I'm not entirely sure that I am. I've fried thick slices so they develop a crust. The result is tasty enough, but not great.

Made Tres Leches cake.  It was good, but I was expecting it to be...I don't know...drippier?

I don't think I'm ever going to be a fan of polenta.

TIL about chicken pudding, a dessert popular in Turkey, made with milk, sugar, vanilla...and actual shredded chicken breast.

Not long ago, I joined an Italian cooking group on Facebook. I thought it would be a good opportunity to pick up some tips and recipes. I left the group a couple of months later, after some members became...oh, let's call it "agitated"...over whether Sunday ragu was a "sauce" or a "gravy".

It sounds like a joke, doesn't it? Personal attacks stemming from disagreements over culinary terminology seem like such a cartoonish Italian stereotype that you almost think it just can't be true. Or maybe you just don't want it to be.

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TIL that blackstrap molasses is not the same as fancy molasses.  NOT AT ALL.

I'm currently in the process of corrupting Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce with the addition of a red bell pepper and I have to say I feel a little naughty.

When it comes to food and drink, I tend to lean towards the simple. Or, more accurately, I tend to lean towards the simple and well-made.

One of my favourite memories of the Dominican Republic, for example, was the coco loco - literally just a coconut with the top sliced off and rum mixed into the milk, served with a straw and maybe a squeeze of lime. When the coconut is fresh, the drink is amazing.

Another example would be Marcella Hazan's (in)famous tomato sauce. It literally has only four ingredients (canned tomatoes, butter, onion and salt) and notably no garlic or herbs, so the sauce doesn't really have anywhere to hide; it tastes like buttery, slow cooked tomatoes which is, well, you know, delicious.

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Lemon ricotta pound cake, a close cousin of the cannoli pound cake I posted previously. This time it's actually a pound cake, more or less. And yes, it's delicious.

I apparently did not post a photo. Here we go.

Very late to the party on this one but I finally made @alisoneroman 's anchovy shallot pasta and I am shocked at how mellow this stuff is, considering it has a shit ton of shallots and a whole jar of anchovies. Good stuff!

Grilled cheese experiment: olive and brunost, Norwegian brown cheese. Was good, if a little odd.

A piece of gingerbread, slightly lopsided. Still delicious. I used Anna Olsen's recipe.

Pot of misir wat, Ethiopian spiced lentils. Delicious.

Annoying how most recipes calling for condensed milk call for a 14 oz can, while the cans in Canada appear to be 300 ml (10 oz).

Cannoli pound cake. Really just an excuse to use leftover ricotta. Smells amazing.

Carrot cake, cut through

First time making carrot cake. And first time doing a crumb coat! Most of my previous caves have been simpler ones like pound cake, with no frosting.

Hey everyone! I made roasted potatoes that were actually crispy!

First time making split pea soup!

#MarcellaHazan 's famous (infamous?) tomato, butter and onion sauce is actually a surprisingly good, rich sauce, considering what went into it - four ingredients, including the salt. No garlic, no basil, no olive oil.

This is Marcella Hazan's "Famous tomato sauce" , in progress.  Only four ingredients: tomatoes, butter, sky, onion. You don't even chop the onion. I will give a full report.

Tonight I made salade nicoise, which is actually more work than I thought. Tastes great, but I suspect I'd enjoy this more if I were paying someone to do it.

Spaghetti Carbonara, take two: guanciale edition.  Delicious as always, but I think I may prefer the pancetta version.

I feel like a lot of Italian cuisine is basically a competition over which dish has the highest (tastiness / # of ingredients) ratio.