A dozen possibilities for the coming new year…
– learn how to use my camera
– practice making bagels
– make plin, passatelli and soba
– go on a garden field trip
– rent a place
– grow rice
– take a workshop
– finish indexing my cookbooks
– install one of these, or build this instead
– gather more
Diary of a Tomato 
I love making passatelli … so easy and delicious … my recipe does not include flour … it is my mother-in-laws so I can’t change it … :) … I made them last time for Christmas I had to forego the traditional Christmas homemade cappelletti but we were volunteering and Christmas Eve is so intense at my household is so intense it was a cooking marathon was had, so the passatelli came to save the day!
A presto … spero che tu possa fare il tuo forno a legna … io non saprei da dove incominciare!
Benvenuto, J! Puoi incominciare alla conferenza impastare, “The Kneading Conference”, dove ci sono molti incontri di cottura in forno… our practice wood-fired oven came from a workshop at the Kneading Conference, where there are many on building and using them — the original conference is held annually in Maine, http://kneadingconference.com/, with another one out West, http://kneadingconferencewest.com/
Oh I wish I knew how to use my camera, I have a manual but do I read it? No, of course not. A course is probably the best solution. Love the idea of growing rice and I dream of a pizza oven…….Great list.
I’m embarrassed that my camera may be smarter than me…
lol learn how to use my camera (and my husband’s) is always on my list. But then I just use the point and shoot option and never do learn.
Thank goodness for the auto setting on my camera…
I’m not making any lists of things to do – or, at least if I am, I’m not publishing them! Just got myself a Macro lens for my camera, so I have started experimenting to see what I can achieve with it…
… but then you go and toss around terms like “macro lens” and I’m determined to learn more!
Found your blog from a comment you made on Mark’s Veg Plot. Excited to read up on your past posts of your “chicory love”. My mom is from Italy and I grew up gardening with my dad. I now have been experimenting with all kinds of Radicchio including Treviso this year. I am loving your post about Puntarelle because my mom just loved that growing up. Mine didn’t turn out the way she remembered so I will have to perfect that next year. This past year it didn’t come up at all.
Thanks for visiting, Amber! Our puntarelle didn’t turn out the way we remembered it either; the seed package is labeled “puntarelle” but it doesn’t seem like the one we’re looking for. We’ll be trying some new ones this season — looks like 5 different chicories, the misticanza, and a bunch of flowering brassicas — I’m hoping they all don’t turn out crazy bitter…
I have been looking around online to figure it out and I finally did. I have the wrong variety. The one I need to get has thicker pod-like stems. There are great youtube videos about how to prepare it. Very interesting, most in Italian…I can’t wait to get some and try it! Seeds from Italy has the variety. I am just going by the picture on the front of the seed packet so we will see if I am right. Have you tried Pan di Zucchero or Castelfranco? Great taste and very easy to blanch for a tender leaf. I just rubber band it up about 1-2 weeks before I harvest it. I put up some pics on my blog. Rhodesrulestogrowinglife.blogspot.com.
It looks like you’ve had great success with your chicory, bellisimi! We’ve also been getting our seeds from Seeds from Italy. We tried the Catalogna Puntarelle a Foglia Stretta and, though delicious, like you, we found it’s not the one with the interior shoots. I checked with Beatrice, our friend from Rome, and she recommends either the Galantina or the Catalogna Brindisina; we’ll try both next season. We’ve also ordered seeds for Pan di Zucchero and the Misticanza that Mark mentioned on his blog. Let me know via email (under “About” page) if you want seeds for the other two puntarelle; as you’ve probably found out, the Franchi packs come with a lifetime’s worth!
Glad you asked your friend…those are the varieties I was thinking to get! Grazie :)
P.S. I too have been learning to use my manual setting and oh, my husband has been dying to make a wood fire pizza oven. Boy is it expensive!
The ready-made ovens are indeed pricey, but homemade earth ovens are a great alternative. This one is $20 in materials: http://small-scale.net/yearofmud/2009/09/12/build-your-own-20-outdoor-cob-oven-for-great-bread-and-pizza/
Thanks for the info!!!