Fridge emptying skills: Satsumaimo pan japanese sweet potato bread rolls / Abilità svuotafrigo: Satsumaimo pan o anche panini giapponesi alla patata dolce

Lately my fridge-emptying skills have been quite bad. Unable of resisting the impulse of filling it up with all sorts of fruit and vegetables I plan to cook or bake with. But then I get lost, too much blogging around, recipe searching, the occasional invite for lunch or dinner, late dinners that get resolved with a quick pasta or simple bread and cheese. Fruits and vegetables lying in the bottom drawer of the fridge, to be found just in time before they’re due to be thrown away.

Daring Baker’s Curried Vegetable Pot Pie / Daring Bakers: Torta salata con verdure al curry

Hannah of Rise and Shine was our October 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she
challenged us to bake our own double crusted savory pot pies. Using any from-scratch crust and
filling we choose, we were allowed to get completely creative with our recipe, showing off the savory
flavors and fillings from our own home or region.

It’s Daring Bakers time again! As you well know DB is a group of passionate bakers which every month engage in a challenge that involves a range of very different baked goods, may it be a cake, a batch of cookies or bread, every months a new recipe is introduce by one of the members, for all to re-interpret. Since last month I too am part of this large group of bloggers that every month eagerly awaits for a new recipe to be issued.

October’s Panissimo: Farina bona, potatoes and walnuts yeasted bread rolls / Panissimo di Ottobre: Panini di farina bona, patate e noci

When reading this month’s theme for Panissimo challenge, ancient/special flours, there was no doubt, farina bona would be one of the ingredients I would use. Farina bona is a very special cornflour, finely ground and toasted, with a earthy deep perfume reminiscent of roasted hazelnuts, butterscotch and freshly popped corn. Used for centuries in Val Osernone, in the italian part of Switzerland, this flour went gradually lost until recent times when, probably following the latest trends in reviving regional/traditional ingredients and recipes, it has had a strong comeback on our tables.

Poppy seed snails for Serena / Delle chioccioline ai semi di papavero per Serena

What I love the most about having a blog and a Facebook page is having inputs from fellow bloggers, followers and friends. Sometimes I wish I’d dedicate more time of my time to studying from books, but 90% of the time I end up following another blog’s inspiration, or responding to special requests from friends and family. This time around Serena (who works here, how cool is she?), an old friend from Padoa Art School, asked me whether I had a good recipe for a german pastry she loves.

MTC American Breakfast Challenge: An Autumn Delight / MTC Challenge e la colazione all’americana: Una delizia autunnale

Few weeks ago, in one of my usual daily stroll into the blog universe I stumbled into Cranberry’s blog, drawn in by a very nice biscuit recipe. And as it happens more and more often I got lost into this “dark forest” of recipes (did I ever mention my love for Dante?). What a delight! I discovered raviole del plin and ended my journey onto MTC challenge’s. Nothing like a nice good old challenge to push me into a new recipe! I immediately wrote a mail to Alessandra who kindly accepted my enrollment into the MTC crew.

My sister’s “posh breakfast”: Buckwheat Sourdough English Muffins / La “colazione da sciura” di mia sorella: English muffins al lievito madre e saraceno

Since I opened the blog my sister has been sending on and off signals, suggesting me recipes and lending me books. So far she has been suggesting me to try and bake: pain au raisins, pan tranvai and english muffins and surely many more that were simply forgotten.

Brioche obsession and Chocolate Babka / L’ossessione per la brioche e la Babka al cioccolato

Lately brioche has been the queen of my kitchen. It all started with italian facebook baking groups raving about this russian flower and the endless posting of pictures, videos and blog posts. I’m not usually inclined to follow trends, but admit the shape was so gorgeous I couldn’t help myself. And having friends around for dinner is always a great excuse, isn’t it?

Breadcrumbs Grissini for World Bread Day / Grissini panati per il World Bread Day

This recipe has been lying in my “limbo” folder for a long time. The opportunity to publish it came with the invitation from Barbara of Bread and Companatico  to all members of Panissimo group on Facebook to join Zorra’s  bread collection for this year’s bread day. What a pleasure to discover past years bread recipes, how many new blogs to explore. I simply loved it and had to give a little contribution. So here come the grissinis. You may ask: “Do we really need another recipe for grissinis?” Yes you do, and I’ll explain to you why.

Sourdough Tiger Bread and High School blast to the past / Pane tigre al lievito madre e ritorno al Liceo

I do not remember at all the first time I came across ” Tiger Bread “. I have no memories, no anecdotes. But I’ll never forget the first time I was able to bake a beautiful batch (I’d rather not talk about the first attempt, it is still an open wound!). A month ago I received an invitation from an old teacher of my former Art School, Prof. Fasola, to participate in an event organized by the school to celebrate his 60th birthday.

Beetroot, tangerine, tonka beans and vanilla Sourdough Bread / Pane al lievito madre con barbabietola, mandarino, fava tonka e vaniglia

This bread was inspired to me by this month’s Twelve Loaves theme: roots. I had been looking for many weeks at the great achievements obtained by fellow bakers with this kind of bread (both professionals and home bakers) during my web surfing. Every single one had a different shade of pink, a different crumb, crust and rise. A whole world of beetroot breads.