Simona Carini's Profile

You are welcome, Karen. I find it is a versatile side dish: it goes well with fish, meat and eggs. I am still finding the ingredients at the farmers market, so I keep making it. Thank you for your comment :)

Commented 4 days ago on roasted eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes / melanzane, zucchine e pomodori in teglia at briciole

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Thank you for your kind words, Elizabeth :)

Commented Oct 23, 2020 on Novel Food #40: the finale (readings and recipes) at briciole

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Thank you, Debra, and thank you again for your contributions :)

Commented Oct 23, 2020 on Novel Food #40: the finale (readings and recipes) at briciole

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I hope you find the seeds, Debra. I just roasted another one last night and will make more soup today. It is pretty and I love the dense flesh. I imagine it could be used in zucchini dishes where having less moisture is a plus (I am thinking fritters or bread). Mankell's mysteries are rather intense, crime-wise, so I understand preferring lighter reading. The current Cook the Books selection, though still a mystery, fits the bill :)

Commented Oct 23, 2020 on tromboncino squash soup / zuppa di zucchetta at briciole

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It would be so cool if you find the seeds and grow it, Elizabeth! I also like butternut squash for soup. In fact, I have already bought a couple for that purpose, small ones, which I like. Yes, the novel's beginning is intense: it makes you wonder what kind of rage makes a person do that, doesn't it? I have another novel by Mankell without Wallander on my reading list :) P.S. I am currently reading a Deborah Crombie mystery (I described the series in this Novel Food post: https://www.pulcetta.com/2014/06/carrot-fromage-blanc-tart-torta-salata-carote.html )

Commented Oct 23, 2020 on tromboncino squash soup / zuppa di zucchetta at briciole

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Thank goodness for books, indeed, Elizabeth, in this and other circumstances when we need comfort. You are welcome: it is a great, enduring pleasure to get people together 3 times a year for Novel Food. In terms of the tromboncino squash, seeds are available and if you ask farmers you know they may be intrigued by this squash. Just last Sunday I snatched two more and can't wait to turn them into soup :)

Commented Oct 21, 2020 on tromboncino squash soup / zuppa di zucchetta at briciole

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Novel Food #40: the finale (readings and recipes)

I am proud to present the roundup of the 40th edition of Novel Food. I repeat that number to myself: 40th! I have been hosting the event for 13 years and it's been a constant pleasure. Particularly in a year like this, I like to pause to contemplate small successes. I am happy to celebrate this important milestone with a group of book-loving food bloggers, who have contributed posts to the event. Each post describes a work of written words and the dish that the reading inspired. You are invited to join me on a literary/culinary tour. For each contribution, I... Continue reading

Posted Oct 21, 2020 at briciole

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You are welcome, Wendy. Glad to read you've had a good harvest :)

Commented Oct 7, 2020 on roasted eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes / melanzane, zucchine e pomodori in teglia at briciole

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Thank you, Claudia. I find vegetables and fruit inspiring as shapes and colors. It's mother nature at work with occasionally some human creativity mixed in :)

Commented Oct 7, 2020 on roasted eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes / melanzane, zucchine e pomodori in teglia at briciole

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Thank you, Debra :)

Commented Oct 5, 2020 on roasted eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes / melanzane, zucchine e pomodori in teglia at briciole

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You should try it, Deb. It's so cute and also good (by the way, I have a pot of the soup on my stove right now :) You are welcome, my pleasure.

Commented Sep 28, 2020 on tromboncino squash soup / zuppa di zucchetta at briciole

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The Thelma Sanders squash looks beautiful, Claudia: I hope it will give you good results. Some years ago one of our local farmers introduced me to white acorn varieties and I've been a fan every since. Prolific Squash sounds promising. Tonight for dinner I had my first squash of the season: delicata squash stuffed with leeks, egg and cheese. I am looking forward to your contribution :)

Commented Sep 27, 2020 on Announcing Novel Food #40 at briciole

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tromboncino squash soup / zuppa di zucchetta

creamy delight (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) In the year of COVID, in the summer (and now fall) of fires, I am clinging to cooking and reading to keep my balance. Among my to-read books, I recently chose a novel by the late Swedish author Henning Mankell (without Kurt Wallander2 as protagonist): The Man from Beijing.1 The book opens with a horrific mass murder in a remote Swedish village. Judge Birgitta Roslin, who is connected to some of the victims, gets involved the case, whose roots go back in time and space to the construction of the Pacific Railroad, which... Continue reading

Posted Sep 23, 2020 at briciole

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Announcing Novel Food #40

Summer is quickly moving to fall in the Northern Hemisphere, which means it is time to launch a new edition of the culinary/literary event Novel Food, the 40th to be precise. Novel Food is a voyage of literary discovery and a party featuring literary-inspired dishes contributed by event's participants. This is the 13th anniversary edition: this is a hard year for the world and for California right now it is even more so. Still, I think it is important to focus on the small joys of daily life and certainly reading and cooking have been a comfort to me in the... Continue reading

Posted Sep 15, 2020 at briciole

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Thank you, Debra :)

Commented Sep 13, 2020 on roasted eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes / melanzane, zucchine e pomodori in teglia at briciole

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I wonder what it takes to convince farmers to grow something a bit different. I guess they are worried people would not like the novelty. Here the Costata Romanesco is popular and I also find yellow zucchini. My husband does the same :)

Commented Sep 4, 2020 on roasted eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes / melanzane, zucchine e pomodori in teglia at briciole

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roasted eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes / melanzane, zucchine e pomodori in teglia

farm fresh and fabulous (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown1, a novel that follows the stories of two women, Alice and Eleanor (Nellie). In 2018, Alice and her husband, Nate, move from Manhattan to a house in a town outside New York sold because the previous owner had died. In the basement, Alice finds a cookbook and a box of old magazines. Her neighbor, Sally, tells her a bit about Eleanor, who lived in the house from the mid-1950's until her death, and gives Alice... Continue reading

Posted Aug 27, 2020 at briciole

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I decided to give gardening another try, small scale and with low expectations. Kale does well in my garden, but I like some variety. The dumpling cart was a big hit: the artist painted it on site so we saw it come to life :)

Commented Aug 3, 2020 on konjac noodles and kelp noodles with greens and mushrooms / pasta di konjac e pasta di alghe con verdure a foglia verde e funghi at briciole

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It was fun, Claudia, and interesting. I hope you can find some of those noodles in your area :)

Commented Aug 3, 2020 on konjac noodles and kelp noodles with greens and mushrooms / pasta di konjac e pasta di alghe con verdure a foglia verde e funghi at briciole

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konjac noodles and kelp noodles with greens and mushrooms / pasta di konjac e pasta di alghe con verdure a foglia verde e funghi

a bowl of great flavors (napkin by La FABBRICA del LINO) Our Cook the Books Club selection this time brings us to China (Cina) with the novel Kitchen Chinese by Ann Mah1, which follows the adventures of the two Lee sisters in Beijing (Pechino). Born and raised in New Jersey, the sisters follow different careers: Claire becomes a lawyer and moves to the Chinese capital to work for a prestigious firm, while Isabelle works as a fact-checker at a magazine in New York and wants to be a writer. Isabelle loses her job in a bad way and her boyfriend ends... Continue reading

Posted Jul 31, 2020 at briciole

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Dear Elizabeth, we can start a club. I just planted a sunflower seedling plus some more kale. Baby steps for me too. Good luck with the red okra :)

Commented Jul 22, 2020 on summer side dish: zucchini, carrots and tomatoes / contorno estivo: zucchine, carote e pomodorini at briciole

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Glad to read your farmers' markets are open again, Elizabeth. And yes, yay for farm fresh eggs :) Thank you for your kind words on Novel Food. And the next edition will be the 40th (hard to believe)

Commented Jul 22, 2020 on Novel Food #39: the finale (readings and recipes) at briciole

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I am confident I could handle a surfeit of zucchini, but in my case just a handful materialized. Given your climate, though, and your gardening skills, I would expect you'd face that problem, Claudia. The book is intense, indeed, but also hopeful. The format allowed me to read it slowly, which I usually need to do when a book is intense.

Commented Jul 17, 2020 on summer side dish: zucchini, carrots and tomatoes / contorno estivo: zucchine, carote e pomodorini at briciole

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I hear you, Elizabeth. I tried some years ago to grow zucchini and there was little return on the investment, so I now stick to what I know does well here: kale. Though this year I've been successful with some lettuce, which makes me happy :)

Commented Jul 17, 2020 on summer side dish: zucchini, carrots and tomatoes / contorno estivo: zucchine, carote e pomodorini at briciole

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Indeed, Elizabeth, you never know whether you can find food on the way so carrying a snack besides water is important. These bites do well in warmer weather too. I recommend you pick up the book again: there are interesting chapters ahead :)

Commented Jul 17, 2020 on date energy bites / bocconcini ai datteri at briciole

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