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Today we take a brief look at three of our current favorite modern British ceramicists. In our opinion, the most powerful characteristic of good pottery is original form. An earthenware piece should play with proportion while remaining visually balanced and, unlike a conventional sculpture, the objects must ultimately maintain functionality. First up is Georgie Gardiner (@georgieceramics). While some of her available work depends on an almost midcentury modern vine pattern, it's her spiraled designs that have our hearts. Slightly off-kilter curves wrap around bellied vessels that are framed by uncolored collars around the neck and a dramatically tapered base. Perfectly balanced, these rotund but elegant forms are the perfect addition to any sophisticated space. Next we turn to Sophie Cook (@sophie_cook_porcelain). Working with variations of droplet forms, Cook's vessels exude both fluidity and structure as the teardrop shape captures movement while the elongated necks offer balanced rigidity. Individually, they are boldly unusual but together the individualism is tamed to form a cohesive minimalist installation. Finally, we look to Ben Sutton (@pottedben) Sutton aims to create pieces that are "visually bold yet elegant and tactile" and he's certainly accomplished this. His minimalist vases boast simple forms and either luminous gloss or striking matte finishes. We love his recent works with broad but restrained mouths that gradually taper inward forming cascading funnels as well as his take on a traditional vase form that is made modern with a slightly elongated body and subtly tapered rim.

These beautiful confections are the perfect original alternatives to a fondant-covered commissioned cake. In addition to being impressive pieces of sculpture, they are mouth-wateringly delicious desserts. Staff at The Arcanisa Kitchen create outstanding edible show-stoppers for our events and today we are sharing our four current favorite autumnal novelty treats, beginning with sophisticated snack that looks too good to eat, followed by a whimsical option for kids; then we'll introduce jelly filled insects that are bursting with flavor and end with joyous autumnal baked goods. These show-stopping bats are completely edible. We can't reveal how they're made (we were sworn to secrecy!) but you can see the toasty desiccated coconut which hints to the flavors that we promise are out of this world. The bats have semi-translucent wings with a sueded texture that genuinely look like the delicately stretched skin of a bat wing. They also have glistening wet eyes and noises giving them such life-like faces we almost feel bad eating them! Buy one for each guest and stick them atop cakes or on decorated foam blocks for delicious treats to leave at each place setting. Your guests wont believe they're edible! For children (or those of us who are young at heart), Halloween is a time of fantasy and mysticism. These monster cupcakes are a huge hit at parties and will be gone in the blink of an eye. Moist rich chocolate cupcakes are filled with generous dollop of sea salted-caramel and topped with a mop of curly vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream. Giving the monster its distinctive features, white chocolate tentacles spiral and sprawl from within the frosting and an eerie jello eye thats filled with red raspberry core for a gory and disturbingly realistic burst of liquid when bitten into. It's haunting without being scary and the sweet flavors are enticing enough that we don't mind eating eyeballs! Next up are the most elaborate cookies we've ever had! Deliciously realistic sculptures of Hercules beetles, the bodies are reminiscent of jaffa cakes and Pim's with a spongy vanilla cake topped with a zesty orange curd and coated in decadent dark chocolate. The wings are thin crispy cookies scented with vanilla and orange essence and adorned with hand painted speckles. Each of six tiny legs are hand sculpted from bittersweet modeling chocolate and are complete with small barbs and joints. The head is an orange liqueur infused dark chocolate truffle surrounded by the same modeling chocolate as the legs. All in all, these crawling treats are outstanding. The tempered chocolate coating the body and the snappy cookie wings break with addictive crunch and then, the soft jellied innards are revealed which feels almost too realistic! Finally we have these adorable pumpkin patch cupcakes that will certainly wow guests and do The Great Pumpkin proud. Sugar coated spheres of creamy cardamom frosting are ridged to mimic the glowing rinds of ripe pumpkins. Vine tendrils sprout from their tops and peak out from beneath a few pumpkins, all of which are accompanied on their cupcake tops by leaves that look like celadon art deco fans. These sweet vanilla cakes are filled with a spiced stone fruit compote and offer all the luxuriously balanced flavors of an autumn clafoutis. Plus, when arranged together on a table the cupcakes create a lively fruitful pumpkin patch that is sure to wow your guests!

Eggs are one of the most versatile foods in our kitchens. Packed with protein, these shell encrusted gems are as delicious on their own as they are baked into pastries or woven into fresh pasta dough. It's not uncommon to have experienced delicate quail eggs and intense duck eggs but few people have the privilege of experiencing the pure goodness that is a pullet egg. Pullets are young hens typically less than a year old. And when those lovely girls start laying eggs, the tiny first attempts are called pullet eggs. While they taste the same as eggs from mature chickens, they are significantly smaller in size (meaning they cook faster!) and often have unusual shapes. We've also noticed that pullet yolks are shockingly spherical, gloriously orange, and seemingly more rich than those in standard eggs (although we can't say for sure if this is true for all pullet eggs). The beauty of pullet eggs is their availability! Unlike quail eggs which are considered a specialty product and can be difficult to track down, every chicken farm puts out pullet eggs at some point. If you are fortunate enough to live near a farmers market where eggs are sold or, better yet, farms that raise chickens, ask the farmers if they can collect some pullet eggs for you next time they're hatchlings have matured enough to start egg-laying. Prepare these flawless little eggs however you would typical eggs; we love the way they look fried or poached as this lets us appreciate how delightfully small they are! They also make beautiful hard boiled eggs for subtly unique deviled eggs or delicate soft boiled eggs to be laid on a crisp toast triangle. While there is not a drastic change from regular eggs, the slight difference makes pullet eggs infinitely more magical and we love when we get the prized text from our local farmer letting us know pullet eggs are in!

If the coronavirus has taught us anything it's how to live our lives to the fullest from the confines of our homes. And what life is fulfilled without art? Not only are we starved for art as quarantine keeps us out of galleries, artists themselves are struggling to connect with buyers. Virtual shows are great but it can be unnerving to purchase expensive pieces without seeing them in person (anyone who has seen a photograph of a Pollock and the real thing in person knows no amount of pixels can translate the reality of art to digital renderings). But the coronavirus has worked to advance digital art buying. As a platform designed for the sharing of images, Instagram has proven to be the ideal platform for art exchange. After some serious trial and error we figured out the best ways to shop for and purchase art on Instagram. We've broken down our method into two strategies determined by your level of time and commitment: a quick version for those who want art now but don't want to spend hours scrolling, and a more tedious but more rewarding version for those who are determined to find the diamond in the rough. The basic strategies: -To quickly identify art, find and follow galleries that curate art in your style and budget. -To discover new artist and unexpected pieces, focus on hashtags and followers. Thats likely not enough information to take action, so here are the details on how we go about buying. But this is just a template! You may find that some things work for you and some don't. Art buying is as subjective as taste is! Step one for both methods is to create a separate Instagram account for art collecting. Success buying art on Instagram is largely determined by timing and it's far too easy for artworks to get lost in the swarm of selfies that dominate our personal feeds. Plus, Instagram doesn't include all recent images in your feed so there's the chance a perfect piece won't come across your screen at all! Do yourself a favor and create an art account to maximize your chances of seeing something you love in time to buy it. Now you need to fill your feed! It can be tempting to start following big art accounts but the work is often out of budget or unobtainable for other reasons. Instead, if you choose to buy from galleries, focus on those that are smaller and more specialized. Don't be afraid to explore both local and international institutions (check out @TAM.gallery, @sugarlift, and @paperartistcollective). To find galleries you can either work backwards by identifying where artists you like show, doing some research online before taking to Instagram, or, if you're willing to allot a bit more time, go through relevant hashtags and the "Following" lists on the accounts of artists you like. If you go through a gallery, the process is very similar to buying from a brick-and-mortar space so from here on out we are going to focus on how to buy art directly from artists. That takes us to hashtags. We LOVE them for art buying! If you have the time they are the best way to discover something new. Prominent hashtags for art shopping are #artcollector, #buyartfromartists, #emergingartist, #affordableart, #newpainting, #printmaking etc etc etc. Recently, we've become obsessed with #artistsupportpledge which corresponds to a British movement where artists post works that are $200 or less and commit to buying $200 of art for every $1000 of art they sell. It's a fantastic way to find inexpensive works. When working with hashtags, try to think like the artists you are looking for: want a print from Oaxaca? try #grabadormexicano, want something local? use the format #artfillinyourlocation. Go for #studentartist or #artschool for homework assignments that you may be able to purchase. Avoid hashtags that are too broad like #art or #painting as these will often include posts about art in museums and private collections that will tease you. Take the time to scroll through most recent and you'll likely be rewarded but know you'll have to look past a lot of frogs before you see your prince! After you find something that catches your eye, send the artist a direct message as quickly as possible. You'd be surprised how quickly good art sells so expressing interest early will help you reserve a piece; most artists won't engage in conversations about a work once someone has expressed interest. With that in mind, if an artist says an item you like is reserved, just inform them that you'd like to be contacted if the piece becomes available. You never know! If you contact the artist and the work is available, get the important information first (think price, size, medium etc). Sometimes this information is included in the caption so check first to avoid asking redundantly. However, you can be as chatty as you want to be! If you decide you'd love to know the inspiration behind a work or the story behind specific medium choices just ask! Take advantage of the fact you are buying art directly from an artist. Assuming the price is right, the next step (and in our experience the most important!) is to ask for a photo of the art in a space that offers scale. Often, artists post well lit close-up pictures of their work to show detail and eliminate any background distraction but doing so can remove essential context. Seeing the piece on a wall or set on a table helps communicate how the art feels in person. Obviously, it won't be the same as being there, but it's certainly more helpful that a simple isolated closeup (check out the examples on the left!). If you see the work in context and realize it isn't for you (which happens more often than one would expect!) just let the artist know the size isn't the format your looking for, thank them for their help, and be on your way. If you see it in a relevant space and decide not to purchase it, say so quickly! Don't leave an artist on the hook (it's bad manners). The next step is to ask for a shipping quote. A postcard sized print on card stock ships for significantly less money than a sculpture or fully framed painting. You'd be surprised how quickly a piece becomes unobtainably expensive once you add shipping costs so ask up front for a quote. If everything works out, exchange payment. Typically this is done through PayPal although we have had artists direct us to galleries that represent them. Then enjoy your new art! We highly recommend staying in touch with artists you like. It can be incredibly rewarding (and fun!) to make a connection with someone who is creating for you and establishing a strong relationship is invaluable. We've even been able to purchased pieces that were unposted because artists we previously connected with contacted us before posting to see if we were interested! If you reach out to an artist directly don't be surprised if this is new for them too! Instagram isn't a platform designed for art sales and many artists are new to social media so follow the steps we've laid out to make the process smoother. Remember, artists are people (often eccentric people) so you might get weird responses and that's half the fun! *(all the works on this page are for sale! click them to find them on Instagram!)

The desert is quite simply astonishing. Desolate and silent, this landscape is teeming with mystery and profundity. Both terrifying and enthralling, the desert is one of the few places to which we are inexplicably and unrelentingly drawn and, as a result, Death Valley, California, roughly 150 miles west of Las Vegas, is one of our most frequented travel destinations. Adding to its impressiveness, Death Valley boasts a number of jaw dropping claims to fame: it's home to the largest national park in the U.S., the second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, and it holds the record for the highest ambient air temperature every recorded at the surface of the earth—an inconceivable 134.1ºF. Don't let this scare you; our experiences in the desert have been far more hospitable (in fact, it has rained on every trip we've ever taken to Death Valley which we are pretty sure is a record and, if not, is at least a statistical anomaly!). If you don't trust us that this domestic desert is worth a trip, consider that Native Americans have inhabited the land for over 1,000 years so there must be something alluring about this arid landscape! Let us talk about the magic we experienced in this under-appreciated holy place. Arguably the most transformative moment for us was an entirely unplanned and unexpected encounter with total silence. After driving deep into the park, we pulled over and walked out onto the salt flats to explore. A few steps away from the car we discovered that there was absolutely no discernible sound. There were no rustling plants, no breeze rushing past our ears, no scurrying wildlife, and certainly no city noise. It was so powerful it was spine-tingling, even a bit eerie. We walked further apart and held our collective breath to deepen the silence. It remains, to this day, one of our most life changing moments. If you've never experienced true silence, especially when you're entirely unprepared to do so, it's difficult to fully comprehend the significance but trust us, it's overwhelming, unquestionably inspiring, and almost spiritual. Transformative moments aside, Death Valley has so much to offer. With rigid salt covered rock formations, painted mountain ranges, expansive salt flats, and surreal vistas, there is no shortage of geological wonders to witness. This desert is perfect for driving, hiking, exploring, meditating and pretty much every other activity that is respectful of this uninterrupted nature. Not convinced of the magic? Take a trip to the Racetrack. Here, you'll find large boulders weighing as much as 700lbs that limn deep trails as long as 1,500 feet across the sun-baked playa documenting epic journeys across the scorched earth—although their movements do lack speeds worthy of their Racetrack course! While researchers have proposed dozens of theories on what forces move the impressive stones, no one knows for sure what causes these stunning tracks (granted, there is a consensus that is likely the result of small amounts of water freezing and melting but where's the fun in that!). On a smaller scale, the desert is brimming with flora and fauna that have adapted brilliantly to this extreme climate. Because of the unusual rains that fell during our trips, we were fortunate enough to watch fields of wildflowers sprout, bloom, and color the otherwise stark terrain literally overnight. Mariposa lilies, poppies, and desert chicory graced the land and offered a delicate counterbalance to the rocky geography. The arid climate supports not only glorious vibrant flowers but also hearty animals. Personally, we've spotted bobcats, jackrabbits, bats, and elegant foxes although Death Valley is home to an impressive number and diversity of nible critters. If you are looking for a spiritual adventure, moments of pure solitude, and transcendent experiences with nature we couldn't recommend Death Valley more. It's addictively enchanting and after one visit we're confident you'll agree. All photos from NPS https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm

We love sports, but none can compare to roller derby. It's as much performance art as it is a competition and, for us, that's what makes it so unique. This sport has literally everything we could want: powerful women sporting hot pants, tattoos, and villainous alter egos, skillful high-speed skating, full contact body slams, and more than a touch of witty humor. Crowds attending derby events (known as bouts) exhibit all the competitive fire and nail-biting nerves of diehard NFL fans watching a Super Bowl show down. Within moments of a bout starting, you will be overwhelmed by roller derby's sheer epicness and we don't doubt you'll be on the edge of your seat for the rest of play. If the action alone isn't enough to sell you on roller derby, let's talk about the skaters. These gladiatorial women often compete in character. Their alter egos, who are typically ferociously edgy and often costumed with fishnets, outstanding makeup or face paint, and insurgent confidence, adopt names that usually incorporate seriously wicked puns. A few of our favorites are: Rita Her-Rights Jalapeño Business Killer Bee-otch Bella deBrawl Carmen Getsome Paige Security Tempura Tantrum Barbara Ambush Bunsen Burn Her Destroyevsky We love the salty moment depicted above when the gothic Re-Animateher discovered a skater on the opposing team had copied her makeup and was casting serious name-shade. Talk about a bold move! Even the referees (who are referred to as zebras) have fierce names (we're talking about you, Seymoure Carnage and Atticus Flinch!). And managing the technical side of play are non-skating officials who are easy to spot as they rock white lab coats. The skating and non-skating officials act as moderators and do their best to enforce the relatively straightforward rules. Bouts are broken down into intervals of play, referred to as jams, that are separated by 30 second breaks. Jams take place on ovoid flat tracks with ten total skaters, five from each of two teams. Teams have four blockers who form the pack and one jammer who is identified with a large star on her helmet. Blockers begin on the starting pivot line with the two jammers positioned behind them; the first jammer to break through the pack gets the distinction of lead jammer and the power to dictate when the jam ends. After an initial pass through the pack, jammers earn points by lapping skaters on the opposing team. However, blockers attempt to prevent the opposing jammer from escaping the pack by— you guessed it—blocking. While this blocking can't involve tripping, elbowing, or other blatant acts of violence, the jams are full of formidably heavy contact that satisfies all our base desires to witness controlled ruthlessness (especially when our team is dishing out the contact rather than enduring it!). This might sound simplistic but the skaters are exhilaratingly clever. It's not uncommon to see blockers slingshot their jammers through seemingly impenetrable packs and jammers grab the hips of a teammate in front them to protect themselves from encroaching blockers and ultimately propel themselves forward escaping even the most organized blocker walls (it's as superhuman as it sounds). Craving some extra drama? Well roller derby offers that too! The blocker who leads the pack is known as the pivot and this skater can exchange places with their jammer at any point which always elicits huge roars of the crowd. And don't get us started on power jams, when the opposing team's jammer is stuck in the penalty box and your team gets the opportunity to score without a challenger. It's epic and makes you feel invincible. There is undeniable artistic undertone to roller derby. Observing the creative personas and ingeniously sharp wordplay, we have come to appreciate that the physicality, while gripping, is simply an opportunity to decompress and express one's self in a supportive judgement free space. Day jobs becomes irrelevant and skaters can be anyone they want to be on the track. As spectators, we are entertained by sport while we witness true human authenticity. What could be better than that?

In his own words, Ivan Bautista hopes to "exalt feminine and masculine figures" and "article and represent the inner [turmoils]...to make visible their hidden characteristics and discover their [mysticism]"(1) and we couldn't agree more . Bautista works with charcoal, graphite, oil, but predominantly print-making techniques to capture both the darkness and beauty of his subjects. We love it and we can't get enough. His work is eerily striking, simultaneously tortured and serene, and certainly not lacking nuance. He depicts bodies in atypical positions while ensuring the faces are dripping with emotion to elicit a dynamic of tension that evokes concern. We own works by Bautista and they are remarkably powerful, immediately hijacking any gallery wall we've put them on. Bautista has an ability to see and capture the human soul that is downright genius. Bautista's work can be purchased through GravuraOaxaca@gmail.com and ships from Mexico. The works are very reasonably priced so you can comfortably collect several pieces. We don't think you will be able to fine more emotive, technically beautiful work at such a low price anywhere. We certainly haven't!

We first encountered A.T. Pratt at an art fair where he was set up like an extravagant snake oil salesman but instead of pushing hollow elixirs, he casually hid behind the sloped brim of a black stetson and offered a Pandora's box of dizzying paper works that had erupted on the table and were as much sculpture as they were illustrative cartoons. We were instantly smitten. If art is a way to capture and communicate the state of the world in an aesthetic and engaging manner, we can imagine no truer artist than Pratt. A self-declared "cartoon tycoon", Pratt creates elaborate drawings that are simultaneously whimsical and deeply disturbing. Take his character Bompi (who Pratt, with the straightforwardness of a passerby responding to a request for the time, informed us is "America's Favorite Bouncy Boy"). Bompi is a pink creature with the amorphous curves of Flubber and the unwavering positive disposition of a masochistic chocolate eclair who somehow finds himself (yes we confirmed this pronoun) the victim of a variety of ill fates, a few shockingly graphic although he doesn't seem to mind. Adorable? Undoubtably. Traumatizing? Perhaps. Addictive? 100% (see if you can spot him hiding in the top right of the woven snake piece coming up later on!) But let's focus on the artistry of Pratt's creations. The visuals are outstanding. Impossibly nuanced and dramatically graphic, the colorful illustrations alone are striking and refreshingly unrestrained. What we love most, however, is the incorporation of pop-up book like paper folding that is beyond pure decoration, making each piece sculptural and interactive. Cut-outs turn static spans of paper into shadowed cavities, that sometimes reveal previews to secondary story lines, and angular folds that create numerous stairs to nowhere or perhaps somewhere (we are never really sure and it's incredible). Most pieces are littered with symbolism, which reveals to us that Pratt has a palpable clarity on the complexities and hypocrisies of life. Take the incredible two-toned work above in which a castle dwelling mouse, Miggy, avoids a close encounter with a grim reaper named Griever—who we learn is both sad and bad at his job—only to find himself dead at the hand of a string of horrible nightmares stemming from an insecurity that "while the presentation is original, the story lacks substance". It's gold (literally and figuratively). Pratt manages to communicate this narrative with only a few bubbles of dialog intertwined with almost indiscernible drawings, all of which are crammed on a single sheet of paper. The result is an impactful and genuinely pretty piece of art. Our favorite of Pratt's pop-up series is a commentary on the futility of climbing the corporate ladder. Cut out dragon-esq snakes are woven through alternating strips of uneven accordion folds as a nod to the geometry of a Chutes and Ladders board. Instead of ladder rungs, Pratt utilizes the delineating quality of squares to illustrate office building windows which, when repeated, form a mesmerizing cityscape. A visually attractive parody of life, this is art in its purest form. Take a moment to look through Pratt's portfolio and let his visions enlighten you.

This gorgeous recipe is a rich smooth vegetarian treat that we often reach for on chilly autumn nights. Thickened with ground almonds, the soup offers a sweet and sour profile from the additions of honey and wine vinegar, both of which are enhanced by the inclusion of warming spices like cinnamon and pepper. Topped off with a (generous) grating of cheese, the soup is complex in flavors but simplistic in its ingredients making it an easy but exceptional meal all its own. The recipe for this soup is written by Frank of Memorie di Angelina, an Italian-American who, while a lawyer by day, is clearly a chef at heart. Sharing his nonna Angelina's recipes that she developed in her "small hilltop town in the Campania region of Italy called Apice", Frank opens the door and welcomes us into his family's Italian kitchen while sprinkling in his own culinary experiences from years living in Paris, Vienna, and a surely delicious decade in Rome. His recipes are diverse and delicious, but this one is truly unique. Carabaccia is an ancient Tuscan onion soup, going back to the Renaissance. They say it was a favorite of Leonardo da Vinci—and that, as for so many other classic dishes,  the recipe was brought by Catarina de’  Medici to France, where it evolved into the soupe à l’oignon we all know and love today. You may be surprised at the taste of this soup. Like me, you may even find it a bit odd, at first. We moderns are not very accustomed to the sweet-and-sour-and spicy flavor profile, which is rarely found in Italian cookery today but was very typical of its time, as was the use of ground almonds as a thickener. Ingredients Serves 4 1 kilo (2 lbs) red onions, peeled and very thinly sliced Olive oil Salt 100g (4 oz) of ground almonds 2 Tbs of wine vinegar Ground cinnamon 2 Tbs of sugar or honey Freshly ground black pepper 1 liter (1 quart) broth, typically vegetarian and preferably homemade Freshly grated Tuscan pecorino or Parmesan cheese A slice of toasted bread per person Directions Mix the ground almonds with the vinegar and a dash of cinnamon and set aside to macerate. In a large pot, preferably of terracotta or enameled cast iron, braise the onions in a generous glug of olive oil with a pinch of salt, as gently as you can possibly manage, until they are well reduced, translucent and falling apart soft. Take care that they don’t darken too much or burn as they braise; if need be, add a bit of water along the way to make sure. Usually, though, the onions throw off a great deal of their our liquid and you may actually need to let this evaporate at the end. This initial braising is the key to the success of the dish—it coaxes out natural sweet flavor of the onions and provides the foundation of the soup. Taste the onions—they should be meltingly soft and intensely sweet. The whole process will take something like 45-60 minutes. Don’t rush. When the onions are done, add the macerated almonds and mix them into the onions. Let the onions and almonds sauté for a few minutes, then add the sugar or honey, and a good grind of black pepper, and sauté for a few minutes more. When all the flavors have melded, add the broth and simmer the whole thing gently for about 3o minutes or so. Taste and adjust for seasoning. To serve, lay a slice of toasted bread in the bottom of each bowl, then ladle over the onion soup. Top with grated cheese and, if you like, a sprinkling of cinnamon, sugar and/or a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately while the soup is still piping hot. Notes The red onions are typically Tuscan; if you have access to the famous red onions of Certaldo, near Florence, then you will experience carabaccia at its most authentic. Modern versions of this dish tend to omit the ‘old fashioned’ elements—the almonds, vinegar, sugar and cinnamon—in favor of a purely savory approach, much more in line with contemporary Italian tastes. Meat broth can be used instead of vegetable, if you like; some recipes forego broth altogether, relying only on the natural liquid of the onions, with perhaps a bit of water to moisten things if necessary, for a very thick soup that is almost like a vegetable stew.  In some recipes, individual soup bowls, topped with cheese, are run under the broiler or in a hot oven until bubbly, in the French manner. Other modern recipes often call for a bit of carrot and celery are added to sauté along with the onions, and some call for the addition of other vegetables in season, like peas or fava beans in the spring. And some people like to crack an egg into their carabaccia at the last minute, just long enough to let the whites set, leaving the yolk still runny. Carabaccia (Tuscan Onion Soup) Rating: 5 Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Yield: Serves 4 Ingredients 1 kilo (2 lbs) red onions, peeled and very thinly sliced Olive oil Salt 1 liter (1 quart) broth, typically vegetarian and preferably homemade 100g (4 oz) of ground almonds 2 Tbs of wine vinegar 2 Tbs of sugar or honey Ground cinnamon Freshly ground black pepper Freshly grated Tuscan pecorino or Parmesan cheese A slice of toasted bread per person Directions Mix the ground almonds with the vinegar and a dash of cinnamon and set aside to macerate. In a large pot, preferably of terracotta or enameled cast iron, braise the onions in a generous glug of olive oil with a pinch of salt, as gently as you can possibly manage, until they are well reduced, translucent and falling apart soft. Take care that they don't darken too much or burn as they braise; if need be, add a bit of water along the way to make sure. The whole process will take something like 45-60 minutes. When the onions are done, add the macerated almonds and mix them into the onions. Let the onions and almonds sauté for a few minutes, then add the sugar or honey, and a good grind of black pepper, and sauté for a few minutes more. When all the flavors have melded, add the broth and simmer the whole thing gently for about 3o minutes or so. Taste and adjust for seasoning. To serve, lay a slice of toasted bread in the bottom of each bowl, then ladle over the onion soup. Top with grated cheese and, if you like, a sprinkling of cinnamon, sugar and/or a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately while the soup is still piping hot.