Panzanella INGREDIENTS 5 cups stale bread 1 lb. Roma tomatoes, chopped and drained 1¼ cups peeled and diced cucumber 1 cup fresh basil ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 T. red wine vinegar 1 tsp. sea salt ½ tsp. black pepper Basil leaves for garnish DIRECTIONS Put the stale bread in a [...]

Cantucci Siriana Fumi teaches a master class for Tuscan Women Cook, a cooking school based in Montefollonico, and her cantucci is a favorite. Cantucci is a Tuscan almond biscotti (meaning “twice cooked”). Cantucci is traditionally served with vin santo and dipped into the drink for a delightfully sweet and crunchy dessert. You [...]

The four C's of fruit desserts: Cobbler, Crumble, Crisp, and Crunch! Confession: I have been a little confused by the differences in a cobbler, crumble or crisp! Even crunch, which is apparently another name for a crisp. One thing they all have in common are these ingredients: flour, sugar, butter [...]

This may seem like a very simple dish, hardly worthy of a recipe, but there are so many choices you can make to dress this dish up for any party or dinner, I thought it would be fun to include. Jess' Sliced Tomatoes Tomato Sea Salt Olive Oil Basil leaves [...]

This is a simple appetizer but so refreshing and perfect for summer. You need three simple ingredients and skewers to make a flavorful and filling appetizer for your guests: fresh basil leaves, cherry tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella balls. This is a version of the Italian Caprese salad without the olive oil [...]

Chef Zachary Dickerson of Cerulean has recently served up this winner for a few events and it is absolutely my favorite bread pudding recipe.Caramel Sauce1 cup sugar¼ cup water (just enough to help the sugar melt)½ cup heavy cream (room temperature)¼ cup butter (room temperature)Splash of bourbon (roughly 2 tablespoons)Pinch of [...]

One of my winter favorites is an old-fashioned vegetable soup. I'm famous for not using recipes, but here are the ingredients and how I make my soup. Ingredients: Chopped whole onion 3-4 stalks of chopped celery Carton of organic chicken broth Variations of vegetables including carrots, mushrooms, green beans, corn, [...]

This hearty soup is perfect for a dreary winter day. Here are the ingredients for the Bluebird's Sausage, Potato, and Kale Soup. Ingredients: 4 strips Marksbury Farm thick-cut bacon, sliced 1 pound Marksbury Farm Zesty Italian sausage 5 unpeeled large russet potatoes, chopped into cubes 8 cups chicken broth 3 [...]

The name Chess Pie has a couple of possible derivations. One idea is that it was kept in a pie chest like many pies prior to refrigeration, and eventually, the "t" was dropped. The other idea is that on-hand ingredients were used to whip up what was called "just pie" [...]

Ingredients: ½ lb. shredded gouda cheese ¼ lb. shredded pepper jack cheese ¼ cup mayo ½ lb. softened cream cheese 1 tsp minced garlic ¼ cup medium diced roasted red pepper 1 jalapeno seeded and finely diced 1 tsp onion powder 1 tbsp buttermilk salt and pepper to taste Instructions: [...]

Jess tried a pork chop recipe that was so delicious, I have to share it with you. It came from a favorite recipe book called the Sicilian Gentleman's Cookbook by Don Baratta. My Kentucky gentleman made my night when he served this for supper. Ingredients: 6 center-cut Marksbury Farm pork [...]

The ingredients in this salad blend to create a special flavor combination that is difficult to describe, but perfect for a warm day. It's no wonder this salad was featured by Southern Living in The South's Best Cheap Eats. Salad Spring mix or wild lettuce mix 2 oz blue cheese [...]

When tomatoes unexpectedly arrived from a friend in Tennessee, I pulled out the canner and the dehydrator to preserve these vine-ripened early surprises. I've had my dehydrator for years, and it's wonderful for many things, but I mainly use it to make sun-dried tomatoes that are (obviously) not sun-dried. While Italians [...]