Italian | Elena the Epicurean

Egg White Frittata with Baby Kale, Tomato, and Feta Cheese

For part two of my review of organicgirl good clean greens, I made a recipe using their i heart baby kale. I first took a taste of it raw, and wow! I find kale too bitter to consume raw, but baby kale has a much milder, delicate flavor. I could definitely see myself using it [...]

Product Review: organicgirl good clean greens

I recently had the pleasure of receiving a free sample of organicgirl good clean greens to review. The company is celebrating their debut on Lifetime Network’s “All Mixed Up” reality cooking show. I received their baby spinach, i heart baby kale, and SUPERGREENS! as seen below:

Who doesn’t love the names of these products? [...]

Food Flashback: The Italian Salad Trifecta

As much as I love variety when it comes to food, I’m also a creature of habit like most human beings. I tend to get hooked on a certain dish and it’s so good that I just want to eat it every.single.day – and I do, for maybe a week or two. When I lived [...]

Product Recommendation: Piacci Parmesan Nuggets

I was lucky enough to recently receive a free sample of Piacci cheese in the mail. Piacci is a great company that makes fine Italian artisan cheeses founded by a man named Filippo Candela of Montelepre, Sicily. They are now based in Wisconsin, and you know what that means when it comes to cheese. What [...]

Drunken Spaghetti (Red Wine Spaghetti) with Olives, Capers, and Shaved Parmesan

As I wrote in this post, Italian food may be intimidating to some, but really it’s all about simplicity, few ingredients, but big flavor. This recipe definitely embodies that philosophy. It has eight simple ingredients (two of which I added for some extra flair), takes about 15-20 minutes to make, uses only two pans, and [...]

Holiday Biscotti

My favorite kinds of gifts to give are of the edible kind. The thought and effort that goes into it is enough to make anyone grateful and appreciative. I get just as much enjoyment out of making and giving them as others do from receiving them.

So as much as I love baking during this [...]

My obsession with kale continues…Gnocchi with Kale, Broccoli, Chicken, and Pesto

Remember how I said that I recently fell in love with kale, even to the point where I find it addicting? It’s true. My dad made a quick run to the store and he asked if I needed anything, so I told him to get me a head of kale. I ended up going with [...]

Food Flashback: Cacio e Pepe in Rome, Italy

Welcome to the first of hopefully many Food Flashback posts on this blog. I will be using these types of posts to blog about meals I’ve cooked and/or eaten in the past, before I had a food blog. You know, all of the foods I reminisce about and think, “I wish I had my blog [...]

Hey there! I’m Elena, a 22-year-old UCLA alum living in Los Angeles. I am totally obsessed with cooking, baking, and anything food and wine related. I grew up in beautiful Sonoma County in Northern California, where some of the best food and wine on this planet can be enjoyed. I love cooking to this day because I find it extremely therapeutic, relaxing, distracting, and rewarding. Eating is something that we do three times a day, every day, so the possibilities and opportunities are endless. Read more...