How did it get to be December? I flew into JFK this past week and there was holiday music playing throughout the terminal…I was immediately jolted into reality. Wake UP girl! The holidays will be here before you know it, so you might as well enjoy it and stock up on Prosecco. I do feel like I have already received an early Christmas gift. Two actually, and I’d like to share them with you.

First, I’m so pleased to have made the acquaintance of Mary Taylor Simeti, the author of “On Persephone’s Island: A Sicilian Journal”, one of my favorite books about one of my favorite places and required reading if you’re traveling to Sicily. Here’s the good news...we have been invited to visit her (!) at Bosco Falconeria, her home and vineyard this April during our Divine Sicily Spring 2012 Food & Wine Tour. Take a moment to read about Bosco and see why I’m so excited about spending time with this extraordinary woman and her family. Why not join us in April and meet Ms. Simeti? You can sign up here.

My second early gift was a path-crossing re-connection with another gifted woman, the food and wine writer Alice Feiring. Her new book, “Naked Wine”, is an eye-opening read about the wine industry, specifically the controversy surrounding natural wine, and the pioneer natural wine makers who are finally being recognized. This book would make a thoughtful gift for all of your wine-centric friends and they'll realize how hip you are to the wine scene. You can order it here on Amazon.com (Book Cover link)

For your foodie friends on your gift list, I suggest you check out the gorgeous cookbook "PLENTY" by Yotam Ottolenghi. This recipe from his book, “Crusted Pumpkin Wedges with Sour Cream” is uber-easy and I’ve found that you can substitute just about any type of winter squash for the pumpkin.

Photo via Proud Italian CookTake about a 1 ½ to 2 pound pumpkin, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and cut into wedges. Brush each wedge, front and back with olive oil. The take about a handful of freshly grated parmesan, and another handful of breadcrumbs and toss in a bowl with a generous amount of chopped parsley and thyme, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, zest from 1 lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. I like to add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes to mine. Press the mixture onto both sides of the pumpkin and roast on a parchment lined baking sheet at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with sour cream. It's a perfect side dish for the holidays.

Yes, it's time for the grape harvest in Sicily...the vendemmia. But grapes are also in season here in the States. I've been buying fresh concord grapes at the farmer's market, and picking wild grapes along the roadside to make my annual batch of wild grape jelly. Some folks discover tai chi or needlepoint later in life. I discovered grapes. And then there's the fermented juice, WINE!, which I've studied quite a bit in the past five years. Here is a seasonal recipe that will make you grape happy, too. Schiacciata con L'uva is traditionally served as a snack when there is an abundance of grapes in the vineyard and people are hungry from working the harvest. I've had many versions of this in Italy, some with pine nuts, and one with the addition of sugar, making it more of a breakfast treat to be washed down with hot espresso in the morning. I've used fresh concords in this, but you must remove the seeds beforehand. Here is my offering of grape happiness to you.

Grape and Gorgonzola Focaccia, better known in Italy as Schiacciata con L'uva

I've enjoyed this in the winter, substituting the grapes for plump raisins that I've hydrated in Marsala or passito to give it a Sicilian slant. If you are in a pinch for time you can use pizza dough from your favorite pizzeria or fresh store-bought as a stand-in for the focaccia recipe. 

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 

1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves 

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

2 teaspoons active dry yeast 

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus more as needed 

3/4 cup cornmeal 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, (about 2 links) casings removed. Crumbled, cooked, and drained

1 cup sliced red grapes

1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese 

In a small skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Stir in the rosemary leaves and fennel seeds. Remove from heat and let cool. 

Place 3/4 cup lukewarm water in a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over it and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. 

Stir in the olive oil mixture, flour, ½ cup cornmeal, and salt. Stir until a dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic – about 8 to 10 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is very sticky – you want damp but not unworkable dough. Oil a large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat it lightly with the oil. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let it rise until the dough has doubled, about 1 hour.

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Oil a large pizza pan with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining cornmeal. Place the pan in the oven for 5 minutes. 

Punch down the dough and pat it into the preheated pizza pan, covering the entire surface. Scatter the cooked Italian sausage over the dough, and then the grapes, pressing them in lightly. Sprinkle with gorgonzola and bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 6 to 8 servings. 

Good news! Since our spring trip to Sicily this year was such a success, we've decided to offer another for 2012. We have just met some new Sicilian wine makers and have lots of new places and faces for us to explore and meet this spring. The dates for our new "Exploring Sicily with Knife, Fork, and Wineglass" will take place April 14th-April 23rd, 2012. The itinerary will be posted soon on our website, so start making plans to join us!

Buon giorno! Seems like these days have been filled with all sorts of things that are wonderful and really easy to do. For instance, am I the last person in the world to know that if you add a teaspoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk and let it stand for 15 minutes, you'll get buttermilk?!

One of my latest favorite things to make for lunch is pesto! I make my own version that's easy and so tasty. First, I pick a few leaves from my two different basil plants on the balcony. The plant with the smaller leaves has packs such a punch of flavor.Then, I add a few cloves of garlic and some great olive oil. Right now I'm using some I bought at Mandranova while Cynthia and I were on the spring tour.

I put these ingredients together in my little cylinder measuring container that came with my immersion blender (that I got with my supermarket points) and whip it into a delicious green liquid. Then, I pour it into my pan, add some grated cheese, right now I'm loving the tangy goodness of pecorino. My final touch is a few pieces of a fresh hot pepper. Toss with some pasta and there you have it, a great lunch!Until next time, wish you were here!

Buon giorno! Seems like ages since I've been here at the Farmhouse Table! I've been having such a fun filled summer.

I met my mom in Scotland the last couple of weeks in July. We had a fantastic time visiting castles and pubs. The history was fascinating and the landscape breathtaking. We found great local beer and I discovered that I do like Scotch whisky after all.  The weather was ideal, which was great because my suitcase never arrived, but that's a different story.

When I got back, seems like right on cue, like a summertime Santa with a grin from ear to ear, Alfio's dad brought us melons! This year not only did he bring a watermelon but he brought three big Casaba melons too!

We have been spending the evenings under the pergola, chatting, playing cards, drinking wonderful homemade liquor and laughing. I seem to be getting Sicilian dialect lessons and my favorite new phrases are, "inchi u biccheri" (fill up the glass), "stuppa a buttigghia" (cork the bottle),"non murmuriari" (don't badmouth under your breath) and "mammitta bedda"(this has so many uses from expressing sadness or anger to exclaiming how good looking a person is) We all giggle when I say any of these phrases or anything in dialect. I guess it's the same for anyone learning a new language. One of Enzo's friends who moved to Australia was trying to explain to a shop keeper that he needed a colander and it came out as, "ariap ariap e maccaruna stop" (which means, the water goes fast(hurry up) and the macaroni stops). So, that has been Alfio's phrase this season, for everything!

Now that fig season is starting, I have to tell you about my favorite new decadent splurge. It's a baguette with some creamy gorgonzola, prosciutto crudo and fresh green figs.(sorry, no photo, this disappeared before I could get the camera) This is a great treat to serve in bite size pieces with a refreshing summer cocktail made with peaches blended with amaretto. Pour some into a tall flute and top with Prosecco.

Until next time, wish you were here!

With the warm days of summer, I have decided to switch from my normal red table wine to tasting a variety of rosés and some white wines that are lighter and pair better with grilled veggies, seafood, and salads. I have done a very informal survey of white wine drinkers and it seems that most them are in a Pinot Grigio groove. Yes, it's a tasty drinkable wine, easy to sip and reasonably priced, but I'm proposing that you break out and try a Sicilian white wine that is all that and more. Grillo ("greel-loe") is a classic Sicilian grape that's been around for thousands of years and that most of us have never heard of. It's a variety so ancient that it was used in one of Julius Caesar's favorite wines, the sweet, luscious Mamertino of Messina. 

In more recent centuries, Grillo toiled anonymously as the primary grape of Marsala, the strongly fortified, Sherry-like wine of Western Sicily, which is better known to most of the world as a cooking wine, the base for dishes such as chicken Marsala and Zabaglione.

Today, the Sicilian wine industry uses the Grillo grape not only for making Marsala, but for producing a refreshing, bold, and citrusy white table wine. It especially appeals to red wine drinkers as it delivers a full, "big-shouldered" taste. Next time you're at your favorite wine store, reach for a bottle of Grillo and have a taste of Sicilian sunshine. 

To experience a true "taste of place" you should consider joining us this fall for either our Divine Sicily Fall Cuisine and Culture Tour (September 10th-19th) or the Divine Sicily Fall Wine and Culture Tour (September 24th-October 3rd) . Whichever one you choose, you'll be able to taste and tour vineyards that produce Grillo and Marsala wine, found mainly on the west coast of the island of Sicily. Please contact me with any questions you may have about our small group trips.

A reminder: We give professional discounts to folks who are in the food and wine industry.

While they continued, I started wondering what to do with all of the plums that Alfio's friend, Giuseppe, brought us. I've been eating them and eating them, but we're still knee deep and the mountain never gets smaller. Then I thought about the wonderful Christmas Crostata that Cynthia wrote about. I used the recipe for the crust and then spread a thin layer of plum jam that my friend, Rosetta, had given me and arranged plum halves that I had mixed with a couple of spoonfuls of brown sugar.

We just had the crostata downstairs with everyone. It was good but not my best. I still encourage you to try it. I've also made this crostata with peach jam that Alfio's mom had given me. Yum!

Now, it's back to the beach. Until next time, wish you were here!

One of my favorite meals was one we had the other night.  We took the two fresh cod (merluzzo) fillets that we got downstairs and with skin side down, spread a thin layer of some stone ground mustard. Then we dragged the fish through some simple toasted breadcrumbs and placed them on a baking sheet. Drizzled a bit of our olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt (that I got on our spring tour when we were at the salt mills). We put it in the oven and baked it about 20-25 minutes without turning. It was something special. We had it with a simple side of spinach that I made with garlic, a fresh chili and again, a drizzle of our olive oil. While we ate, we enjoyed a bottle of Abbadessa, a special white wine that I got at Baglio Donna Franca, one of our "homes" in Marsala during our spring tour. To quote my dear friend Ben, " my mouth's watering just thinking about it!"

Out of the kitchen I've been having some carefree summer fun. Boat rides, bar-b-ques, a mid-evil hill town and even a family reunion.

I'm off to Scotland in a couple of weeks to meet my mom for ten days. I don't think the weather will be as sizzling, but I'm sure we'll have a ball just the same.
Until next time, wish you were here!

A highlight of our travels across Sicily is staying at Azienda Agricola Mandranova, a gorgeous olive estate located near Agrigento on the south coast of the island within view of the Mediterranean Sea. Silvia and Giuseppe di Vincenzo produce four different monocultivar olive oils by combining modern methods with traditional knowledge. Mandranova olive oils are not only excellent quality, but are true expressions of the land and people of Sicily. Recently, we were happy to learn from Silvia that their oils are now available in the U.S. at Eataly in New York City.

Silvia and Giuseppe di VincenzoOne of my favorite "taste memories" is the first time Giuseppe offered me a sample of theirfreshly pressed olive oil - it was a revelation. It surprised me and changed my thinking about how olive oil should taste. That moment, with the smell of the sea breeze gently swaying the olive grove, made me realize that this is what The Farmhouse Table is about - a taste of place. Like wine, the olive oil reflects the earth, sun, rain, and loving care of where it is grown.

In April, I'll be going back to visit Silvia and Giuseppe at Mandranova with some lucky folks who have decided to experience this for themselves. I'm so excited about spending time there, having a cooking class with Silvia and walking among the olive trees. Let me know if you'd like to come along in September, we'll reserve a place for you.

Frank Cornelissen's vineyards and new cellar are in the Mt. Etna region of Sicily. He is more than a winemaker, he is a steward of the land, where he transforms his pressed grapes in terra cotta amphora, buried in the cellar in crushed volcanic rock from Mt. Etna.

You'll have an opportunity to meet this controversial master, and taste his extraordinary wines on theupcoming Divine Sicily Food and Wine Tour, April 9th through the 18th,  2011. There's still time, and a few spaces left to join us on this food and wine adventure.

And we have some great news! Because of an improvement in the dollar/euro exchange rate, we are able to reduce our price for the April trip by $200, making it an even greater value. Those who have already made deposits will have their "balance due" reduced by $200. Please contact me with any questions regarding our upcoming trip at:tropicalstormcindy@gmail.com.