Today marks a milestone I’ve been dreaming of for a long time: ‘A Kitchen in Italy’, published by Clarkson Potter, is officially out in the world. This book is a love letter to the places, people, and meals that have shaped my life. It’s a journey through Italian food and the stories behind the recipes […]

I started this blog over thirteen years ago, and for several years, it served as my way of sharing my recipes, life, and passions with all of you. Over time, Instagram became the primary medium for sharing and communication, making it feel a bit dated to continue this blog. So, I decided to close it […]

Tonight is the last day of the Chinese lunar calendar. We are entering the year of the dog, particularly auspicious as we have so many dogs in the family (my father, my husband, my son), from an astrology perspective and also because many are actually… dogs. I’ve been in the best of moods all week, […]

Sunday raid Sundays everywhere tend to be quiet but here in Médoc, especially in winter, they are extra quiet. All the stores are closed, there are no markets after lunch, there is nothing. Of course we always have good food around the house so I know we won’t starve, that would take weeks, but while […]

The Fruits of fall and vegetables of winter A few weeks ago, on a Sunday, the girls were playing rough in their room and broke an old chair they used for their desk. A pity as it was a nice chair … but these things happen. Fortunately, about the easiest thing to replace in our […]

Mr McDonnell’s way “Happy wife, happy life!” said Mr McDonnell as we drove (incredibly fast) in his Mercedes from Dublin to Limerick on a very grey but green afternoon in late October. It was his way of explaining why he had been prepared, on a Saturday, to drive 3 hours to Dublin airport and then […]

“On days like these when skies are blue and fields are green” it’s hard to imagine that we were ever in winter or in early Spring. That there were ever days when the trees were bare, the vineyards grey and empty. The cherries in our garden have come and gone, the strawberries are retreating, the […]

Last year Oddur and I had great fun with a little post we did sometime in January, looking back at the year behind us, remembering some of the things that stuck in our memory. Not necessarily the most important things or the highlights but the things we thought might be amusing or useful for you […]

TUESDAY, P.M. Dear Carl I’m so glad you came over the other night; it was so very nice being with you, and may I say you’ve never looked so pretty nor been more charming – which is saying a good deal! Best Maurice It was the last day of my book tour in New York. […]

On an evening in late January 2014 I called Rica, my editor at Clarkson Potter. I had just (almost) finished my first cookbook – although according to Rica “we still had so much work to do”. The phone call was scheduled so we could go over the next steps, the cover, the title, all the […]