BWW

collane e grembiule / beads and apron

| Simona
Carnival beads

special Carnival beads for LongHouse Austin

After showing you one of the tables we set, here are two more images from LongHouse Food Revival Austin. At the entrance, people could pick up a strand of appropriately themed Carnival beads.

The Hip Gilr's guide to Homemaking

"step away from the takeout menu"

Kate of The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking set up this nice table with copies of her book. Don't you love the apron?

If you are curious to see more about the event than the details I shared, on this page there is a nice slide show of images by Jo Ann Santangelo.

This week, I have the honor of hosting Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event. created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar. Send your contribution at simosite AT mac DOT com, namely

  • your name
  • your blog's name
  • the image(s) (max 500 px wide, either orientation)

You have until Tuesday, February 26 at midnight Pacific time to do so. If you are unfamiliar with the event or need a reminder of the rules, you will find the details in this post (and in Italian here). Feel free to use the logo below. If you have a photo, but no blog, send it to me and I will include it in the roundup, which will be published on Wednesday, February 27.

Since messages can get lost, please, contact me again if you don't get an answer to your email or a comment on your blog within a couple of days of emailing me.

New bww logoThis is my contribution to edition #72 of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Simona of briciole.

The photos were shot in color and then converted, the top one to sepia (Lightroom preset Sepia Tone) and the bottom one to black and white (Lightroom preset Split Tone 2).

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

Related articles
la tavola è pronta / the table is set

cavolo riccio / Red Russian kale

| Simona
Red Russian kale

Red Russian kale after a spring shower

"Eat more kale" say nuritionists. That's quite easy for us, since kale grows readily in my little vegetable patch. So much so, that's hard for us to keep up with it. Fortunately, our local food bank accepts donations of fresh vegetables from gardens, so I can bring a bagful there. And recently, I found a use for the blossoms, but that is a story for another day.

I noticed that rain droplets make pretty patterns on the textured leaves of my Red Russian kale and yesterday I was able to capture an image that satisfies my aesthetic sense.

BWWLOGOThe photo above is my contribution to edition #34 of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Sra of When My Soup Came Alive.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white.

This post contains the gallery of photos submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

fantasia di fagioli / a fantasia of beans

| Simona
Warren Creek Farms beans

Paul's Mix

When a customer asks Paul Giuntoli what are his favorite beans among the kinds he sells at the Arcata Farmers' Market, he answers: "Paul's Mix." I interpret this to mean not only that he stands behind his signature bean mix, but also that he loves them all. Paul's Mix includes black, borlotti, calypso, canario, Jacob's cattle, speckled bayo, yellow eye beans — and another one or two varieties I can't remember now. Warren Creek Farms' organic beans are truly outstanding — and photogenic.

BWWLOGOThe photo above is my contribution to edition #33 of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Sarawathi of Sara's Corner.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia.

This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

eleganza / elegance

| Simona
Bel Paese in the mold

elegant draping of the cloth

In this photo I took during the cheese-making workshop I attended recently, you see the Bel Paese cheese we made on day 2 early in the draining period. The cheese has been flipped once, as evidenced by the surface, and will be flipped several more times before being brined. The linen cloth's folds fall in elegant folds over the mold. I ♥ this photo.

BWWLOGOThis is my second contribution to edition #32 of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Simona of briciole. Details regarding the event are in this post.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white.

This post contains the gallery of photos submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

mezzaluna e prezzemolo / mezzaluna and parsley

| Simona
mezzaluna and parsley

mezzaluna and parsley

I recently prepared a dish with a lot of chopped parsley called frità an bagna. In the relevant post, I wrote: "With the precious help of my mezzaluna, chopping the parsley (divided into two batches) was a breeze." I took the photo right before starting to chop the second batch.

I ♥ my mezzaluna — and the parsley from my little vegetable garden.

BlackWhiteWednesdayFinalOriginalLogoThis is my contribution to edition #29 of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. After a few weeks hiatus, Susan has made some changes to the structure of her popular photo event and restarted again this week.

The top photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white.

This post contains the gallery of photos submitted to the event.

grissini / breadsticks

| Simona
grissini morbidi

grissini morbidi

A few days ago, I decided to make a recipe from Daniel Leader's Local Breads called Rosemary Breadsticks. It is a variation of a Rosemary Filone where the dough is shaped into sticks rather than loaves. I halved the quantities and got the nice breadsticks in the photo. As it happens every time you bake something with rosemary, the kitchen was full of a nice aroma.

These are not the typical crisp grissini I used to eat in Italy. Those are going to be my next bread-baking project. Stay tuned.

BlackWhiteWednesdayFinalOriginalLogoAnd stay tuned also for the return of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. After a few weeks hiatus, Susan is back blogging. She has hinted at changes to the structure of her popular photo event when it starts again. While waiting for the details, I am getting back into the habit of sharing a black and white photo.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia.

superficie / surface

| Simona
DSC_0003-1

One of the cheeses I have made this year is this pretty canestrato, for which I followed Jim Wallace’s recipe. Jim’s post describes the cheese, whose name comes from canestro (basket), and includes a number of nice photos. Not having a canestro, I used a ricotta basket to mold the cheese. My rendition looked really pretty at this stage.

The cheese is about half way through its aging period (stagionatura): I will cut it in a couple of months and then share the result of the tasting.

Black and White Wednesday is on hold while Susan takes some time off to focus on her health. Following on the footsteps of Brii and Haalo, I am publishing a black and white photo post on Wednesday as a special well-wishing card for Susan.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

superficie

or launch the superficie audio file [mp3].

 [Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

raccolto / harvest

| Simona
Photobw

baby white icicle radishes as diamonds in the rough

Last year, a friend of mine gave me a packet of seeds (semi) written in Russian. From the picture and my very limited knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet, I gathered that the seeds were for white icicle radish (ravanello candela di ghiaccio). I sowed a few and they all sprouted quickly. I thinned the seedlings, adding the harvested leaves to salads. But I didn't choose the right time to pull out the mature radishes, so the harvest was so-so.

The expert gardener who helps me keep my little jungle under control sowed the rest of the seeds and once again sprouting occurred quickly. This time, I did less thinning and decided to let the radishes get just to a baby size and then harvest them. The photo above (taken with my phone) shows my first batch: don't they look cute?

DSC_0020cw

baby white icicle radishes (Rafanus sativus)

I cut off the top and used it with other greens to make this dish. I then scrubbed the radishes to show them off to the camera. I am not an expert on this root vegetable, so I am not sure how the white icicle radishes' flavor compares to that of other varieties. They are quite peppery (piccanti) and I have read them described as "more hot than mild." I am planning to add them to a root roast.

Black and White Wednesday is on hold while Susan takes some time off to focus on her health. Following on the footsteps of Brii and Haalo, I am publishing a black and white photo post on Wednesday as a special well-wishing card for Susan.

The photos wer shot in color and then converted the top one to sepia and the bottom one to black and white.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

raccolto

 or launch the raccolto audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

un’altra foto per Susan / another photo for Susan

| Simona
strawberry risotto

strawberry risotto

In past years, I have tried two or three different recipes to make risotto alle fragole, but was never satisfied with the result, so I changed course and developed a recipe for risotto ai lamponi. But the basket of strawberries that I brought back from a recent visit to the Temescal farmers' market, inspired me to give risotto alle fragole another try, and this time the result was good. I am not yet ready to post the recipe, so for now you'll have to be satisfied with only a photo. Update: the recipe is in this post (with a small change from the version shown in this photo.)

Black and White Wednesday is on hold while Susan takes some time off to focus on her health. Following on the footsteps of Brii and Haalo, I am publishing a black and white photo on Wednesday as a special well-wishing card for Susan.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white.

una foto per Susan / a photo for Susan

| Simona
Beachcomber Cafe Trinidad CA

Side view of the Beachcomber Cafe, Trinidad (CA)

The Beachcomber Cafe is a special place and you can tell just by looking at the outside. 

Beachcomber Cafe Trinidad CA

Side view of the Beachcomber Cafe, Trinidad (CA)

The wonderful young women who own the Cafe (and its younger sister, Beachcomber 2, in Bayside) decided in early 2008 to forgo paper cups. Customers who cannot, or prefer not to, sit down to enjoy their drink on the premises bring their own mug or purchase a mason jar (which is, of course, totally reusable). The system works beautifully.

Black and White Wednesday is on hold while Susan takes some time off to focus on her health. I had prepared this post for week #28 of the event. Following on the footsteps of Brii and Haalo, who last week published a photo for Susan (here and here), I am publishing this post as a special card for Susan.

The photo was shot in color and then I played a bit with the black and white setting in Photoshop to get the two light sepia photos.