Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

This is genius!!!

I found what for me is the perfect recipe for Scones on an old number of BBC Good Food: I've tried many times and always worked perfect, both straight from the oven or re-heated... But its so quick that I normally do it on the same morning I want to eat them...

Anyway, here's the link to it, on my blog:
http://kitchenpantry.blogspot.com/2007/06/best-scone-ive-ever-baked.html

Mind, I'm Italian, living in Italy, so I'm obviously spoiled!

Barbecue:
A.) is always a noun - Yes
B.) is something you get invited to in a friend's backyard - Yes, or garden...
C.) cannot contain liquid smoke - Absolutely!

Fried Chicken:
A.) must always be pan-fried in a cast-iron skillet - that depends
B.) can just as good made in a fryolator - why not?
C.) is the most delicious way to cook chicken - well, not really... It's a way...
D.) is the best fast food on the planet - can be

Hamburgers:
A.) should only be eaten rare or medium-rare - Absolutely
B.) need to be served on a potato roll to be considered great - or a bun of other kind (I sometime have then with normal bread and they are as good!)
C.) do not need cheese - it's not a must
D.) need to be at least 15 percent fat to be considered great - I dunno, I make mine myself, with minced beef and some salsiccia, so I suppose they even have more...

Hot dogs:
A.) need to have a natural casing to be considered great - at least in this way is better for my stomac...
B.) should be all-beef - well, at least all meat...
C.) are best eaten grilled or griddled - boiled are not bad, if done in a good way...
D.) taste best deep-fried - EVERYTHING taste better deep fried!
E.) are best eaten standing up - yep!

Pizza:
A.) is the world's most perfect food - with spaghetti, yes!
B.) must be made in a coal or wood-burning oven- OF COURSE!!!!
C.) should never have pineapple on it - NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!
D.) must have discrete areas of sauce and cheese - and a discreet area of crust, free of anything...
E.) all of the above - Of course!

I add a F to this one:
F.) must have ONLY REAL mozzarella on it (unless is 4 formaggi, which can have at most 4 cheeses! And none of them can be fake mozzarella or Gruviere!!!)

So, ok, I'm a Reverse food snob...
Oh my: I though I was just caring about what goes into my mouth and stomach and the best way to cook it, but apparently this make me a food snob...
Sorry, but pizza with emmenthal or gruviere is just French trash: I cannot stand it!!!!

Cook, so I do not have to say: "mmh, good" even if I don't think it!
If I cook something not so good, I'm the first to say it's not good! And the only one that can! ;-)

Encounters of the third type with a lemon in the middle of a paella!
:-D

I offer FREE Italian food tasting night for work (do not get excited: tasting are held in London, UK ;-D) and I actually have problem to find people coming!
And now I see that people is actually willing to have free food (because you should be a fool not to accept it, you know!)...
Sounds like the States are SO different from England...

Yet, you ussualy find free sample on Uk food magazines... Actually, last week I made a cake with two Lindt chocolate sample I found in magazines! :-)

Once a month, for the Daring Bakers challenge...

If not, almost NEVER!

Blogging (I found my actual job through blogging: I write for an high quality Italian food company, and I organize food-related events both in Italy and England for them), networking (go everywhere there is something about food, introduce yourself, make some cards, and if you have a food blog is much easier) and being extremely well prepared (a preparation that you can achieve even by yourself).

My studies are academical, but historical and not food related... In Italy there are some food related studies, but if after that you are not able to maintain the good connections and to work (hard) your way up, is just a waste of time...

I worked in a kitchen too, and it's a very hard job, physically and psychologically: I will never recommend it...

And as Karen was saying, the "food industry" is vague: make a choice!

I (almost) gave up chocolate...

And I almost gave up cheese...

I love both too much to give them up entirely...

Vegetable lasagne or another pasta dish...

My favourite flavour of gelato is for sure Nutellone: simple cream variagated with Nutella! Just heaven!
In the overall frozen compartment, my favourite is granita, made in the Sicilian way, very creamy...

Once, in a crowded Chinese restaurant, I was playing with my chopsticks and they ended on the table behind us...
Never felt more stupid...
:-)

Melt chocolate... Hot coffee... Hot cold stuff... That's it...
It's not even good to defrost: it takes ages...