Blue Sky is Big

I am always amazed at how restorative a one day get away is. Monday we took a ride to Portland, Maine. Todd had some business to do so I went along for the ride. Monday can be a tough day because many of the shops and restaurants are closed. But we lucked out. I had a little sushi down on the wharf, while Todd ate at Walter's, a restaurant with a good reputaion for delicious food. I found Spoil Me Rotten a beautiful shop where I could have spent much more than my budget would allow. Budget is another word for guilt. I did find a perfect spring jacket. The kind my mother would have suggeted neede a good pressing......wrinkly perfect for packing and a beautiful color, good line for my fat ass and my pear shaped body. I sat in a cute coffee shop, all of these places were on Exchange street, by the way, and read magazines. To my delight I discovered that Lydia Shire, a wonderful chef from one of my favorite all time restaurants, Biba, has opened a place in York Beach. Well we spent a lot of time in that area as a child and York was a sort of honky tonk place, so I was intrigued. It was perfect for our ride home, cause we would have a lot of the driving behind us. The place has the Biba touches, colorful, exciting, high end Beachy. I an old wooden hotell, now restored we had a perfect meal. Started with a lamb pizza, with heat and just the right amount of spice. Then we had oxtail with yuca, and a salad with Robiola cheese and crystallized walnut. For dessert there was a to die for pecan pie. Todd said this morning that we should drive up just for the pie it was so good. I can't wait for the warmer weather to return to the area. Perfect day trip. little beach, a little shopping and ending with such a memorable meal. Out server recommended a delicious Pinot Noir, and her service and everything about the experience was understated. My Roman relatives would sau "It5 is just as important what you leave out as what you put it". That goes for ambience, food and service, I feel If you go to blueskyonyorkbeach.com, more info. Happy daytripping.

Ricotta Pancakes

We had a few days in San Francisco recently. When we return to a city like San Fran, New York we like to revisit ourfavorite restaurants. We were so impressed with "Quince" we made a reservation at a hotel nearby so we could have at least one of our dinners there. As it turned out they were booked but they put us on a wait list and we luckily got in. It didn't disappoint us. The pasta dishes are so exciting that Todd ordered two. The pasta is made on the premises. Small portions, big flavors, not to be missed if you visit the city. Another place that we love is the "Mandarin Orientale", very chic. We stayed there as part of a fam tour a number of years ago. We had breakfast there this time. I had ricotta pancakes which the waitress kind of walked me thru with the help of the breakfast cook.........2 eggs beaten with a little vanilla until light and fluffy. On low speed mix in about a cup of ricotta and three tbsp. honey and the zest of a lemon. In another bowl mix a cup of flour, cake is preferred, with a tsp. of baking powder and a pinch of salt.. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and gently mix together. Add enough milk to make the kind of pancakes you prefer, start with a quarter cup. We prefer ours thin. Heat a grill and butter lightly and you are good to go. It's Easter and I am making them for breakfast with some breakfast sausage, just like I had them at the Mandarin Orientale.....with some Vermont Maple Syrup. Happy Easter. Can't wait for Spring.

Buona Pasqua

I am so excited. This is the most technical thing I have ever done! I'm a blogger.

But I much prefer the kitchen.

This morning I made three Pizza Rusticas or Pizza Gennas for Sunday. It wouldn't seem like Easter without it. They are sitting on my Island counter, which is a huge butcher block left over from my restaurant. They look beautiful and the aroma brings back so many wonderful memories.

For me the holidays are about revisiting some of those special recipes. I can see my Noni in her apron. She always had a few safety pins attached to it. Around the house she wore her slippers. Her wood burning stove in the cellar was where she did a lot of her holiday cooking. Her skin was so soft and she smelled of everything delicious" a little garlic, a little Ivory soap, olive oil, pancetta", whatever she may have been cooking that day.

"How much flour, how much sugar, how much, how long do you bake it," I would ask, and her answers were always vague. A shot glass, a handfull, make it nice and smooth and you'll be able to tell by how it looks when it's done. Thanks a lot Noni. You were a fabulous cook, but a terrible recipe translator.

I am at the stage where I think a lot about how my children and grandchildren will remember me. I think about what their image of me will be when I'm no longer here. Of course it will be about food, making pasta, cookies, cakes together.

I ask them all the time "Who is the best cook in the family?" You are Noni. It is music to my ears. More than two decades of customers at my restaurant and you never tire of compliments... at least, I never do.

I always tell my students now that if you have an appreciative audience to cook for it is a beautiful thing. I hope you are fortunate to have this. If you have any memories you would like to share, what's the language? Come to my blog, visit my blog? Can't wait to hear from you.

Welcome

This is Rosalie's new blog.