Simple Squash Soup

Sep 25, 2010 by The Tasty Buzz

I miss my dad. This time of year my dad and I both really love cooking and planning our big family gatherings like Christmas and Thanksgiving. Now that I'm in Italy, we'll have to plan our separate menus over the phone. Living in Italy is really wonderful, but I can't lie--being away from my family during the holidays hurts. One dish my dad and I love to prepare this time of year is squash soup. It was a tough decision in the past, because he and I were the only ones who really enjoyed it. Growing up, my brothers were so much younger (by six and nine years) that the flavor didn't appeal to them. My mom wasn't crazy about eating a sweet soup either. In her mind, soup should be savory--like the gumbo...

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Pasta with Mushrooms, White Wine, and Cream...

Sep 19, 2010 by The Tasty Buzz

I got into this simple dish when I was living in Turkey. I lived in an isolated home about 45 minutes from Isparta's city center, with windows so badly insulated that it sounded like I lived in a tea kettle whenever the wind blew--which was every day, all the time. I swear the house could have been in the 1939 production of Wuthering Heights. Anyway, one day I finally found out where to buy alcohol in my town--it's not easy once you're out of the tourist destinations. I had a chunk of parmesan from my last visit to Italy that Guido (my Italian boyfriend) had wrapped in foil and stuffed in my suitcase. Finally, I had a precious bag of gluten-free pasta that my best friend Melanie sent me for my birthday. All I...

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