[La cucina in her native habitat.]

I live in San Francisco and cook a lot, because to me, food is life (not to mention, I can get a wee bit obsessed). I started cooking in college just a little bit, but when I moved into my first apartment, on a busy street in Washington, DC, I started throwing dinner parties and haven’t stopped since. My major achievement was a 17-person sit-down dinner in my studio apartment a few years ago (I might still be recovering); but of course, any night I get to have people over for dinner is a good one.

I write for a variety of publications on a variety of subjects and do a lot of other things, too. I’m in love with Northern California, and am not ashamed of it; I think this place is some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen — so expect to hear about it often on these pages. I also write a lot about Greece, another of my loves, and a place I’m especially connected to because of my ancestry (though, not to be discriminatory, I have a true, deep love of Scotland and the British isles as well).

I’m a vegetarian but I cook fish sometimes; I bake a lot, sometimes veganly; I love to try new recipes, but always hang on to my tried-and-trues. I have a wonderful farmers’ market in my neighborhood that gives me gorgeous produce about half the year — and saves me money at the same time. I think this quote by Laurie Colwin says it all

Cookbooks hit you where you live. You want comfort; you want security you want food; and you want to not be hungry; and not only do you want these basic things fixed, you want it done in a really nice, gentle way that makes you feel loved. That’s the big desire, and cookbooks say to the person reading them, ‘if you read me, you will be able to do this for yourself and for others. You will make everybody feel better.

[Substitute 'cooking' for 'cookbooks,' and that's pretty much my philosophy.]

When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m usually out for a run, playing with my doggie friends, drinking tea, or getting outdoors as much as possible, preferably along the coast.

Please let me know if you try my recipes — I’d love to hear how they turned out for you.

Cheers,
nicole

email me at cucinanicolina [at] gmail [dot] com

Clips
Some of my favorite articles are linked below; a full list is on my website.

cucina nicolina is powered by Wordpress, based on a theme by Ashe Haque, and heavily edited by moi.