Nonna’s Kitchen

Nonna’s kitchen is a magical place, it’s more than where she cooks and washes the dishes.

It’s a place where a bundle of multi-coloured spatulas become a bouquet of beautiful flowers and the apron hanging on the dish cloth rack becomes a superhero cape.

It’s a place where words from the page of a cook book become cookie dough and then the fun begins!

It’s where plastic bowls and wooden spoons whip up the lightest, tastiest, imaginary cookies and cakes where nonno and nonna can indulge in as much as they want without gaining an ounce.

Pasta time is anytime in nonna’s kitchen and the homemade vanilla ice cream in the freezer drawer never runs out.

It’s a room where every bottom drawer and cupboard holds a surprise and where only the imagination can wander into the top ones.

The kitchen table becomes the best place to hide under in a game of hide and seek.  Nonno never, ever finds us but when the top is set with plates and glasses it’s for sure that something delicious will magically appear.

At the table is the only place we are asked to be silent for a little while, hold hands, close our eyes and be thankful for our family and what we’re about to eat.  We sit in our special places, eat together and talk about anything we please!

The kitchen is nonna’s favourite room and we are always welcome in it!

There’s a picture frame hanging on the kitchen wall but we can’t read it yet, maybe you can?

A quick update on No Knead Crusty Artisan Bread…

There hasn’t been a loaf of store bought bread in the house since the first time I made this bread.  It’s hard to take credit for making this truly delicious bread because of the ease in making it.  Everyone who tries it loves it and can’t stop eating it!

It freezes wonderfully, the crust never falls off when defrosting and it doesn’t have to be warmed up to bring back that fresh baked texture and taste.

I have however made a few more changes to the recipe posted earlier which has made it even better and here they are…

*How timely for an enamel coated cast iron Dutch oven to come on sale! I took advantage of the great price and invested in one. I must say that it has been one of the best cooking pot purchases I have ever made.  If you’re serious about baking this bread it’s worth getting one.  It conducts heat amazingly well, to the point that it becomes unnecessary to remove the lid for the last minutes of baking to brown the top.  It also improves on the quality of the crust and rise of the bread.

*A suggestion from my husband to use spring instead of tap water has made a remarkable difference in the taste. (He is one of those people who just can’t stop eating this bread… not sure if that’s a good thing.)

*Lastly, Bread Flour is the way to go for this loaf. Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose which adds strength to the bread enabling the loaves to rise higher.

*Oops, almost forgot, I replaced the regular salt with 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt…perfect!

Meet Rosetta!!  (Yes, I named the pot.)