Below is the latest trailer for my book Beyond the Pasta: Recipes, Language & Life with an Italian Family. RELEASE DATE: September 1, 2010 by Gemelli Press, LLC. The finishing touches are being done and soon this two year process from first keystroke to published book will be complete. Stupefacente! When I started …
“You don’t send me flowers”…
See and download the full gallery on posterous Well, “cauliflowers,” that is~ I spent this past weekend in Minneapolis visiting some dear friends—one of which was celebrating a birthday by having a little get-together at her house. Recently I have been on a cauliflower kick and when I was asked to make a pasta …
“M”…”I”…”C”…
See and download the full gallery on posterous “See you in Siena…” I have been thinking about Siena lately—Alessandra’s brother Luca, who lives in Siena, has started writing to me, even though we never met while I lived in Viterbo with his mother and sister’s family in 2005, and the layout process for the …
La Parola del Giorno…The Word of the Day~
See and download the full gallery on posterous Salsicce~ “Marco, oggi facciamo salsicce per il pranzo,” Nonna said one morning as I finished my breakfast. I thought, “Wow! We are making sausages. I have never made sausages before. Where is the sausage machine?” But, alas, I was mistaken. She meant that we were going …
There’s a fungus among us~
Funghi…Mushrooms~ “Hey, you sure are a fun-guy,” my sixth-grade science teacher would say, trying to get us all to laugh at the lame twist of pronunciation on the word “fungi.” “I think there is a fungus “among-gus,” he’d continue, as the brown-nosers in the front row would giggle and titter, while the rest of …
Le Parole del Giorno~ The Words of the Day~
See and download the full gallery on posterous MOSCA e ZANZARA~ The weather has been absolutely perfect this past week here in the Deep South. Warm, non-humid days and cool, crisp evenings have made it perfect for opening the windows and doors and eating meals outside, al fresco. And besides the blossoming azaleas, dogwoods, and …
Lights, Camera…
Play it again~ The response to my video on dishKarma has been wonderful, so wonderful in fact that it has been dishKarma’s featured video since March 1—and it is the 24th today. For those of you who haven’t seen it, I thought I’d drop it here on Beyond the Pasta for you to enjoy. If …
I’m ready for my close up~
Nonna at her finest~ Here is the last of the three videos I filmed with the Stefani family in Viterbo. I think this one really shows her spirit. She makes me laugh—a lot. The month I lived with them in 2005 was filled with laughter. The entire family is very humorous and they all know …
Lesson Number 2~
Nonna cooks Pollo con Limone~ Recently, I received an e-mail from Alessandra filling me in on all the happenings back in Viterbo. I mailed the Feb House Beautiful with the article on our house (http://www.mark-leslie.net/2010-starts-with-a-bang) to them back in early January and, when I hadn’t heard from them, I sent an e-mail making sure that …
La Parola del Giorno~ The Word of the Day~
STUPEFACENTE~ This is one of my favorite Italian words, if only for the fact that it is one of the few words I know to express astonishment. The word is pronounced “stoop-ay-fah-CHEN-tay” and you can no doubt see that it is similar to the English word “stupefying,” so you already know how to translate it. …