Wanderlust: Italia Edition

"Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." 

-Sophia Loren

I've written about wanderlust here before but now I've got it bad.  I feel like sitting in LAX and just choosing the first flight I spot on the departures screen (fingers crossed I score Shanghai or Milan and not Springfield or Midland).  

At the moment though, I continually dream of Italia--it happens every year at this time when I recall my last adventures there in 2008.  This yearning was made even more unquenchable after seeing the Wall Street Journal's entire "Off Duty" section was devoted to Italy.  (insert Italianate hand gestures of frustration here)

Brunching: Fig and Ricotta Pancakes

Growing up, the only fig I ever met came in the form of a Newton.  Now in the agricultural paradise known as California, I am lucky to have all varieties of fresh, seasonal produce available for culinary experimentation.  

Each autumn, my hubby consumes vast amounts of figs...usually with a wedge of brie as an evening snack.  So when I saw Tyler Florence's recipe for Spiced Fig and Ricotta Pancakes in the October 2011 issue of House Beautiful, I knew I had to sample the figgy goodness.  

Words to Live by

Flowers for Friday

"There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted."
-Henri Matisse

A Little More Pink for Frenchie

Hello there!  Remember me?  Your ole' pal, Pink Frenchie?  Well, I've been absent from blogland because I was busy making a little human and then birthing/feeding/burping/de-pooping said little human.  Now that my sweet baby Gigi has started to understand the difference between day and night, I will try to write again....sporadically.