About Me

I was born and grew up in Venice, Italy. I live with my husband and two children in Pacific Palisades, California.
With this blog, I would like to share my passion for Italian food. I love cooking, and taking pictures of my dishes. And I love talking about recipes. My close friends know well that I can talk about food for a long time!
Cooking is fun because it's a creative experience. I like to search, explore and experiment new recipes all the time. And it is very relaxing: while listening to some nice music, the whole big kitchen to myself, just me and lots of ingredients to work with... Well this is the way I like to imagine my cooking experiences. As a mom of two young boys, most of my dinner preparations are done while checking math homework, looking for Lego pieces, quizzing for science tests, listening to violin practices, playing tickle monster ... I'm sure you got the idea!
Even with a busy life, as all of us have, I like to find the time to prepare a homemade dinner for my family, because sharing a meal with my loved ones is an Italian tradition that I find very important. There is nothing as special as ending your day with your family or friends sharing a good conversation and a tasty homemade meal.
Cooking Italian recipes can be easy, quick and fun. A lot of the recipes that I write are simple and fast to prepare, with step-by-step pictures and directions. I hope I can inspire and convince, at least some of you, that with not much time, some love and a good appetite you too can prepare amazing dishes.
Buon Appetito!


51 comments:

  1. I love to cook too, you can see my pictures in my Google profile

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  2. Manuela, ho appena trovato il tuo blog tramite il video delle rose di mela. Bellissime, le provo questa sera. Anch'io sono di Venezia e vivo in California, a nord di San Francisco. Il mio blog e' quasi defunto visto che non ho piĆ¹ tempo di starci dietro. Ora mi vado a vedere altre ricette. CIAO!

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    1. Ciao Laura!! Grazie per avermi scritto!! Mi fa sempre piacere trovare altre veneziane :-) Adesso cerco il tuo blog! Un abbraccio

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  3. Hey Manuela,

    your blog saved not only my day, but also very likely my forthcoming years as a student at university! I like (also italian) cooking, but I don't know many recipes I can easily do without preparing for hours and hours. I immeadetly bookmarked your blog - let's see how many kitchens I'll blow up trying to follow your - really simple - instructions.... =) As for now, I'll go to the supermarket and buy two big red apples. Maybe you've got an idea what I'll be cooking this afternoon...?

    Thanks again!

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  4. Lol!! Thank you so much!! And I love your enthusiasm :-) But PLEASE: no blowing up anything... I would really feel responsible ;-) if you check out the list of recipes, there are a lot of quick dishes, mostly pasta that are healthy, quick, easy and perfect complete dinner. And I will be posting a lot more, so stay tuned!!

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    1. I definetively will ;-) And I already managed to make perfect apple roses. I just casually put them on our dining table when my mum came home from work, and she didn't realise it was food. I won't tell her the recipe - she's still baffled,trying to figure out how I applicated the red colour XD

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    2. Wow!! Great job! And yes, don't tell her the recipe - it will be our secret ;-)

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  5. Manuela, if you cook like this everyday then I have only one thing to ask you: Will you marry me? LOL!!!!

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    1. Lol!! I do ... cook like this everyday (or most days)!! My husband might not be too thrilled about this idea. But thanks :-)

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  6. Dear Manuela.

    I am half brazilian and half italian all my grandparents were born in Italy one nona in Veneto and one nono in Trieste ,the other nona in Capri and the other nono in Calabria.
    In Brazil we also have the tradition of eating toghether
    I have also italian childhood friends and we were spoiled by our mothers and grandmothers , eating home made pastas and breads, what a sweet and yummy memories your blog brought back to me.
    Lovely recipie i will try that!
    Bacci !Auguri!
    Luly

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    1. Thank you so much Luly for saying that!! And I do think that I'm spoiling my kids (and husband!!) with homemade goodies. But that's our Italian blood, what can you do?!? ;-)
      Grazie ancora. Un abbraccio, Manuela

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  7. Great blog! Cannot wait to try your recipes! Thank you for sharing! :)
    Sylvia

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  8. Complimenti Manuela, che spettacolo di ricette, semplici, veloci da fare e di grande effetto, le proverĆ²!

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  9. Grazie Manuela! Just learned about you & your blog today! I have spent a fair amount of time today on your You Tubes & Blog.
    ***Tomatoes are for dinner and Almond Tort are for desert tonight!
    We Manuelas are creative and your recipes are amazing!
    I lived in Naples for 2 years (Dad was US Navy). My mom was Portuguese and I was named after her favorite childhood doll.
    Keep up the great work!

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  10. I wish I had your wonderful recipes years ago! I was such an excellent cook people encouraged me to work in a restaurant but I always said no because I want to cook my own delicious creations, not someone else's! I'm retired now and live alone but will definitely use your recipes when I visit my grandchildren and when they come here. Even the fussy ones will eat your roses dishes! I just found your site today and I'm glad I did! You've made my day a lot better - thank you for your hard work in putting all this together for others to enjoy!! I wish you a wonderful life!

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    1. Thank you so much Beverly!! You just made my day with your sweet comment.
      Have an amazing weekend. And thanks again :)

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  12. Dear Manuela I tried the apple roses and they were excellent ! Thank you very much.

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  13. Ciao Manuela poco fa mia cugina Catia che vive a Londra mi ha mandato il tuo bellissimo video tutorial su come preparare delle splendide rose di mela... oggi stesso, le preparerĆ² a casa e rimanderĆ² al tuo link, essendo la prima volta che le farĆ² cosƬ, spero mi vengano bene, ma visto che il tuo video ĆØ chiarissimo, credo di riuscire ad avere grandi soddisfazioni, ti va se restiamo in contatto? Intanto mi scrivo al tuo blog che trovo davvero molto bello, buona giornata e buon lavoro da Rita

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    1. Grazie Rita! Sei gentilissima :)
      Fammi sapere come vengono le rose ... Magari mi spedisci una foto?!? Buona giornata a te!

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  14. This is a wonderful food blog, Manuela. So many delicious looking recipes. I am trying to get better at cooking for myself (instead of relying on the pizza delivery guy) and will definitely be trying out many of your creations in the weeks to come. Starting out tonight with the Butternut Squash and Mascarpone Pasta. Thanks for your efforts!

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    1. Haha!! Thank you so much Lauren for reading my blog and taking the time to leave a comment :)
      I hope the recipe was successful last night!! Have an amazing day, Manuela

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  15. Manuela, I can't wait to try your apple roses. I actually stumbled on your website. So impressive! Thank you for sharing your creative recipes with us. Toni

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    1. Thank you Toni, have an amazing weekend:)

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  16. Hi Manuela,
    Just discovered your blog on my Wordpress Reader. Love these gorgeous Italian recipes! Can't wait to try some of these.
    Thanks for sharing!

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  17. Hi Manuela, greetings from Australia. Just wondering if you had a recipe for gluten free pizza dough? the packet version turns out good but is very expensive. Just stumbled upon your site and cant wait to try some of your recipes, Vivien

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    1. Hi Vivien, thank you for finding my blog! Unfortunately I don't have a gluten free pizza dough recipe :( I could look into making one .. if so, I will let you know.
      Have a great weekend

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  18. Hello Manuela,

    Saw your apple rose video on FB a while back and am ready to make it. So today I search for it and found your lovely blog. With so many dessert recipes! I love to cook also, and prefer simple recipes with minimal ingredients. Recently, I tried Macella Hazan's Roast Chicken with 2 lmeons - http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015182-marcella-hazans-roast-chicken-with-lemons. It was so simple and so good, tasted like the Singaporean dish called Hainan Chicken but much simpler; I made that for Thanksgiving instead of turkey. It was great with cranberry sauce too!
    Anyway, I am looking forward to cooking all your delicious recipes here!

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  22. Hey Manuela, loved your enthusiasm! Thanks a ton for quick healthy recipes. Another nutritious rice recipe I came across was Italian Risotto & I loved it!

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  28. Hii,

    i have read many of your recepies , and they were amazing …. the best part of ur recepies are they are working for me ….

    thanks for sharing such a delicious list of recepies with us….

    keep posting
    cheers……

    write for us

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  33. Hello Manuela! I just found your blog and I'm absolutely impressed by the quality of the recipes you have here! Well done! I'm an Italian dad who has been living outside of Italy for almost 15 years now and I've recently decided to share all I know around Italian cuisine - especially from the South of Italy - on my website italianfoodboss.com and my YouTube channel youtube.com/italianfoodboss .
    I'd be grateful if you'd wish to have a look!
    Ciao ciao and congratulations again on what you have managed to build in a few short years!

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  34. Thanks for this great recipe tutorial. I am going to try out this.
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