by melodie@melodiek.com | Mar 22, 2019 | Culinary Tours, Destinations, Dishes, Europe, Europe, Italy, Savories
Italian food really reflects the people. It reflects like a prism that fragments into regions. ~ Lidia Bastianich If you’ve grown up believing fabulous plates of pasta, pizza, and bread were the greatest pleasures Italian cooking had to offer, hold on to your...
by melodie@melodiek.com | Feb 22, 2017 | Culinary Tours, Destinations, Europe, Inspiration, Travelogues
Nearly all the best things . . . have been unexpected, unplanned by me. ~ Carl Sandburg The last gold rush began in 1896 when George Cormack went fishing for salmon but found gold nuggets instead. Or so the story goes. Just like that prospector, you often come upon...
by melodie@melodiek.com | May 6, 2016 | Culinary Tours, Destinations, North America, the Americas, Travelogues, United States
“Such was life in the Golden Gate: Gold dusted all we drank and ate…” — Robert Frost QUESTION: Is or isn’t California in the Southwest? ANSWER: Yes. Depends on who you talk to. According to the map alone, California is in the southwest....
by melodie@melodiek.com | Oct 15, 2015 | Culinary Tours, Destinations, Dishes, Europe, Europe, Foods and Dishes, Italy, Sweets, Travelogues
“Good food is a celebration of life.” — Sophia Loren, actress Uh-oh! What do you do when that special event is now just around the corner and you’re sure of only one thing: You want to serve a dessert that’s anything but ordinary. Celebrating with some...
by melodie@melodiek.com | May 15, 2012 | Australia, Costa Rica, Culinary Tours, Inspiration, Travelogues, United States
All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone. ~ Blaise Pascal Sometimes silence is not only golden but vital. I got a reminder of this the other night as I sat on the sofa watching a favorite television show. My hands were busy...
by melodie@melodiek.com | Jul 29, 2011 | Asia, Asia, Culinary Tours, Destinations, Dishes, Foods and Dishes, Inspiration, Japan
On five-color strips of paper I have written. (ごしきの たんざくわたしが かいた/Goshiki no tanzaku watashi ga kaita) ~ lyrics from “The Tanabata Song” Miserable and drenched in sweat. That’s how you’ll likely to feel your first summer in central Japan where hot and humid is the...