Ciao Readers!

Today I am going to share a delicious lemon almond cake I recently baked (well, figuratively speaking).  A couple of weeks ago we were watching Nigella’s cooking show and the cake she was baking looked so good I had to immediately get off the sofa and go in the kitchen and bake it.  While this used to be an almost weekly occurrence back in Albuquerque (seeing something on a cooking show and then getting up to cook/bake it), this was the first time since arriving in Italy that I’ve tried it here.  The reasons being that back in Albuquerque, unlike here, 1) I had a pantry full of ingredients, 2) I had a kitchen in which I was inspired to cook, and, most importantly, 3) I could turn the oven on without fear of tripping the breakers (which happens here if the oven and anything else is on at the same time). (And, well, maybe also because I watched more t.v….)

In any case, the reason this cake is so delicious is because instead of flour, its base is entirely almond meal and polenta, and in addition to lemon zest in the cake, it is soaked after baking in fresh lemon syrup.  YUM!!!   While I didn’t have almond meal on hand, I did have almonds (and a hand immersion blender); and while not exactly “polenta,”  I still had an entire bag of corn meal I had bought at Vivi Market (foolishly thinking I would make my own corn tortillas).  I cannot say enough about how delicious this very easy to make cake comes out (recipe here); try it and impress your friends with a scrumptious Italy-inspired creation!  While I tried to plate it all fancy-like, the photo doesn’t do its flavor justice:

This photo is actually from the second time I baked the cake (today as I write, probably two weeks ago as you read).  I decided to bake the cake today, but forgot and started a load of laundry.  I have no idea why, especially since the machines here are tiny (it’s next to the stove, pictured), but it takes at least 2 hours for a load to finish.  I have to admit, I was feeling a little grumpy for those 2 hours – I am still having a hard time getting used to (and understanding why) our little “easy bake oven” takes up so much electricity that everything else has to be off in order to turn it on.  It’s weird – it takes more electricity than the washer, than the air-conditioner unit, and even than my hair dryer.  And it’s tiny – and all the coils don’t heat up (which all adds to why it’s not much fun to cook here).  Since I’m on a roll venting about my current kitchen – the counter space is also tiny and most of the cabinet space is too high to reach (and while the counter looks like granite or nice synthetic granite, it’s plastic).  The stove top is so small I had to take the back/lid off in order to fit more than one pan on at a time (still can’t fit 3 pans on at a time).  And, while intellectually I understand that these are small complaints and people all over the world would kill for my current kitchen and the food therein, I’m only human and that thought does not change the fact that I get bummed out cooking here:

On the other hand, this is a kitchen in which I am inspired to (and have, and will again) cook up a storm:

So, I suppose today’s lessons are 1) appreciate what you have when you have it, and 2) Nigella bakes good cake!  Have a nice weekend!