled with vanilla cream or matcha cream…

Is it with melon flavor? Not really, from what I know, the name comes from the appearance of the bread.

One of the main ingredients I cook with is garlic! No idea where this addiction comes from, probably my Mediterranean influence but you can easily find a ton of garlic cloves in my pantry. I have something for the smell and the taste… ok now you think I am crazy – but do you cook pesto without garlic? I do not think so… please, we do not judge weird people here!

In the meantime, are you aware of all the benefits from garlic? It boosts your immune system, gets the cholesterol level down, and the antioxidants property gives you better skin… AHAHAH, now you heard about the skin, I am sure you are more interested! 

A garlic confit jar should be in every kitchen! It makes my life so much easier. The confit can be used in so many dishes, sauces and the must – a burrata salad … The confit reduces the strong taste of the garlic and it will preserve the garlic cloves longer.

Making the garlic confit is very easy and can be done in 3 easy steps, so let’s do it!

Focaccia, even the word makes me feel good…

It sounds like summer in a small Italian village with laundry hanging by the window, the colorful striped sunbeds on the Liguria coast or the stifling heat in a chianti vineyard in Tuscany… You get the picture? 

Why would you buy focaccia when you can make it?

I am sure that you do not want to be deprived of this amazing scent of the baking dough, a mix of warm bread, rosemary, and olives which fills the house with a wonderful fragrance!

Back on topic, let’s make focaccia!

Tomatoes remind me of summer and sunny days. It also reminds me of my previous life when I was training as a kitchen commis in a Michelin starred restaurant! One of my duty was to make fresh tomato petals and even though at the time, cooking was not my biggest passion (thanks to the chefs for their patience …) I still loved to make sun-dried tomatoes!

Sun-dried tomatoes can be added to your salad or as antipasti! Between you and me, the price of a jar at the supermarket is insane and on top of it, it contains additives and preservatives…

Sun-dried tomato jar is very easy to make and a must-have in your pantry!

Uhmm… bread, for French people is the equivalent of rice for the Japanese, pasta for the Italian, potatoes for German, gin, and tonic for English and Marple syrup for Canadian… Ok, you got the picture?!

The most difficult part of making homemade bread during this crazy pandemic period is finding flour!

Otherwise, making homemade bread is a piece of cake!

What would you say, if I tell you “homemade burger”?

No, no, no, I’m not talking about cutting the tomatoes and onion by yourself, I am talking about making “your” burger buns! It is delicious and for once you know what you will eat! How good It is to eat your food additive-free …

And no, it is not difficult… if I made it, you can make it! So, let do it!