Cheese fit for a Rockefeller

This weekend, a friend and I made our annual outing to see historic homes in Tarrytown, NY (aka Sleepy Hollow, home of Washington Irving and the Headless Horsemen and Rip Van Winkle).

Every year, the trip includes a scenic trainride along the Hudson River, a tour of a historic home (this year we visited Kikuit, home of four generations of the Rockefeller family), and a pub lunch at the Horsefeathers Pub. A perfect day.

This year's outing was taken to a new level with the discovery of Tarrytown's farmers' market. We ate delicious roasted, curried cashews from Tierra Farm, bought the most gorgeous Baby French Breakfast radishes and carrots and, of course, tasted cheeses.

Calkins Creamery in Wayne Co, Delaware. Calkins Creamery is a sixth generation family farm. They make 14 different cheeses, including this the delicious, nutty "farmer boy" tomme. In addition to cheese, they raise beef, pork and vegetables.

Now that's a work ethic that John D. Rockefeller would approve of!

Tredieci anni fa.... a trip down memory lane

Thirteen years ago, I discovered the best pizza in the world at Lanterna Verde in Lanciano, Italia. Seriously, the best. It's the dough that makes them so unique, especially among all those thin crust pizzas.

After years of reminiscing and salivating, an old friend and I went back to Lanciano last weekend and ordered the same pizzas we ate as 18 year olds living the Italian dream. Elenio -- the genius behind Lanterna Verde -- remembered our orders. Truly.

My order is mushrooms, artichokes and olives (pictured here, missing a slice) and hers was the same plus garlic. The other pizza pictured here is mushroom with truffle oil.

Mozzarella 101

A somewhat underwhelming experience at the Obika mozzarella bar in Rome was redeemed by their great table mats depicting the mozzarella-producing regions in Italy.

A great resource for every cheese fanatic.

Fromaggi, four ways

Pictured here:

Zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and mushrooms with a timbale of mushroom mousse. If you love zucchini, it's hard to imagine ever thwarting one's development but if stealing zucchini blossoms means the most delicate, delightful dish on earth, who am I to stand in the way? In Capri, we also ate dozens of deep fried stuffed zucchini flowers that were divine -- the lightest batter imaginable -- a healthy gourmet doughnut.

Rucola con porcini e parmigiano: One of my favourite things in Italy are the porcini mushrooms. We had them grilled, roasted and here as a salad with roast porcini (still warm), arugula and parmigiano.

Insalata Capreses: Creamy mozzarrella, perfectly ripe tomatoes, basil and a little olive oil is a gift from the gods to be enjoyed daily (or twice daily) in Italy. Here are a few examples: on a pizza (with proscuitto crudo) at Laterna Verde in Lanciano and at a mozzarella bar in Rome.

Prima colazione -- breakfast, Italian style

Just back from a delightful holiday in Italy. Every day started with a mini cheese plate. Paradiso.

In Sorrento, (see the all-white cheese photograph), I enjoyed a taleggio, a bel paese and a mozzarella scamorza (smoked).

In Capri, breakfast included what else... a few bites of insalata caprese along with some olives, capers and salami.

Che bella vita.