Considering that the last three posts were Scotland, Ireland, and England, it seemed like I should include a Wales post before moving on from the British Isles. Unfortunately, I have not yet been to Wales, so I do not have any personal stories about amazing meals or memorable walks/scenery. I did once have a project […]
English food is often maligned, but I will happily eat in England. London boasts outstanding restaurants. The presence of the Ottolenghi restaurants alone would make it a food destination (full disclosure, I have not had the privilege of eating in any Ottolenghi restaurants, but I do own five Ottolenghi cookbooks, and the recipes are consistently […]
It is little wonder that Irish legends are tied so closely to the land and nature. Walking one of the many trails in and around The Burren, you could imagine yourself in another place and time, perhaps asleep under a tree for decades and covered by moss. Or trapped by the fairies in a stone […]
Many of us had hoped to be traveling again by now, but omicron had other plans for us. While I am dreaming of once again getting on a plane and going somewhere, my ever-increasing collection of cookware with snowflake patterns provided the perfect excuse to write about actual past travels in Scotland. I promise, this […]
It snowed this week. And, if you read the Travels to Anywhere Snowy post (https://auntastasia.blog/travels-to-anywhere-snowy/), you know that I was not entirely happy with the previous Meyer lemon snowflake cake. I gave it another try, with much better flavor results the second (and third) time – at least in my opinion. This cake has a […]
My snow obsession (as shown in the last three posts), and my Italy obsession (as shown by pretty much all of the other posts) came together one winter in Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites, in the Veneto region. When I get back to trying to include virtual travels to every Italian region through regional cooking, […]
If you are still with me after the last two posts, you know all about my snowflake obsession. Various vendors contributed to the madness this year with new snowflake pan offerings including this “cakelet” pan from Le Creuset – https://www.lecreuset.com/snowflake-cakelet-pan/MB301S.html. I’m just going to call them cupcakes from this point. Admittedly, I can be tempted […]
I love snow. I much prefer winter to summer, snow to sand. I understand that these are not particularly popular opinions, but I will take 28° F over 98° F any day. Love of winter led to a love of skiing, and I have had the good fortune of being able to ski in some […]
Danish butter wreaths, Moravian spice, Belgian speculaas, Dutch spice, Swedish Pepparkakor, just to name a few – I’ve tried to make them all, and many more. Nothing says Christmas to me like Christmas cookies, and every year I try a few new recipes in addition to my standbys. It also seems that I buy more […]
Things have been a bit crazy, and, unfortunately, here we are again/still – back to virtual travel. Several years ago, I found myself in Milan for work just a few weeks before Christmas. My hotel was within a couple blocks of the Duomo, so there were opportunities to take pictures at various times of day. […]