Yumi Yumi

Case Vecchie, Sicily I am still in Sicily, still enjoying the hospitality of Anna Tasca Lanza ’s cookery school in Case Vecchie, near Vallelunga. I’ve just got back from the most amazing garden party I’ve ever attended - just under 200 guests seated around a huge long table, set under an elegant makeshift canopy built in the middle of a vegetable patch :)  Who knows, we may have lingered at the table for another few hours, sipping one of the extremely “quaffable” wines from Tasca d’Almerita , if it weren’t for the thunder and rain that suddenly appeared. Not really out of nowhere - the skies were threatening with rain already yesterday - but apparently heavy showers are pretty much unusual in this part of Sicily in this part of the year. In any case, I use the thunderstorm as an excuse to retreat to my room for a short while and finish another blog post. Being in the company of all those bloggers mentioned yesterday - David , Rachel and Johanna - as well as some others I met toda...

This photo was taken by Juta Kübarsepp for Nami-Nami , the rest are by me or my husband.    I’m writing this post in Sicily . I’m in a lovely company of David , Rachel and Johanna , enjoying the delicious hospitality of Anna Tasca Lanza Cookery School . La dolce vita , but more about all that in future posts. I do mention that some very nice cookies were baked here yesterday, which reminded me of a lovely Italian cookie recipe I’ve got in my latest cookbook.  Just over a year ago, in April 2013, I had a lovely holiday in Tuscany with my dear partner and our three small kids - the youngest was just under 6 months back then. We began our family holiday in Florence, then staying in various agriturismos near San Gimignano. On my birthday we took a day trip to Siena. Everybody said that we’d love Siena, but the truth is, we were not so impressed at all - San Gimignano, Volterra, Lucca, Certaldo and the old parts of Colle di Val d'Elsa had been more charming, more real. How...

I've got a new favourite to-go rhubarb cake recipe . Just because it's one that can be memorized in seconds. Actually you just need kitchen scales and the list of ingredients. No amounts, imagine :) Here's how it works. I call it equal rhubarb cake, because you need equal weighed amounts of all the main ingredients. I usually take four eggs , chicken or duck, to make this cake.  Rhubarb sheet cake ( Võrdne kook rabarbriga ) eggs butter, at room temperature* caster sugar  all-purpose flour rhubarb, thinly sliced  Topping: demerara sugar and cardamom Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper/baking paper (if the eggs are large, you can use a large baking sheet, say 35x40 cm, if the eggs are smaller, I tend to use 25x35 cm).  Put aside.  Put a bowl onto your kitchen scales, switch the scales on and break eggs into the bowl. Weigh the eggs - and remember the number. Put the eggs aside, take another bowl.  Now, remember the weight of eggs? Add the same amount o...