A thank you to Mary Terzian at www.maryterzian.com for Sharing the Joy! and contributing the following delightful story.

 I was a newly-wed in New York, unfamiliar with American tradition. I wanted our first New Year’s Eve in our nest to be extra special so I invited hubby’s best friend and his wife, and our two cousins for dinner, discounting my culinary expertise. We did consider turkey but settled for duck for our small group. Hubby went hunting at the supermarket while I searched for recipes at the library. “Duck-a-l’orange” sounded exotic, so I delved in heartily. I marinated the fowl in seasoned orange juice overnight. Four hours before dinner I placed the plump, juicy bird in the oven to roast, and tended to the appetizers. Baklava and “Anoushabour,” an Armenian traditional dessert, were already in the fridge. After preparing the cheese puffs and peeling potatoes, I peeked at our darling duckling sitting on a layer of fat. I was somewhat concerned. On my next check the emaciated bird was swimming in grease. Now I melted away with worry. Would anything be left of it for the evening meal? Close to dinner time my cousin, the nurse, called in. She had to work at the hospital for the night shift. Providence was working in my favor. My other cousin arrived first. “You look good,” she said. “Have you lost weight lately?” “Sure, I kept pace with a melting duck,” I wanted to tell her but I just smiled. “Please don’t be offended if I eat little,” she intimated. I’m still recovering from my Christmas binge.” Soon the other guests arrived. We started with the appetizers. I placed the skimpy meat on a plateau of chopped parsley, surrounded with potatoes, orange slices, and cranberries for color. It looked fine until the platter slipped out of my hands . . . thankfully onto the table. Otherwise we had a memorable celebration.

“Mary Terzian (www.maryterzian.com) is a nonfiction writer. She has contributed several articles to publications in English and Armenian. She has authored The Immigrants’ Daughter which won a Best Books 2006 Award and placed Finalist in the Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards, both in the multicultural, nonfiction category. The book has received five-star reviews posted at Amazon.com Mary Terzian lives in Southern California.”

Be  Guest Writer and Share the Joy! of a favorite Holiday food memory in honor of the publication of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition-an adventure in food, recipes and memories. Share your story of 300 words or less and if selected it will be published (here) on the blog and may be selected for an upcoming national publication. Send your story to :sharethejoy@marialiberati.com

Get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition winner of The Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA by Gourmand World Book Awards

See you at the Hudson Valley Wine Festival in Rhinebeck, NY at Dutchess County Fairgrounds ,Sept 10 &11  at Dutchess County Fairgrounds. The Basic Art of Italian Cooking will take center stage at 1-2 PM each day.

copyright 2010. Maria Liberati

Longing for the flavors I met while in Italy this summer…my head bursting with the memories of freshly roasted peppers..that have still not left me.. I embarked upon an all day cooking event..trying to recapture that perfume..

Yesterday I had a ‘deja-vu’ experience, taken aback to our summer  beach condo in Pescara, Italy. The building is  made up of 6 floors, but one floor is  hauntingly aromatic  with the smell of freshly roasted peppers in the  month of August (when fresh peppers are at their peak)..you know that if you get off the elevator to the third floor hallway and just stand there for five minutes you will be almost hypnotized  by the perfume of freshly roasted peppers coming out of all 5 apartments on that floor..if I could  just bottle that aroma and carry it around with me! Everyone that lives on that floor is crazy  (and who could blame them) for fresh peppers and does their roasting at 6 or 7 AM before they go to the beach …

So today, my second day away from Italy, on US soil, I spent all day roasting peppers and reliving my summer at the beach in Pescara…if you would like to create this memory..in your oven..it is a minimalist recipe from the beach house (before the fresh peppers of summer are gone till next year) just clean, seed and cut fresh peppers into strips about 1/4 ” thick. Layer in a baking sheet and drizzle, generously with olive oil and tear fresh parsley leaves and sprinkle on top. Sprinkle a dash of salt Bake at 425 degrees till done and then put under broiler for approx 5 minutes to brown on top. Couldn’t be simpler and the added bonus is that your kitchen will be filled with this fragrance all day…

Use in a pannini, or a frittata, or place them  on top of crusty, warm bread..or on top of a hamburger or just eat plain..

For more great recipes and food memories get your copy of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-second edition

Sept 10-11 see you at the Hudson Valley Wine Festival in Rhinebeck, NY at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds. The Basic Art of Italian Cooking and Maria Liberati will take center stage at 1-2 pm each day with recipes ,stories from the latest book ,for info email: info@marialiberati.com

Be a Guest Writer and Share the Joy! Do you have a special food memory you would like to tell? In honor of the release of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition, we are inviting ourreaders to share a special Holiday food memory. From Sept 1-Dec 31st  one story a week will be selected and pubished on the blog and may be chosen for a national publication. Email your  300 word or less story to : sharethejoy@marialiberati.com

And if you’d rather spend more time in the kitchen and less time out shopping for kitchen-enclume pot racks make a great solution because you can search for your favorite pot rack online and don’t have to pay for shipping.

Kitchen ambiance is just as important as what comes out of the kitchen. Take time in choosing your enclume pot rack as a kitchen accessory. Decide where your kitchen can best fit a pot rack. Do you have free space for a pot rack, or are your walls looking too bare? Add a wall pot rack. All in all your pot rack makes a definite design statement to your kitchen so choose wisely and

One of my favorite pieces of  Italian literature is I Promessi Sposi.. (The Betrothed) so romantic.. A  story of Renzo and Lucia, set in Italy in 1628 the book was first published in 1827 and set in a time when Italy was under oppressive Spanish rule. One of it’s main themes is the strength of love between two people.

  I am enjoying the musical that has been made from the original book in Milan tonight…nothing beats the power of love ( well maybe a chocolate cheesecake) and getting ready to get back to our country house to close it up till next summer..

Summer is almost gone…hope you got to experience some of summer’s pleasures.. fresh, local fruits and veggies, gelato or ic and ice cream…al fresco picnics…picking strawberries or blueberries…lazy days at the beach or park or just allowing yourself to be lazy at home fro a few days or even a few hours.

What  goes better with ‘I Promessi Sposi’ than a dark chocolate cheesecake..

Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake

1-16 ounce package of  Cream Cheese

8 ounces Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 package of Savoiardi cookies or similar cookies

1 8 ounce bar dark chocolate

2 tsps orange honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush cookies and cover bottom of pie pan with crumbs. Grae chocolate bar onto crumbs, then drizzle two tsps honey on crust.

In bowl place cream cheese, ricotta cheese, eggs, vanilla. Blend till smooth. Pour onto crumb crust. Bake fro 30 minutes or until firm. Cool and refrigerate,serve chilled.

For more great recipes, get your copy of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition..selected as Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA

**Be a Guest writer..have Holiday food memory to share..in honor of the release of the Holiday book we are inviting our readers to share their stories of Holiday food memories. Stories selected will be placed on the blog and archived and may be selected to be placed in a national publication. Email stories to sharethejoy@marialiberati.com

Sept 10 & 11 –see you at Hudson Valley Wine Fest, Rhinebeck, NY at Dutchess County Fairgrounds. The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm will be on stage at 1-2 each day. For more info email: info@marialiberati.com

In honor of the official release of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition (ISBN 978-1928911-19-7) the award winning recipe novel that includes recipes and Holiday food memories- we will be posting one story a week from our readers about their favorite food memory and why it holds a special place in their heart. This is the first, and we will be posting one new story each week till December 31st. Thanks Jennifer for sharing this great story with us!

From:  Jennifer Reich, co author of the new book The Mommy MD Guide to Pregnancy and Birth and cofounder of www.MommyMDGuides.com

“My husband and I honeymooned at Walt Disney World in 2002. We were married in their beautiful wedding pavilion with a view of Cinderella Castle. That night , we enjoyed a great meal at the Italian restaurant in Epcot. I had their delicious Fettuccine Alfredo, one of the best meals I’ve ever had. A few weeks after we got home, I found the recipe online for that restaurant’s fettuccini alfredo. Now I’m not the best cook ever–a passable cook at best. But there must have been a little pixie dust included with that recipe because I managed to recreate dish just as I remembered it from my honeymoon!”

 Here’s a Recipe for a Lighter version of Fettucini Alfredo

Be a Guest Writer:If you have a special food memory and would like to share it with our 100,000+ subscribers from all over the world, email the story to: sharethejoy@marialiberati.com  For more details

Get your copy of the book that was selected as Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA- The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

Filled with recipes, charming stories and food memories from a country house in the mountains of Italy and Holiday ideas.

Visit OpenSky

As I remembered the song from my favorite musical The Sound of Music..I thought to myself as we drove along the hills in Chianti…these hills are alive with the beauty of the  grape vines( filled with beautiful plump black grapes)..almost ready for the vendemmia

I don’t think I can ever look at another hill again without remembering the beauty of Chianti..it’s green, rolling hills, decorated with tall, proud cypress trees and sunflowers that seemed to smile and greet you as you drive by..as we drove the sharp curves and winding roads a calm came over me..the beauty and serenity of the hills seemed to put me in a trance..albeit a relaxed one…

When we arrived at Castello D’Albola at the top of the hill I could barely speak..I think I became drunk with the beauty before I drank a drop of Chianti…a medieval castle that was built somewhere in the late 1400’s..and may have been worked on by craftsman taught by Michelangelo or DaVinci or Bernini…

More on Chianti and Castello D’Albola soon…One of the wines in they expertly produce there is Vin Santo..a wine that is served at the end of a dinner and cantucci biscotti are dipped into a glass filled with this sweet liquid.. If you are eating dinner in Tuscany and a bottle of Vin Santo is placed on the table with cantucci biscotti-this means dinner is finished and this will be the last course.

Cantucci Biscotti

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 cup whole almonds

4 whole eggs beaten

1 tsp of grated orange peel

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place whole, unpeeled almonds on cookie sheet, place in oven and toast for 3 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and chop in large pieces.

Sift flour into a bowl. Place inside sugar, eggs, baking powder, orange peel, pinch of salt. Blend well till dough is smooth, but not too soft., then add in  almonds and blend in.

Cover cookie sheet with baking paper. Form dough into a long roll, the form of a long finger. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and cut diagonally to form biscotti. Cover cookie sheet with baking paper, place single biscotti on baking paper and bake for approx 25 minutes or until crispy and golden. Remove.

For more great recipes get your copy of the book selected as Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA- The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

Visit OpenSky

September 10-11..see you at Hudson Valley Wine Fest in Hudson Valley, Rhinebeck, NY. I will be onstage with The Basic Art of Italian Cooking from 1-2 each day. For more info email: Info@marialiberati.com

Be a Guest writer and Share the Joy! In honor of the release of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition- we are inviting our readers to also share their special Holiday food memories for any Holiday and any nationality. Email your story of 300 words or less and we will be selecting one story a week to publish on the blog and to be part of a nationally published book. All stories become property of art of living,PrimaMedia,Inc Email your stories to

sharethejoy@marialiberati.com

Castello D’Albola is a medieval wonder..in Chianti…a  castle with a vineyard  that produces award winning wines and the castle is filled with so much history dating back to many a noble family. In honor of my visit there this weekend a traditional Tuscan soup..that dates back to the cucina povera (peasant kitchen) times in Italy..how times have changed ?   Today this is considered a gourmet dish.

Ribollita (literally means boiled twice)

1 lb of cannelini beans (dry)-soaked overnight, then cooked for approx 1 hour

1lb red cabbage

1 lb savoy cabbage

1/2 lb fresh spinach-cleaned

1/2 lb of red, ripe tomatoes

1 potato

1 stick  celery

1 carrot, peeled and cleaned

1 small onion

2 garlic cloves

dash of thyme

dash of salt

1/2 lb of crusty bread sliced thick

grated pecorino cheese

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

8 cups vegetable broth

handful  fresh parsley leaves chopped

Place beans in cold vegetable broth and cook till tender. Finely chop onion, garlic, celery, carrot and parsley, place oil in saute pan and place in chopped veggies. Saute till golden brown, then add in thyme and the other vegetables-cut into large pieces. Add in salt,pepper and tomatoes. Add in some liquid from the boiling beans. When beans are tender, add in about 1/3 of them to the saute pan. Place 1/3 of bean mixture in food processor and blend. Set remaining third of beans to the side.

Add processed beans to saute pan. Simmer for approx 5 minutes. Place slice of bread at bottom of terra cotto or earthenware serving bowls and ladle soup on top of bread.Garnish with remaining third of beans and serve.

This soup is typically eaten the day after it is made (That is why it is called ribollita-twice boiled) and served with a drizzle of olive oil.

My interview with the wine maker at Castello D’Albola will be published here shortly..

For more great recipes get your copy of  the award winning The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition winner of the Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

See you at the Hudson Valley Wine Festival on Sept 10 & 11

Simple ,delicious recipes that use mainly Mother Nature’s Ingredients are my favorite..frittata with mentuccia (mint)…it is a recipe from the days of cucina povere..but the flavor of the mint makes the frittata fragrant…they work so well together (eggs and mint)..it is hard to resist! 
And with a garden full of fresh mint..this was a great excuse to pick some mint…tonight’s frittata for a light dinner on a hot August night under the stars..watching the fireworks in the sky from  a nearby town celebrating a festa..

Simplicity is an art..and this recipe proves it..so simple yet so delicious

Enjoy,.serve with crusty bread and a glass of Trebbiano or Est!Est!Est! and you will

Frittata con Mentuccia (Egg frittata with mint)

(serves 4)

4 eggs

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

one handful of fresh mint leaves chopped or torn into small pieces

dash of salt

Break eggs into bowl and whip with a fork. Heat olive oil in saute pan. Pour in eggs, sprinkle on mint leaves, a dash of salt to taste.When one side is cooked turn frittata over. When frittata is firm on both sides place in serving dish and slice into 4 slices,serve warm or cold the next day..my favorite way to eat this is leftover.. the next day in a pannino…

For more great recipes get your copy of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions

winner of the Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

See you Sept 10 & 11 at the Hudson Valley Wine Fest in Rhinebeck, NY. I will be on center stage at 1-2 PM both  days..

Life here in this ‘ little  town’ never fails to  keep me entertained .. from  the town priest that is an Elvis impersonator   ..to the dogs that insist on taking their walks in the piazza  at night just like everyone else does before and after dinner..

I never understood why our dog began to escape from our fenced yard at about 7 PM at night…”she likes to see people and friends in the piazza too” I was told ..that is why she insists on taking her own walk there at night if no one walks her.. I guess that makes sense… a dog in Italy wanting to meet friends also in the piazza at night.

It is a beautiful tradition…a walk in the piazza at night before dinner or after dinner.. a way to take a walk see friends ..and just relax….and you never know what you might find..an Elvis Presley concert by the town priest that is an Elvis Impersonator (and he does quite a good impression) ..a procession..a fashion show..a beauty pageant..or just people meeting and talking..dogs.. and children playing soccer …or riding their bikes..

After a spin around the piazza it’s time to go home and enjoy dinner and a light dessert..

Apricot Mousse with Chocolate Crumble

For Apricot Mousse:

* 2 lbs of fresh apricots-washed, cut in half with pit removed

*3 tblsps sugar

*3 tblsps butter (unsalted)

For crumble:

* 1-16 oz chocolate bar (containing at least 60%  cocoa)

*Almonds-3 ounces-peeled ,chopped

*3 tblsps butter (unsalted)

*4 tblsps flour

*3 tblsps brown sugar

*1 tablespoon powdered unsweetened cocoa

For Cream: Place halved apricots in a pan with sugar and butter, cook for 10 minutes over low to medium heat or until the apricots have lightly caramelized. Remove from heat, place in food processor till creamy.

For crumble:

Place butter on bowl until room temperature and softened. Place in flour, almonds,sugar, powdered cocoa. Blend together. Grate chocolate bar and mix in. Place in refrigerator till mixture has a firm  consistency. Remove from refrigerator and grate dough (using cheese grater with larger holes). Grate onto a piece of baking paper placed on a cookie sheet.

Preheat oven for 300 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, separate crumbles gently with fork or fingers. Let cool.

Divide apricot cream into 4 glasses and top with chocolate crumble,garnish with mint leaves and serve.

For more recipes get your copy of the Award Winning The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition…winner of the Best Italian Cusine Book in the USA by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Be  A Guest Writer..do you havea Holiday story related t oa food memory you would like to share with our readers. In honor of the release of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition, whcihc is a celebration of recipes and food memories of Holidays & Special Occasions-we invite reders to share their favorite Holiday food memory. Stories should be 300-500 words, and emailed to sharethejoy@marialiberati.com

Each week from Sept 1 to Jan 1st one story per week will be slected and published on The Basic Art of Italian Cooking BLOG. Stories may be considered for an upcoming national publication also. Look forward to seeing your stories by Sept 30th.Email stories to: sharethejoy@marialiberati.com

Upcoming Appearances:Sept 10,11 at Hudson Valley Wine Fest,Rhinebeck, NY, Dutchess County Fairgrounds.maria Liberati & The Basic Art of Italian Cooking will be taking center stage from 12-1 PM both days with recipes, stories from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

copyright 2010 Maria Liberati

A cool August night in the piazza in Tagliacozzo and nothing soothes the soul more than eating a dish of creamy gelato in front of the fountain in Piazza Obelisco while discussing French and Italian wines….. and ..since the discussion is in Italy with only Italians… favoritism slanted to the wines of Italy..

As the heated discussion continues..and I try to concentrate on the smooth, creamy glob of chocolate sliding down my throat, and the medieval architecture of teh buildings in view… almost not paying any attention to the discussion that is well in progress..

Let’s just say that the conclusion was that Italian wines have an edge over French wines because of the superior quality of the Italian grapes, since climate is more favorable to grow grapes in Italy..,,grapes grown in France tend to be bitter…Italian grapes are sweeter..French tend to aromatize their wines.they have to because the grapes are bitter..Italian wines are made without anything added..just real grapes…

Anyway the perfect way to cool the discussion was to turn all thoughts onto the dishes of gelato we were at this point halfway through..after a few more spoonfuls who could think about anything else..our taste buds  were drunk with the intensity of the flavor..and the discussion turned to which flavor is the best and where the best gelato places were….even a subject that cool got a little heated since Italians are passionate about their gelato also…well what is it that they are not passionate about??

But the discussion all of a sudden stopped as everyone quietly concentrated  on finishing their dish…every last drop..and everything was forgotten..and we joined everyone for our evening walk around the piazza..and an evening of  intent discussion ended cool, relaxed and satiated..