Cork In The Bottle

Now that our Experience Sicily Stirring Sicily East tour is complete, while still in Sicily, I’m seeking out new experiences for when you come! For example, I visited Cantina Quattrocieli in Alcamo and had a great time. Right now, they are in the middle of the grape harvest and extracting the grape juice to make…

Start The Day With Dessert

LIVE Day 2: Experience Sicily 2018 Stirring Sicily East tour with Zest! (Lititz, PA) and Chef Nino Elia in Modica, Sicily… Today, we were with loveSicily, where in our cooking class, we learned about the centuries-old traditions of chocolate making specific to Modica. How awesome to start the day with dessert!

Sour and Sweet

Caponata, pictured, is to Sicilians as salsa is to Mexicans: you’ll find it on almost every table. It is a cornerstone of Sicilian cuisine, and its agrodolce flavor is a reflection of life in Sicily – – sour and sweet at once. No two caponata recipes are the same. This one, probably the most traditional,…

You Can Too

These are the able hands of my husband, Joe, making the typical fresh pasta, busiate, from Trapani. Joe, along with our traveling companion, Fred, made a big beautiful bowl of busiate during our hands-on cooking class in Trapani’s historic center. (I contributed too, but my ringlets weren’t as well-formed around those darn reeds!). You too…

Stirring Sicily East with Nino 

We’re working hard to publish our Stirring Sicily East itinerary for September 6 to September 14, 2017, our hands-on cooking experience co-hosted by Nino Elia (pictured at the sheep farm we visited… Did I mention fresh ricotta?) and Zest of Lititz, Penn. Like last year’s itinerary, we’ll have three hands-on cooking classes (including Modica chocolate!),…

Cooking Sicily in New York City

During our Stirring Sicily tour last September, Annalisa Pompeo of GoSicily Sicilian Cooking Experience taught us how to make a savory zucchini tart in one of our hands-on lessons. Yesterday, I made it for Thanksgiving (pictured). This is the joy of taking a cooking lesson while traveling–You can share your cultural experience with friends and family for…