Featured
When in Rome
When my husband and I vacationed in Italy, we discovered that Italians have an entirely different food philosophy than Americans do. When Dan ordered coffee at a roadside stop, it was served in a ceramic cup with a saucer — no paper! That meant he had to actually sit and sip it mindfully, rather than drinking it as we continued sightseeing.
Meals in Italy were long and leisurely affairs, with multiple courses spread throughout the evening. Italians cherish mealtime as a highlight of the day. We tend to squeeze eating between our activities, rushing to finish as quickly as possible — or worse — eat while we’re shopping, driving or doing many other tasks.
What We’re Eating
-
Keep Your (Kitchen) Cool on Hot Summer Nights
On sweltering days, cooking is often the last thing I want to do. Stifling heat not only dampens my appetite, the oven and stove crank up the heat in my home. However, I am exploring a few ways to beat the summer heat: Making the Most of Technology. Many cooking innovations generate less heat than
-
What’s for Lunch?
When I was in elementary school, I typically opened my lunchbox to find a ham, baloney or salami sandwich with a cookie or snack cake and an apple. During a short period in the early 70s, we even tried “Space Food Sticks” as a treat. Pillsbury developed a consumer version of the nutritionally balanced snack
-
Mediterranean Inspiration
When we visited Spain, I fell in love with the idea of tapas, appetizers or a meal served on small plates. The tapas we had varied by the tour we were on, but they usually consisted of cheese, meat, mini omelets, or nibbles like crisps and olives. At a tiny outdoor restaurant in Cartagena, a
-
Chicken Bolognese
One of my favorite food writers recently sent a newsletter featuring a recipe for pasta Bolognese that caught my attention. Meaty, aromatic sauce Bolognese is a rich, hearty pasta sauce made from ground meat (usually beef, but sometimes pork), tomatoes, onions, carrots, milk and other ingredients and seasonings. As he pointed out, it fills your
About Us
How we discovered La Dolce Vita
My husband and I love to eat, but after his heart attack we had to make some changes.
In the beginning, I took an extreme approach, stripping meals and snacks of every trace of obvious fat. Pork chops? Gone. Meatloaf? Vanished. Rather, our meals consisted of chicken, chicken and more chicken. Delicious food suddenly seemed far beyond our reach.
Luckily, we found a new balance, discovering that such an austere diet only pushed us off the wagon more often. And in that process, we rediscovered the joy of food and a new appreciation for it as a part of our life (la dolce vita!). By poring over cookbooks, magazines and web sites, I’ve learned to prepare lighter meals that my family really wants to eat. (No small feat when our kids were younger and pushing peas under their napkins!) I’ve even found tricks to help me to coax richer flavors from food while reducing the fat and adapt recipes for old favorites.
In this blog, I’d like to share some of the tricks that I’ve learned and link to some of our favorite recipes.
LIFESTYLE
-
Sicilian Springtime Dessert
Growing up in the 60s, one of my favorite holiday desserts was Strawberry Bavarian. With a mousse-like texture, it combined whipped cream, strawberries and strawberry gelatin. I especially loved when my mom served the festive treat in blue glass dessert dishes that nested in a silver base, which she had received as a wedding gift.
-
Signs of Spring: South Jersey Asparagus
It’s time. Farm markets are rolling out the first Jersey asparagus, signaling the beginning of the spring farm season. I couldn’t wait to shop. I already had plans. When I made whole wheat fettucine a few weeks ago, I was already imagining how it would taste with fresh asparagus, so I froze half of the
-
Pasta Sundays
Sunday has always been pasta day for my husband and me — even when we were growing up. When we came home from church on Sundays, my mom started making the sauce. As we read the Sunday paper and watched the Philadelphia Eagles play, someone inevitably wandered into the kitchen to stir the bubbling mixture.
-
Egg Roll Flavors
I love egg rolls. The crispy outer shell, the crunchy vegetables and the savory flavors. But since Dan’s cardiac event, we try to avoid deep-fried foods when possible. But the social media algorithms have discovered my weakness — with a twist. Egg rolls aren’t popping up on my social media feeds. But recipe variations for
-
Hell’s Kitchen Inspiration
Last month, my sister, sister-in-law, a friend and I took a food tour of Hell’s Kitchen in New York City through Manhattan Walking Tour. Despite the drizzly, dismal December day, our tour guide, Jake, met us with a bright smile, ushering us into our first stop, Gyu-Kaku, a Japanese barbecue restaurant. We bustled through the
La Dolce Vita: Our Heart-Healthy Culinary Journey 