Cherry Tomato And Red Onion Focaccia

I love the introduction to Domenica Marchetti's The Glorious Vegetables of Italy. She recalls a trip to Venice with her family and writes that she remembers most vividly the vegetables at the Rialto farmers' market -- more so than Piazza San Marco or the gondolas. I know exactly what she means, and as soon as I read those lines, the images of all the vegetables I'd seen at the market in Venice popped back into my head too. She writes about how Italian cooking is a celebration of vegetables and goes on to show that through the many recipes in the cookbook.

Meatball Wellington From Stuffed: The Ultimate Comfort Food Cookbook

Guys! You know what's crazy? Flipping through a cookbook and seeing photos of one of your friends (not to mention his incredible recipes) in it -- because that friend has a published cookbook! My friend Dan, of The Food in My Beard fame, has written a cookbook full of recipes for stuffed foods -- from Pepperoni Bread to Pork Belly Stuffed Cornbread Bites to Pad Thai Stuffed Squid to Pina Colada Stuffed Panna Cotta. The book looks great and the recipes sound incredible! I am so happy for him.

Soup Sundays: Fregola Soup With Rosemary

Fregola is such a funny word. Honestly, it reminds me of Fraggle Rock whenever I say it. But for as funny as it sounds, that's how good it tastes. I sometimes think I could live off pasta -- there are so many different kinds. Fregola is a small pearl-shaped pasta from Sardinia. I buy it at Salumeria Italiana in the North End and also brought a bag of it home from Amalfi when we were there on our honeymoon. I love the stuff. I've often made a risotto-like mixture with it, adding lots of vegetables, and I've used it in other dishes just as I would pasta or Israeli couscous. It has such a nice toothsome texture and small shape that make it very versatile.

Recently, I came across a new (to me) way to use it: in soup!

An Honest Loaf

That's the name of the recipe I followed. And that's exactly what this bread is. An honest loaf. It's a simple mix of flours, yeast, water, and salt. Isn't it amazing that those few ingredients combine to make something as wonderful as a loaf of bread?

The Keurig Store, Burlington, Mass.

I still remember the first cup of Keurig-brewed coffee I had. I was at my friends' parents house and a bunch of us girls (we were in our early twenties then) were getting ready to head out to the bar. We needed some pre-night-out caffeine and made coffees using my friend's parents' Keurig brewer. We all (besides the designated driver) added a splash of Bailey's to our coffee. I remember being so impressed with how good the coffee was and how easy it was to make. Of course, you could argue that it was the Bailey's, but I got my own Keurig brewer soon after, and hundreds of cups of coffee later, I'm pretty sure the coffee had a lot to do with it too.

Kamut Khorasan Wheat Berries With Roasted Vegetables And Sherry Vinegar

Have you guys heard of Kamut? I'd been hearing about it recently, and it sounded right up my alley, as I love quinoa, farro, and other grains. Kamut is a brand of khorasan wheat, which is an ancient grain that has been described as a "high-energy wheat" because of its high percentage of lipids. It is higher in protein than modern wheat.

I recently got some samples of Kamut khorasan wheat berries, flour, and flakes. So far I have broken into the berries and used them in a simple dish with roasted vegetables, sherry vinegar, and Parmesan.

Soup Sundays: French Onion Soup

We arrived in Paris on a Sunday morning. We were overtired from spending the previous day in the airport, flying all night, muddling through a layover, and not really getting any sleep on the plane. But we didn't want to waste valuable sightseeing (and face-stuffing) time sleeping, so we checked into our hotel, quickly showered, dressed, and were off again, pretending we were actually running on a full night's sleep.

We were hungry but didn't know the area yet . . . and it wasn't exactly "lunchtime." We stood in front of several restaurants, assessing, consulting the TripAdvisor app, putting too much weight on our first meal in Paris. Eventually, our building hunger won, and we promised to stop at the next restaurant we saw. Worst. Idea. Ever.