Beer in the Windy City
Filed Under Destination Features, Travel Tips, Wines & Spirits, USA
Today is National Beer Day, and in its honor we'll be talking about beer in our hometown, Chicago. The rise in the production, sales, and quality of so-called "craft" beers in the US in the past few decades, and particularly since the 1990's, has meant a corresponding increase in craft breweries and brewpubs, not to mention a plethora of amazing brews to try. When I was young and growing up… Read
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"When Will I Be Able to Travel to Europe?" and Other Burning Travel Questions in the Age of COVID
Filed Under Destination Features, Travel Tips, Travel Videos, What's Up at TIK, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Spain, Turkey
Join us with our video blog to explore the burning questions surrounding travel in the age of COVID, including "When will I be able to travel to Europe again?" When will I be able to travel to Europe again? This is a question we get asked a lot. As you can imagine, in the past year, with travel at a standstill (or nearly a standstill), we've had many travelers ask… Read
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Types of Cocktails & Mixed Drinks
Filed Under Food History, Kitchen Tips, What's Up at TIK, Wines & Spirits
Happy National Cocktail Day! We don't think one really needs a reason to enjoy a nice cocktail, but we don't mind having one. So what exactly is a cocktail? A cocktail is a mixed alcoholic drink that includes one or more spirit and some type of mixer. Not very specific, is it? cocktail (noun): an alcoholic drink consisting of a spirit or several spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as… Read
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What We Think about Stanley Tucci's "Searching for Italy"
Filed Under Destination Features, Travel Tips, Travel Videos, What's Up at TIK, Italy
The famous Italian-American actor has a new series on CNN in which he explores Italy's regions through their gastronomy. Find out what we think about his adventures so far! Not into video? Read on for a recap. There is a lot we like about Stanley Tucci's "Searching for Italy." First, it is a series dedicated to food and travel in Italy, which is what we have been dedicated to for… Read
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Recipe for Tagliata di Manzo "alla Roberto"
Filed Under Food History, Kitchen Tips, Recipes, Italy
Last week we featured our friend Richard di San Marzano's recounting of his past year during lockdown in the Umbrian countryside near Spoleto. As you might expect, it featured plenty of good food! We shared one of Richard's family recipes, for Five Leaf Pesto, earlier in the week. Now we're turning up the heat with a classic "tagliata di manzo," as made by Richard's friend Roberto. "Tagliata" means "cut," or… Read
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Recipe for Five Leaf Pesto from Our Cooking Vacation in Spoleto
Filed Under Destination Features, Food History, Kitchen Tips, Recipes, Italy
If you had to spend time in lockdown, then perhaps the Umbrian countryside was an ideal place to do it. Last week our friend and partner Richard di San Marzano described his family's experience during the past year in Italy (you can read it here). It included a lot of seasonal foraging and fabulous food, as. you might expect in Italy. Try one of Richard's recipes, fruit of his foraging… Read
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My Experience in Italy during the Lockdown
Filed Under Destination Features, Food History, Kitchen Tips, Travel Tips, Italy
Our friend Richard di San Marzano in Spoleto is contributing a guest post for us letting us know what life has been like the past year in one of our favorite Italian regions, Umbria. Italy's national lockdown began on March 8, 2020 (although there were regional quarantines before then), and it has continued, like much of the world, with varying levels of restrictions since then. If you've wondered about what… Read
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What Are the Saronic Islands?
Filed Under Destination Features, Travel Tips, Greece
Greece is one of our most popular destinations for a cooking vacation, and with an amazing gastronomy and gorgeous places to visit, that should be no surprise! One of our most popular Greek cooking vacations is our Greek Cooking Odyssey, which takes place on the island of Poros, one of the Saronic islands. So what are the Saronic Islands and what makes them so popular? What Are the Saronic Islands?… Read
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History of the Margarita and a Recipe for a Classic Margarita Cocktail
Filed Under Food History, Kitchen Tips, Recipes, Wines & Spirits, Mexico
Happy National Margarita Day! The margarita cocktail is a bit like the Italian dessert tiramisú. There are many different stories for how it got invented and by whom! And there is not even consensus on how the name of the cocktail came about. One thing there is consensus on? That it is one of the world's most beloved and recognizable cocktails. So what is a margarita? It always includes three… Read
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What Is the "Riviera of Flowers" and Why You Should Go There
Filed Under Destination Features, Travel Tips, What's Up at TIK, Italy
The northwestern coast of Italy is shaped a bit like a gently curving upside-down "U," with the western-most part slanting southward toward France and Monaco. It is here that you stay during our amazing Sojourn in Sanremo culinary vacation in Italy. This western part of the Liguria region is known more specifically as the "Riviera di Ponente" (Western Riviera or Riviera of the Setting Sun), and the western-most part of… Read
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