There’s this old mansion in the Potter Highlands neighborhood of Denver. The mansion has some of the oldest history in Denver, which includes but is not limited to: murder, magic and ghosts.

It serves as an inn today, where they host dinner parties, high tea and overnight guests on a regular basis.

I went a few months ago with some friends to share high tea and get our tarot cards read. Getting your cards read in a haunted mansion gives you that feeling of playing with a ouija board as a kid in your basement.

It’s been a minute, friends. But here we are at the end of Italian month(s) and if you thought the cooking has slowed down, well you’d be wrong.

I’ve been cooking with excitement and fury, trying to get it all in before the end of the year. Only to realize, I have 9 recipes to share, and well, zero blog posts to show for it.

Rather than give you the dog and pony of why my life has gotten in the way of blogging, I’ll just say that I still have insane energy and love going into this blog. But it will change in the new year.

Because all good things evolve. More on that later.

I’m a little nervous about Italian month.

I know the ingredients are paramount. The dishes are simple, and rely on high quality ingredients – if I can’t find those ingredients, will the food even taste all that great?

I also know that most of what you find in Italian food is inauthentic. Jarred tomato sauce, mozzarella and herb mixes. How will I know if the recipes I find are the real deal?