In Cucina

 Hello!  Welcome to my culinary blog.  I have been blogging for a long while.  I have a dog blog and a creative blog, where I write about my sewing, quilting and crocheting.  I have been feeling lately that my newest creative enthrallment has been in the kitchen. 

I have been cooking since I was a young kid.  As a latch key child, it was a necessity to be able to prepare my own food. Cooking has played a pretty important part in my family from the beginning.  I am a second generation Italian American on my father's side and Anglo-Saxon Celtic on the other.  Both of my parents were very good cooks.  My father in particular took great pride in his cooking and creating family recipes.  I remember my father teaching me to make gnocci on our kitchen table.  The big pile of flour and potatoes, making the well, adding the eggs, mixing the dough and rolling out the little dumplings with our fingers.  I have loved making those family recipes as an adult.

I have always enjoyed cooking.  It has been a very important part of my life, especially in the past year.  I found myself unemployed due to auto-immune condition and have a lot of time on my hands.  When my husband said that I could be like a housewife, I was releived and thrilled.  I had not been able to cook while I was working.  By the time I got home, I was just too exhausted.  Now, I have the time and energy for cooking!

It was a bit of a challange at first.  I have been following a pretty strict diet due to my illness to see if I could alleviate my symptoms and improve my quality of life.  This meant eating gluten-free, dairy free, fresh produce, avoid processed foods, sugar and chemical free.  The challenge proved to one I can deal with, for the most part.

Anyway, I have decided that this blog will be my way to share all of the fun I have been having in the kitchen instead of just being one of those annoying people who posts pictures of their food on facebook.

Take the grilled duck pictured above.  My husband challenged me on this idea.  Challenge accepted!  I did my homework and the results are, if I do say so myself, one of the best things I have ever cooked.  A standing rack, a drip pan and indirect grilling with a mango chipotle bbq sauce.  Making sure to score the skin to encourage the fat to escape.  Add a salad with greens from my garden and steamed asparagus.  He loved it!

I hope to be a good blogger and post more frequently that I have been on my other blogs.  I also hope you have fun here.  I plan to have fun.

Until next time, Ciao!
Birdie in cucina