SARA CAGLE

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    10 life lessons from 14 months in Italy
    Sara Cagle
    • Sep 22, 2020
    • 6 min

    10 life lessons from 14 months in Italy

    Well, I’m back home in the U.S. after spending a little over a year in Florence, Italy, where I fulfilled my dream of going to culinary...
    How to travel through Puglia without a car: A complete two-week itinerary
    Sara Cagle
    • Jul 31, 2020
    • 17 min

    How to travel through Puglia without a car: A complete two-week itinerary

    You’ll hear many times that traveling in Puglia, the southeastern heel of Italy's boot, is easiest with a car. This is true. It gives you...
    Why I love Puglia
    Sara Cagle
    • Jul 28, 2020
    • 5 min

    Why I love Puglia

    Other than mounds of orecchiette and secluded rocky beaches, I didn’t know what to expect from Puglia, the southern region at the heel of...
    10 fun facts from a month on a farm
    Sara Cagle
    • Jun 30, 2020
    • 4 min

    10 fun facts from a month on a farm

    If there’s anything I’ve done more times during my month of WWOOFing than hug the Bernese mountain dogs or squint out at Florence in...
    WWOOFing in Tuscany, reveling in the repetitive and embracing change
    Sara Cagle
    • Jun 16, 2020
    • 5 min

    WWOOFing in Tuscany, reveling in the repetitive and embracing change

    One year ago, I came to culinary school in Florence seeking a change. Now I’m finished with classes and am volunteering on a farm in the...
    Thoughts after a week in Phase 2
    Sara Cagle
    • May 10, 2020
    • 4 min

    Thoughts after a week in Phase 2

    Last Friday I took my first walk in nearly two months. It was May 1, and the Italian government announced that people would be finally...
    Recipes from my quarantine cooking challenge
    Sara Cagle
    • May 6, 2020
    • 6 min

    Recipes from my quarantine cooking challenge

    If you are my mom, my friend, my mom's friend, or someone who likes pictures of pasta, you may have participated in my quarantine cooking...
    The big and little things I'm grateful for during the lockdown
    Sara Cagle
    • Apr 19, 2020
    • 5 min

    The big and little things I'm grateful for during the lockdown

    I’ve been joking (or not so joking) to my friends and family that we all need things to look forward to these days. For some people (my...
    The friends I never knew I'd meet in culinary school
    Sara Cagle
    • Apr 3, 2020
    • 6 min

    The friends I never knew I'd meet in culinary school

    Olive Garden’s slogan used to be, “When you’re here, you’re family.” It suggests that your meal isn’t just about the food; it’s about who...
    How the coronavirus lockdown has changed the way I cook, plus my favorite #quarantinecuisine recipes
    Sara Cagle
    • Mar 19, 2020
    • 7 min

    How the coronavirus lockdown has changed the way I cook, plus my favorite #quarantinecuisine recipes

    I would’ve thought that suddenly finding myself living through an earth-altering pandemic would change my priorities. Maybe I’d ponder...
    A long overdue food-shop crawl in Florence, a last hurrah before the coronavirus lockdown
    Sara Cagle
    • Mar 13, 2020
    • 6 min

    A long overdue food-shop crawl in Florence, a last hurrah before the coronavirus lockdown

    Back in January, during the kind of sunset stroll in Florence that always makes me sigh with admiration and fantasize about making...
    February is a good time to be a dessert lover in Florence
    Sara Cagle
    • Feb 4, 2020
    • 3 min

    February is a good time to be a dessert lover in Florence

    In the fall, when Florence's supermarkets and pastry shops were full of schiacciata con l'uva — the city's famous flatbread studded with...
    My arms hurt! Pasta, squid, and yet another surge of respect for restaurant cooks
    Sara Cagle
    • Jan 15, 2020
    • 5 min

    My arms hurt! Pasta, squid, and yet another surge of respect for restaurant cooks

    It seems that all of my cooking tasks this week were designed to work my muscles — not just my culinary mind and physical posture, but my...
    My favorite culinary techniques from Cooking Light and Molecular Cuisine
    Sara Cagle
    • Dec 31, 2019
    • 8 min

    My favorite culinary techniques from Cooking Light and Molecular Cuisine

    I had some doubts about the two classes I'd be taking at the end of my fall semester in culinary school. First, there would be Cooking...
    It sure feels good being useless
    Sara Cagle
    • Nov 15, 2019
    • 5 min

    It sure feels good being useless

    I usually feel guilty about doing nothing. It seems like doing nothing (i.e. watching TV, reading a book, lying down on my bed and...
    Turning over a new leaf in November — plus some recipes
    Sara Cagle
    • Oct 28, 2019
    • 7 min

    Turning over a new leaf in November — plus some recipes

    October was not my month. After a week of eating everything in sight in Sicily, I returned to school at the beginning of the month to...
    The extreme act of eating in Sicily
    Sara Cagle
    • Oct 12, 2019
    • 6 min

    The extreme act of eating in Sicily

    There was blood everywhere. Pooled on the ground and into buckets. Crusted on fishermen's boots and in their fingernails. Swirling in...
    What it's like to work in a restaurant kitchen for the first time ever
    Sara Cagle
    • Oct 2, 2019
    • 10 min

    What it's like to work in a restaurant kitchen for the first time ever

    I was so unsure of myself the first few days of working in a restaurant kitchen that I might as well have never cooked anything before in...
    My favorite bready thing in Florence doesn't involve cheese, cured meat or cow stomach...
    Sara Cagle
    • Sep 17, 2019
    • 3 min

    My favorite bready thing in Florence doesn't involve cheese, cured meat or cow stomach...

    It involves grapes. Tons and tons of sweet, squishy, in-season grapes. It's called schiacciata all'uva, and it's a fruity twist on...
    Mom's visit to Florence
    Sara Cagle
    • Sep 12, 2019
    • 5 min

    Mom's visit to Florence

    I realized many moons ago that my mom will always love me no matter what, that she is the most important person in my life, and that I...
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