Ciao from Debbie!

Before moving to Italy, we enjoyed a lot of Italian food in Rhode Island, which was our home for 19 years. One of our favorite foods there were calzones, especially those made with a spinach and cheese filling!

A calzone is basically an Italian turnover sandwich, which is either baked or fried. The dough used is a basic Italian doug...

My absolutely favorite pizza is arugula pizza, something I’ve never seen anywhere but Italy. When my mom came to visit us in Italy recently, I decided to introduce her to arugula pizza—on the grill. (If you don’t have a grill, you can make the same types in the oven.) 

Like you, I ate pizza while growing up. But let’s ...

I love coconut. Do you? If you do, you're going to love making Elephant Toenails and Coconut Macaroons! Let’s start with the Toenails…these are really just shavings of fresh coconut, toasted in a heavy pan with sugar and coconut water.

Crunchy and sweet, Elephant Toenails are irresistible once you start eating them!

Mary Gfeller personifies "A Life that Says Welcome", the title of one of my favorite books (by Karen Ehman). Her warm personality immediately makes you feel "at home".

Mary serving up our drink...a combinat...

The warmth of the oven, the smell of freshly baked bread and sounds of laughter filled the air in Liz Geigy’s lovely kitchen in Basel, Switzerland.

Liz shared her lovely kitchen with us for the cooking demo

As you know, I love to cook! I wanted to use my love of cooking to spend time with my neighbors so decided to offer some cooking lessons...But what in the world could an American teach an Italian in the kitchen??? Then one day it came to me that they might like to make homemade bread.

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I met Stephanie in Grand Rapids two years ago, a delightful student at Calvin College. Since then, Stephanie came to work as an RA at Black Forest Academy in Kandern, Germany.

Julie and Stephanie came to visit from Black Forest Academy

In December she wrote to ask if she could co...

I heard it said that making risotto is a little bit like riding a bicycle: It takes a little bit of practice to begin with, and a certain amount of concentration thereafter. While most of us think of pasta when we consider Italian foods, rice was introduced here in Italy by the Arabs who dominated Sicily centuries ago. Since the northern, marshy terrain of Piemonte—where we live—was conducive to growing rice, risotto has become a popular staple in northern Italy.

One of the benefits of being married to Larry is having an Italian mother-in-law, Brigida! She grew up in the Naples area, married Larry's father, a U.S. serviceman, and now lives in Virginia Beach. Each summer she comes back to visit her sister in Naples--and this year came up to see us outside of Torino. Her Italian accent and lively personality keep us smiling.

One of my favorite things to do is to pass on my love of cooking to younger women. Courtney, a young American wife and mother who has lived in Avigliana for 3 years, has been an eager learner--and that makes Matt happy! She and I got together one day to make Lemon Mousse Cake from my new book, Around Our Table.