In these health conscious days, cheese is often the first victim in the diet of anyone trying to lower their cholesterol level. There is, however, a way out - goat's cheese is lower in fat and cholesterol when compared to cow's or sheep's cheese. Depending on the exact type there may about 40% less fat and 30% less cholesterol in goat's cheese. Goat's cheese is also great for those who are lactose intolerant.

Last October (2007) we had the great pleasure of meeting food writer Toni Lydecker during her trip around the island doing research for her forthcoming book on Sicilian fish and seafood.

We just love it when the loveSicily travelers keep in touch with us and let us know how they are doing, so imagine when they even send us food from their country, like Sandra and Mary just did.

The first of May - and the traditional celebration of workers rights and achievements - is celebrated by most Italians by taking a well-earned break and enjoy a day in the countryside, since the date also coincides with the first really sunny and warm days of the year.

We spent summer enjoying the various flavours of Sicilian granite but we have not posted about them yet. You might say that you had enough and got the point already as we keep mentioning the delights of Sicilian summer breakfast with a granita and brioche on the blog. Well this time we want to add something new moving to the North-East of the island to explain how the granite business is done in the Messina area.

The loveSicily Spring and Summer cookery courses have now come to an end. It is far too hot to stay in the kitchen so break until September is in order.

Rafael Garcia Santos, of the website lomejordelagastronomia.com wrote a wonderful article on Sicilian food that really captures what makes this island so very interesting.

One of the most flattering comments is reserved for Sicilian olive oil stating "Sicily is to olive oil what Bordeaux is to wine, no more, no less." We can only agree!

Absolutely recommended reading - click here to be taken to his site and the review.

February is a busy month in Sicily as different yearly appointments coincide this year: Carnival, Sant' Agata in Catania, the almond festival in Agrigento and now even the more modern San Valentine's Day. Hopefully, as time passes we will be able to talk about each in more depth. However, for the time being we will focus on an activity that is closely related to family in Ispica, where they get together to prepare the 'gnucchitti', which are a typical pasta prepared for two occasions Carnival and the Holy Thursday.

After a brief interlude to allow loveSicily to participate on IMBB (and boy do we have news about IMBB... but more on that later) we now return to the normal broadcasting schedule with the second part of the interview with the wonderful Sicilian wine connoisseur Kate Singleton (from those who missed the first part just hope over here).

From your book it seems apparent that you had full support from the producers, were you expecting their enthusiasm?

Kate Singleton, the author of 'Wines of Sicily' has very kindly agreed to answer some questions relating to her relationship with Sicily and Sicilian wine. We present the first part here, while we will post the rest of the interview in two days.