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The Ultimate Baking Apple

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What are the best apples for baking? The best apples for baking are those that don’t disintegrate during cooking, and that have a balance of sweetness and tartness.  My favorite eating apple is a McIntosh, with its white interior and shiny red-and-green peel, but it is not a good baking apple because it’s too soft.  Granny Smiths, Honeycrisps, and Crispins are all good baking apples, but there are lots of other good baking apples to choose from.   If you’re making […]

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Behind the Blog

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Why do you write a blog? Several people asked why I write this blog.  I think people need to be reminded to be kind to each other. That sounds pretty preachy, but if you put it in the context of manners or etiquette, the specific rules seem to be more acceptable to some people than the reasons behind them. I’ll take the kinder, gentler any way I can get it. Secondly, we are learning so much now about how what […]

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food

Columbus Day Gnocchi

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Today I’m delighted to offer a Columbus Day recipe from chef Roberto Grazioli, executive chef to the Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Claudio Bisogniero, and his wife, Laura Denise. The Italian Embassy is a very popular place in Washington; people are eager to be invited to enjoy Italian delicacies, great wines, and good music.  Claudio and Laura Denise are frequent and gifted hosts, whether at the embassy or at their residence, Villa Firenze. Villa Firenze is a grand estate […]

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