Spoon & Suitcase - Exploring life through food and travel

In Love With Chocolate

February 5, 2020 By Mary 2 Comments

To me, chocolate represents everything good in life. It has helped me through my darkest hours, given me clarity when I am indecisive, and won hearts when it counts. That is why I cannot imagine Valentine's Day without chocolate. Whether you are wooing a mate or just treating yourself or family, this flourless chocolate cake will cast a spell for love, which is what we all need, right? Torta Caprese is a traditional Italian chocolate dessert, rich and dense with chocolate and almonds and moisturized with olive oil. A decadent finale! Excellent served with espresso. Buon ...

Gramma’s Orange Spice Bars

January 13, 2020 By Mary 9 Comments

My Gramma has done it again: delivered a recipe sounding so incredibly good that I made it immediately and now cannot stop snacking. I came across it during my annual January purge. This year my studio, which is jammed with multiple writing resources, became the lucky recipient of the clean-out. ...

Homegrown Potatoes

June 7, 2019 By Mary 12 Comments

I’d never thought of growing potatoes until I visited my family in Denver last year and my green-thumb sister-in-law, Mirna, showed me how. Her homegrown potatoes were finished for the season in October and I helped her dig them up before the first frost. The yield amazed me - at least five pounds. ...

Food Photography, Santa Fe & A Cake

May 29, 2019 By Mary 6 Comments

On a plane en route to Albuquerque, final destination Santa Fe, I devoured a book by one of my food writer gurus, Ruth Reichl. Her latest book, Save me the Plums, was just released and is a memoir of her life as editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine, my favorite food magazine - ever. I have read ...