I have so much basil growing right now it's fantastic and a problem at the same time.  I always grow too much and this year I really overdid it.  In addition to planting some out on the patio in pots, I started some from seed in big trays inside.  I did three plantings at different dates. My plan was to actually remove the plants from the trays when they got 6 to 8 leaves - just at the perfect time to harvest.  This is what they do in Liguria, where pesto is King. They only use the youngest, most tender leaves. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I found myself cutting off the leaves and letting more grow! What a wimp.   Now I have a ton more basil than I need.  So I'm really making pesto a lot.  

The minute we got back from the Amalfi Coast, Brian wanted to make homemade limoncello.  When you go out to dinner in any of the towns in that area, they serve you little shots of icy cold limoncello after dinner - you know Italians and their wonderful digestifs obsession.  You get used to it pretty easily.  It's a nice custom. So we started researching recipes when we got back.

Many years ago when I was a newlywed living in Chapel Hill, there was a bakery downtown that served pastries called Walkaways.  They cut off a slice and gave it to you in a napkin and . . . you walked away with it.   Anyway, we still call them that to this day.  They're fruit stuffed pastries with cream cheese that are heavenly.

I would make them myself back then with (cringe) Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough, canned pie filling and some slices of cream cheese.  That works, but this version is so much better.  I actually use the dough for my Cinnamon Bread for these now. That dough recipe makes two loaves of bread - it also make two walkaways (or one loaf of cinnamon bread and one walkaway!). This recipe is halved to make one walkaway. 

Are you still buying steaks and just throwing them on the grill?  Well, it's time to take your steaks to the next level and marinate them.  You won't believe the difference.   I get asked a lot what I marinate my steaks in and I'm going to share it with you.

I'm also going to introduce you to a sauce that's used in Italian cooking called salsa verde.  It's not like the spicy Mexican version, but is an herb based sharp sauce that is the traditional accompaniment for bollito misto - the Piedmontese dish of boiled meats. I like it very much over grilled steak.  It is a raw sauce made with fresh parsley and is simple to whirl up in your food processor.  When we had dinner at Perbacco in San Francisco, they brought out breadsticks with salsa verde for dipping and their version was out of this world. 

Continuing on with my recipes inspired from our trip to Italy is this lemon cake. While we were on Capri, I had breakfast one morning that was just a simple piece of lemon cake, a fresh orange and a cappuccino.  It was just such a perfect breakfast in a place where there were either lemon groves or orange trees everywhere you looked. I bought a nice little ceramic lemon juicer on the island and knew right then and there that I would make a lemon cake for the blog when I got back. 

This is the first in a series of recipes I'm going to be doing for you that are inspired from our recent trip to Italy. This has long been an absolute favorite dish of mine to make, but having it in Italy again was just beyond great. This dish, like Cacio e Pepe,  is a very common pasta dish that you will find on so many menus in Rome. It's the best of Italian cooking, in my opinon - it has just a handful of great ingredients, is easy to make but totally gutsy in its flavor.

Aren't these adorable?  They are the perfect little thing to put on your Easter table. And they are completely edible.  Kids and adults alike will love them.  I wanted to post this far enough in advance that you would have time to go out and get the proper ingredients to make them, if you wanted to.

Yeah, I know.  That's a little bold, isn't it?  But honestly this dish will have you groaning with gustatory pleasure. I guarantee it. There's a lot of very good short rib recipes out there but this one is special. What's so different about it? The power of reduction.

A typical recipe for short ribs would call for braising the beef in wine, broth and vegetables for a long period of time. And this recipe does just that, but there's an important difference - you start out with a reduction of a whole bottle of red wine and vegetables and then you add that to your beef braise along with more vegetables and beef stock and when that is finished, you remove the meat and reduce the sauce even more.  You are left with liquid gold that is so delicious as a sauce you won't believe it. 

Thomas Keller is the guy behind this recipe and he uses two interesting techniques here. One is that he fashions a little tool for this dish - a parchment paper lid. Instead of placing a lid on the pot for the long braise, he cuts out a "lid" of parchment paper with a hole in the middle.  This allows some evaporation of liquid without allowing too much. It's really a brilliant little idea.  I show you how to make one below.  The other interesting thing that he does is to place a piece of cheesecloth between the meat and the vegetables, so that the flavor can pass through but the bits of vegetables don't end up clinging to the meat. 

Keller calls for "boneless short ribs" for this dish.  If you can't find those or can't find a butcher to prepare them for you, you can also just prepare a regular chuck roast using this method.  Just slice it into smaller sections. It will be equally over-the-top delicious.

I just crossed an item off my bucket list this past week - dinner at Alinea.  It's something I've wanted to do for a long time but, even though we've had sons in school in Chicago, just haven't gotten there.  This time I made the reservation many weeks in advance and actually got a table.  The restaurant is, indeed, amazing.  The dishes are completely unique, the service is extraordinary and the space itself is stunning. But the story behind all this is equally compelling.

There is a reason this dessert is so popular in Italy.  You want to lick the glass it's served in, it's so good. I made these for dessert for our Valentine's dinner and my husband ate two.  

Zabaglione is a custard made with egg yolks, sugar and Marsala wine.  It's traditionally served warm but because I like make-ahead desserts, I'm serving mine cold and folding whipped cream into it to make it lighter. You can add your own touches to this recipe.  I added a little orange juice and also served the custard over fresh berries.

If you're like us and avoid restaurants on Valentine's Day, this is the dish for you. This is killer. The beautiful deep magenta color of the pasta just reminded me of Valentine's Day. The filling of goat cheese, Parmigiano cheese and chives is so luscious and creamy. And I thought some toasted chopped hazelnuts on top would add the perfect texture.  The filling is a breeze to make and the pasta dough is just plain fun.

Pomegranates have become so popular - they're delicious and healthy.  But they can be a pain to deseed, squirting juice everywhere and making a mess.  I'll show you how to easily clean a pomegranate and get all those seeds out.

I'm going to be posting a lot of pasta dishes this winter, so I thought I would give you a nice refreshing, light salad first!  The key to making a great salad is two things:  1) make your own dressing  and 2) only lightly dress the greens.  Salad dressing shouldn't weigh down a salad - it should just lightly coat it.  The greens and the fruit or vegetables should be the star.   The salad should be refreshing, not a soggy mess.  

Well, the holidays are over and what a whirlwind it was.  And so much fun. My brothers and their families came to visit and I did a ton of cooking for that, including an enormous batch of chicken ragu, which I smartly froze ahead of time. That was a timesaver.  I made big pork loins stuffed with one of my favorite stuffings.  I also made Jamie's Peanut Butter Parfaits which were a big hit. We decorated Oreo cookies and I made Cranberry Upside Down Cake. It was all a lot of fun. 

I also got to reveal something that I had kept a bit of a secret all year.  I started a knitting blog last spring but did not talk about it at all here because I couldn't let my family know about it.  In March, I started a big project to knit something for every person in my family by Christmas.  I ended up knitting 17 projects for everyone.  What a thrill it was to finally present them to everyone during their visit. It was hours of knitting and thousands of stitches and lots of tinking, but a whole lot of love knitted into every item. 

I've made these beautiful delicious cranberries for the holidays for a couple of years now, ever since I saw them over on Heidi's blog. These pretty cranberries look like they might be just for decoration, but they're not - they are like eating candy.  I usually put them on my Christmas Eve buffet table.

They're so simple to make but you do need to start them the night before. 

I've been having so much fun with this little DIY project that I had to share it with all of you because I know you will love it, too.  These beautiful "snow" candles are pretty, easy and cheap to make.

I love sharing fun things I have found with you all and so I thought I would post a few things for Christmas that I'm either enjoying now or plan to make myself.  So here are a few fun links for Christmas:

These candy cane marshmallows from Martha Stewart would be a nice little DIY gift to give out:

I heard from an awful lot of you after I posted "Making Fresh Pasta" last month. Many of you tried making fresh pasta for the first time and I was so happy about that.  I think the video that was in the post showed how easy it was and some of you got out your pasta rollers for the first time.  

As promised, here is a recipe that uses both spinach pasta and plain pasta.  It's a classic Italian dish called "Straw and Hay".  I always love combining two different colored pastas in a dish.  It's delicious with the salty prosciutto, sweet peas and cheese.  

Here is an alternative for Thanksgiving for those of you who either don't want to cook a whole bird or don't have to. In our household, a whole bird is a must but if you want something different for Thanksgiving, here is a delicious alternative.  I also think that turkey white meat is pretty bland and dry and this recipe gives it a lot of flavor and combines the turkey and stuffing in one neat package. 

I'm going to be showing you lots of fresh pasta recipes this next year and I hope you will cook right along with me. Fresh homemade pasta is truly a fun thing to make and has so many creative possibilities.  And you can make it at a moment's notice - who doesn't have eggs and flour in their kitchen?  I've posted about making fresh pasta before, but I wanted to do an update and include a video to show you just how easy it is.  I know when people can see something being made they are more likely to try it.  So the video within this post may inspire you to make the leap!

There is no one correct recipe for fresh pasta.  In Italy, different regions have different ways of making it. Some places only use eggs and flour and others use only water and flour.  Some cooks add a little salt and olive oil, some do not.  You will have to experiment and decide what pasta recipe you like.  How do I like to make mine? I basically make my pasta the way they do in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy - with just fresh eggs and flour.