This dish is the Italian version of tuna noodle casserole.  Several years ago while visiting family in Sicily, a cousin invited me to dinner.  He was cooking what looked like a simple marinara sauce to me.  Then he proceeded to put canned tuna in it.  My initial thought (or horror) – when I saw him putting […]

Anginetti are basic Italian drop cookies made in households throughout southern Italy.  I swear that almost every Italian nonna (grandmother) makes these, including mine.  These soft, cake-like, vanilla cookies have a sugar glaze on top and are usually decorated with colored nonpareils.  This basic cookie can be made in a variety of flavors – anise, […]

A Sfincione is a thick Sicilian pizza that is essentially a focaccia (in Italian) when not made with a tomato sauce topping. Just like focaccia, the dough is lightly crusty and soft on the inside. This sfincione is made with sundried tomatoes, black olives, cacio cheese, anchovies, and oregano. Sicilians love anchovies in their sfincione. […]

  My daughter Amanda decided she was going to start a mini-farm this year.  Mind you, she has never grown a vegetable in all her life.  I was really amazed at all the stuff she grew.  Some of the squash looked like they were on steroids.  Unlike the rest of my family I have never had […]

When we were kids my sister and I couldn’t wait for summer to arrive.  That meant family outings to Southhold Beach on the North Fork of Long Island.  My dad would surf fish while we would while the day away sun bathing, beach combing, or scouring rocks for mussels during low tide.  Later that evening […]