Clair de Lune

The true joy of a moonlit night is something we no longer understand. Only the men of old, when there were no lights, could understand the true joy of a moonlit night. ― Yasunari Kawabata It’s 3:00 a.m.  A teething baby in need of soothing has kept me awake.  It’s now silent, finally, in my home… Read More

Almond Praline Cake with Mascarpone Frosting and Chocolate Bark

A party without cake is just a meeting.  —Julia Child There’s a special place in the lexicon of decadent birthday cakes for layer cakes made with exotic and rich accoutrements like a dense chocolate ganache and mascarpone frosting.  So, when I had to make a birthday cake this weekend I aimed for nothing less than… Read More

Buongiorno: Practical Tips for Travel to Italy

This post is inspired by a question from Josephine, a dear friend and member of our Petit World Citizen community.  In response to recent posts about our family vacation to Italy, she asked if I could spend some time discussing the practicalities—such as learning the language, obtaining a visa, and exchanging and handling money—for travel… Read More

Ciao Ciao A Tutti

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. – Lin Yutang I relax on an old wooden bench in the piazza just around the corner from our hotel.  The sound of the water splashing in the center fountain competes with the… Read More

La Cucina Profumata

It was a cuisine made of labor and patience and the love of aromatic herbs. It was a cuisine of lean folk who lived on lean land—sea cliffs and terraces hewn by hand from solid stone—and lean olive trees. — Vittorio G. Rossi, nostalgic of his native Ligurian cuisine Before traveling to Liguria, I was… Read More