My friend Meta, who I met at Italian language school in Siena, asked me for a macaron recipe. I’m not sure if chocolate with peppermint are her favorite, but we used to go to this cafe down the street from our school for a piece of torta cioccolato, so I know she likes chocolate. The …
The peanut butter is enough to disrupt tradition, but subtle enough that it won’t upset any Thanksgiving traditionalists sitting at your table. I think it’s worth the extra effort to roast your own pumpkin (try the Sugar Pie variety) and puree it. But if you’re using pumpkin from a can, the peanut butter does a …
I once liked this girl, who was gluten intolerant. She was coming to a party, so I thought I’d be all cool and make this gluten-free chocolate cake for her. It turned out, she also had a dairy allergy, and so she couldn’t eat the torte. So there we all were, eating this cake, and …
In Colle di Val d’Elsa, I made it my goal to try every espresso drink at the local coffee bar, Milleluci. I didn’t know what all of the words meant, so I’d just order them. One day before work, I asked for a “caffè corretto,” which turned out to be two shots, one of espresso …
My high school piano teacher, Ms. Sung, asked for a flan recipe, so I sent her this one. She said it turned out great, but the vanilla bean was pricey. It’s true. Vanilla can get pretty expensive. Don’t buy it at the grocery store. I have found better luck at specialty markets. Online is always …
Sometimes I wonder how it went down. Did an old lady walk into a bakery one day and ask the baker, “Hey, can you make me a vegetable and cheese dessert?” And the baker was like, “Sure, I got these carrots, and some cream cheese…” And the old lady was like, “Perfect.” Whatever the case, …
