This Sunday Phil and I will celebrate 18 years of marriage. It’s been a long  journey with many more years ahead of us. I love being married to this man more than just about anything else, including food. He is my best friend, my confidant, my inspiration, my biggest cheerleader and he has a great sense of humor. I think the last quality helps him the most in living with me. There are a few other things about him that I love, in no particular order:

He loves me unconditionally.

He is strong.

He is handsome.

He is talented.

He laughs with his eyes.

He is taller than me.

He is younger than me.

We love to watch romantic comedies together.

We walk and talk together.

We pray together.

We dance to old swing music when no one is around.

He opens the door for me.

His smile is nice.

He has aged wonderfully.

Here we are on our wedding day in 1994:

This is in 2008 when we visited Punta Cana for our 15th anniversary:

This one is a fun family picture from 2009 including my daughters’ half-sister but missing my son-in-law. The twins were in Brit’s belly.

Here we are a little over 2 weeks ago when we went to California for an anniversary trip:

Our family has grown over the years, just like our love. Grandchild #6 is on its way, due next August. Life is never dull around here.

You might be wondering what is on our menu for our celebration dinner so I thought I would share:

Rosemary Peasant bread with dipping oil

Salad of some type

Homemade pasta with Rustic Bolognese sauce

Dessert is still undecided at this point but we’ll be sure to have something chocolate since we are chocolate lovers here.

I’m looking forward to dinner tomorrow and another 18 years with my man, at least that many more.

Off we were on quite the adventure. I knew we had plans to eat out a bit but in the end we ate at restaurants for almost every meal but breakfast. I mentioned our plans to a passenger I was sitting next to on the plane and he said to enjoy “our gastronomical adventure”. I laughed and said we only planned to visit two particular places, the North End Caffe and an In-n-Out burger place since Phil’s co-worker said he just “had” to go there, being a burger lover. I had no idea we’d eat out so much in four days’ time.

Here we are with our food and a picture of the egg rolls. I can’t say enough about the burger and the egg rolls alone would take me to CA again any day.

This is the Fuego burger which we shared along with another sandwich. We were so full after lunch but we managed a walk down to the beach to view the Pacific Ocean.

Next we were whisked off for a nice drive up the Pacific Coast Highway towards Venice beach. We stopped and people-watched while we walked and shopped for souvenirs. I found a cute stone turtle for Jake, he collects them. We saw a few shops for medical marijuana which was sort of a culture shock. Then we kept on going up the PCH with stunning views of the Pacific ocean like this:

We had perfect weather for touring, it was about 79 degrees and sunny. We made a stop in Malibu for coffee and enjoyed the view of the hills used during the filming of MASH. We passed through Oxnard and ended in Ventura where we toured a mission and enjoyed a walk out on the Ventura Pier in the early evening, just as the sun set.

We ended our evening with a stop at a restaurant in Santa Clarita where we enjoyed tri-tip for our first time. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but the food was really good.

The next day we spent touring the Vasquez rocks and the Mojave desert area around my friend’s house. It was so cool to see the various terrains and mountains of California. We had burgers at In-n-Out for lunch then went to a local place in Lancaster, CA called Bex. I have to say the food was good but there was a huge issue with the kitchen which resulted in our meal being served very late and us getting free desserts. After the wonderful Parmesan fries and BBQ Tri-tip sandwich we had no space for dessert so we took them home. My friends arranged for a birthday ice cream to be brought to our table for me, even though it was 2 months past my birthday, and the staff did their clapping and singing thing. It was really funny.

We spent Sunday in Hollywood and downtown LA. We walked on the Walk of Fame, saw the Chinese theater and the Hollywood sign from the Kodak theater. We had our pictures taken with some of the impersonators as well as this wax statue of Shrek.

Then we drove toward downtown for the Original French Dip sandwich at Philippe’s which has been there since about 1908. At that point my friend dropped us at our hotel so we could begin our travel day bright and early. Well let me say I was not bright and being early didn’t help. We were bumped off the first flight to Houston where we were stopping for a connecting flight back to Cleveland. We spent the entire day in Houston and were bumped off of 4 flights before finally getting on a very full flight to Pittsburgh. At least we were within driving distance and we decided to rent a car at midnight and drive home. We had two meals in the Houston airport. If you ever have to spend the day there try Ruby’s Diner for a nice over-priced burger or salad.

We had a great adventure and visit with our friends. We are tired and ready to get back to some healthy eating and slow-paced life. That will start right after I return from my retreat this coming weekend. Oh and next time I watch triple D, I’m going to turn it off and go cook a fantastic dinner.

Aglio, Olio, and Peperoncino

5 cloves of garlic, diced fine

1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 dried red pepper or 1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 pound cooked pasta, long spaghetti type works best

Fresh grated cheese- Parmesan or Pecorino Romano works

Fresh basil, thin sliced

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add salt. Cook pasta until just before al dente’. Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a larger skillet on medium heat. Add the garlic and saute’ for a few minutes, only until golden brown. Don’t let it burn or it will be bitter. Add in the peperoncino and some salt and pepper. When the pasta is ready, drain but reserve some of the cooking water, and add to the pan. Cook a few minutes, add water if the pasta is too sticky. Serve and top with cheese, basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

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Click here to see the complete report.

As promised, here are my menus for Christmas eve and Christmas day for this year. I searched the interwebs for more information about traditional Italian holiday menus and found more ideas for this year. Some of this may not be truly traditional but it’s all around just good Italian food.

Christmas eve feast before and after church will consist of a meatless meal of giardiniera salad, which is a cold salad of various pickled vegetables with cauliflower being the main ingredient. I have bought some jarred mix and will add in artichoke hearts and baby corn. Along with this we will eat cheese filled tortellini with marinara sauce made from homemade roasted tomatoes. We took a trip to an Italian market and I found some great deals on Roma plum tomatoes and fresh basil. The basil leaves were as large as my hand! I think I got about 10 pounds of tomatoes and made them into one batch of creamy tomato basil soup and one into the sauce for Christmas eve.  I took the rest of the basil and made pesto. I was very happy to find pine nuts in my freezer for this purpose. I’m going to make some rosemary bread since everyone here loves it and eats so much of it that I can’t keep up with their hunger for the stuff.  When we get home from church, we’ll make fresh hot homemade Auntie Ann’s pretzels from a kit I won at the cookie exchange I went to earlier in the month. I hope we’ll be able to just relax and enjoy some quiet time before the next day.

On Christmas morning, I’ll get up before all the guys and make homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee, put out some orange juice and then wake everyone for breakfast and presents. We’ll clean up from round one of the gifts, lay out a nice anti-pasti platter with prosciuttini, mortadella, provolone cheese, olives-several varieties including oil-cured black olives, brie with pepper jelly and crackers, and anything else we feel like adding to the lunch. I think this will be plenty of food to hold us off until dinner. Lauren and Isaiah will come over for lunch and more present opening and fun time.

Dinner will be Italian wedding soup, more bread, braciole with marinara and possibly ricotta gnocchi if I’m feeling the energy to make those this week. We have panettone and a cookie tray for dessert and I bought some of that chocolate wine. I really can’t wait and as you can see, we really are about the food.

But in the midst of all the food and presents, we will take time to read from the Bible the story of Jesus’ birth and reflect on what His presence means to each of us. I will also get out my children’s nativity story book and figures to read to Isaiah since this year, with him being three, I think he will understand a little more than last year.

I am more prepared this year for Christmas than any other year and that is mostly due to the fact that I have four cookie classes for kids to run this week. I’ve done one already and know what changes to make for the next three. Since I knew this week would be crazy with food and classes all of my gifts are bought and wrapped. No Christmas eve gift wrapping marathon for me. Probably for Phil but not me. It feels weird but a good kind of weird.

Now if only I could remember the one gift I bought months ago, hid and now can’t find. That right there is traditional for me. Just ask my kids.

Photo credit: Italian ornaments 

Buon Natale and may you find the real meaning of Christmas this year as you spend time with those you love.

Yeah, it’s a whiny post so if you don’t want to read, leave or delete now. Disclaimer out-of-the-way, what this is really about is longing. This time of year always brings about a longing in me I can’t or haven’t fulfilled in my life. Personally I think a trip to Italy would help. I also think if I had family here, to cook with me for the holidays I would not feel so empty.

Maybe it’s the desire for what isn’t really achievable-a normal family full of extended relatives living nearby where we all get along and have wonderful holidays together. No one has that do they? I didn’t think so. We all have some issues, some are more serious than others. Some can be overcome, some can’t.

My daughters are the mommys to a bunch of little ones that I adore but it doesn’t make for fun in the kitchen just yet. They are still underfoot. My sons are just enough interested to cook with me but not enough to go all out. What I really want is my brothers and sister to be with me so we can cook and visit. I have no idea how that could be achieved but if it could, I would do it in a heartbeat.

As I sit and try to come up with our Christmas eve and Christmas day menus I realize how lonely for my extended family I am. I might have to just pick up the phone and find out if they can help me out.

I guess I’ll try not to cry but I can’t promise anything. I am going to the Italian market this week with my boys. At least we can do that together and have fun. It’s the prosciutto that appeals to them.

As I write this I realize that two things have happened since I last blogged that are worth noting. I celebrated 2 years of blogging on December 9th and I found out I will once again be a grandma. My oldest is due with baby #5 next August. She is a wonderful mother and will truly have her hands full- of love and babies.

I promise as soon as I figure out my menu it will be shared with all. Next week will be busy as I have 5 cookie classes to teach to kids at the cafe’. I had better get planning and shopping this week or I’ll be crazy. Until then, shop, wrap and repeat.

I have admitted in the past right here on my blog how I have become a food snob in that I will not use “cream of (fill in the blank) soup” recipes or jarred sauces when I can make my own. Well for my birthday yesterday, my husband arranged for my one of my daughters to cook dinner for us and bring it over. Guess what she made? Just look at this picture:

Lasagna! Not only did she make lasagna but she also made this wonderful tossed salad. I baked some Rosemary peasant bread yesterday because I was going to enjoy myself for one day.  And the look on my grandson’s face is priceless. He was anxiously awaiting his piece of “asagna”. I am proud to say my daughter did a great job on making and baking the lasagna. It was so good I was sure she made the sauce from scratch so I asked her. Her response threw me for a loop, and a huge one at that. She used a jarred sauce from Aldi! I could not believe it. That is the one product I hear people claim is so good from there and I have refused to buy and use at home. Turns out it’s pretty good in a lasagna. I wonder how it will taste with my brown rice pasta?

I did buy a jar of this sauce for a class and ended up not using it because I was sick and didn’t teach it, this was in October. It’s been sitting in my pantry since then and I figured one day my boys might get desperate enough to make it for themselves. Well it might be me instead of the kids.

My family blessed me with lots of great gifts. I was given cookware, a padded floor mat, a new drinking cup, new slippers, a gift card to buy myself clothes and a dolly to carry the crate I tote all my supplies to my cooking classes in. That crate gets heavy with two pasta machines and a few pots plus food.

Here is one more very cool picture my son took. If you look closely, you’ll see the reflection of our table and meal in the balloon.

Of course we’ll have a turkey…

I hope mine will look like this. Does yours? What is the secret? I think it has something to do with butter or olive oil on the skin. I’m still researching the best way to get a juicy turkey. So far I’ve decided to do a dry brine, then put fresh herbs under the skin, rub with olive oil and stuff the cavity with lemons and garlic.

Photo credit: Johnsonville 

Next is the stuffing. Or is it dressing? I don’t really get the difference but this time I am not putting it in the turkey. It never works out well for me so I’ll add extra broth to make it tasty. This year I’m making a fresh loaf of rosemary focaccia bread then I will cube it and toast them for the stuffing. I will add crumbled Italian sausage, celery, onion, garlic, turkey broth, and maybe some dried fruit. I am still not sure which dried fruit will go with those flavor combinations.

Our other side dishes will be my own Parmesan Crusted Green Beans, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes with bacon, gravy, jello for the kids and pumpkin pies. I’ll be making up a fruit and cheese tray including black olives for us to munch on while we cook and wait for dinner.

I have a few crafts planned for the grandchildren to help keep them busy. I hope my ideas work.

So what’s on your menu? Are you hosting? Are you traveling? Do you even celebrate Thanksgiving? Leave me a comment and let me know. Ciao’.

Once again I taught a class last night. I think it’s the class I’ve wanted to do since I was hired last December. For almost two years I’ve been writing this blog and walking this journey to learn the cooking and eating habits of my Italian, Greek as well as my Polish ancestors. I knew this would lead into teaching others along the way and that is exactly what happened. Last night I taught a lovely group of women how to prepare and serve a traditional Italian meal. We started our meal with a colorful antipasti platter of Italian cold cuts, olive salad, Caprese salad and fresh bread. Due to a slight issue of cooking we followed that with our meatballs with marinara first then served the Zuppa Di Fagioli e Pancetta. Dessert consisted of a mini Chocolate Tiramisu cake, which was not your typical Tiramisu but had all the flavors in one little cupcake. Recipes to follow.

We began our night by cooking the meatballs and marinara because it takes time to cook. Next we moved on to making the soup so it would also have time to simmer. After soup we begin to assemble the antipasti platters. I invited the ladies to dig in and fix their own plates from the platters. Everyone enjoyed their antipasti. The meatballs and marinara was served with bread and I encouraged the ladies to drizzle a little olive oil on their meatballs for added flavor. Many did. While the ladies were eating their soup I began to work on the desserts. I had a few ladies who were eager to jump in and help at every step. It was so much fun to have “company” in the kitchen. Personally I will call the whole night a huge success.

Recipe time! (I really have to hire someone or find a willing volunteer to come along and photograph the class and dishes. I just can’t do both cooking and photographer duties at the same time.) If you are on Facebook, go and like Cool Beans Cafe’ and you can see a few pictures of us cooking.

Antipasti Platter

Serves 8

1/4 pound of each, thinly sliced, sweet Capacola, prosciutto, Mortadella and Salami

Various olives, can buy some from a local grocery olive bar or jarred olives

Caprese salad-diced tomatoes, diced fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil leaves, sliced, olive oil, salt and pepper

Fresh bread

Directions: Line a platter with some green lettuce leaves, fold meats into fourths and arrange around the platter. Put olives in a bowl and center the bowl on the platter. One another platter, arrange the slices of bread and put a bowl of Caprese salad in the center. Serve with cracked pepper, olive oil and shredded Parmesan cheese. You could also serve pickled vegetables or pepperoncini and sliced cheeses as well. Have fun with your platter!

Zuppa Di Fagioli e Pancetta

Serves 4

4 Tbsp olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

2 cans of cannellini beans

6 oz. diced pancetta

1-2 dried chili peppers

1-2 cups water

salt and pepper

Directions: Heat olive oil on medium heat. Saute’ garlic and pancetta for a few minutes until the garlic is golden brown, do not let the garlic get dark. Rinse and drain beans and then add to the sauce pan. Add in the chili pepper. Let cook a few minutes then mash about half the beans with a fork or masher. Add water to make the soup as thick as you prefer. Salt and pepper after the soup has simmered for 15 minutes or so. The longer you let this simmer, the softer the beans will become and the chili pepper gives this soup a kick!

Marinara Sauce

Serves 8 or more

3-4 Tbsp olive oil

3-4 cloves of garlic, smashed with the back of a knife

1 can of whole, peeled plum tomatoes

1 can of crushed tomatoes

fresh basil leaves

Directions: Heat olive oil on medium heat in a large skillet or sauce pan, add garlic when the oil is shimmering. Saute’ for a few minutes, until golden brown. Add in tomatoes and break with the back of a spoon. Add in crushed tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened. Add a few fresh basil leaves in the end. Serve over your favorite pasta. (see my recipes for my family’s sauce recipe which is more involved and has more seasonings in it)

Meatballs:

Makes about 2 dozen

1 pound ground chuck

1/2 pound ground pork

2 eggs

1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1-2 tsp each dried parsley, oregano, and basil

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Mix all in a large bowl until combined but do not over mix. If it seems dry, add a little water or olive oil. If too wet add more bread crumbs. Form golf-ball sized balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes until nicely browned with a crust. You could also brown these in a pan on the stove top in some bacon grease or olive oil. Add to sauce and simmer for 30 minutes, minimum or longer. Stir often and carefully. Serve!

Dessert was a mini Chocolate Tiramisu cake recipe from The Pampered Chef so I am linking you to their site, due to copyright laws and all that business. Enjoy these rich little desserts with some coffee after any meal or anytime you have a desire for the flavors of Tiramisu but don’t want to assemble the traditional dish. Mini Chocolate Tiramisu Cakes

Now you know why I do what I do and I am loving every minute of it. Saturday I have a class of 12 kids who want to learn how to make homemade pasta, sauce and garlic bread sticks. All those recipes are around here on my blog as well. Just type into the search box what you are looking for. Until next time, enjoy your food and cook well.

Let’s get on to the class details. Tonight I had 9 people who all love to cook and had no trouble jumping right in and making the appetizers. Due to an issue of not getting the recipes printed before the shop owner left, I promised to post the recipes here at my blog for the class participants. One thing I love about teaching these classes is that not only do I share information, I also learn new tips and information. I was informing the class of the fact the stuffed mushrooms we made were gluten-free but was corrected by a very smart participant. Apparently blue cheese is the only cheese with gluten! We used blue cheese but I am sure it can be substituted with Gorgonzola or feta with good results.

I was also asked a question about yogurt which I will address here. I love researching and a challenge. I was asked if the probiotic benefit in Greek yogurt is changed if you cook with it. The answer is “yes”, according the this article at livestrong.com . I learned a lot about probiotics in my research and now I am slightly disappointed since a big deal is made about eating or consuming probiotic yogurt and in pill form. Oh well, we can try to do the best we can in what we eat or drink, right?

On to the recipes!

Caprese skewers 

Fresh Mozzarella pearls or cube a ball of the same

Cherry tomatoes

Fresh Basil leaves

Olive oil

Picks (decorative)

Whole tomatoes and lettuce leaves

Directions:

Assemble the tomato, basil leaf, cheese, basil leaf, tomato on the pick. Set the whole tomato on a lettuce leaf and stick the picks into the tomato. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper if you like.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Mushroom Caps

2 oz. Or ½ cup Blue cheese, cubed or crumbled

8 oz. Block of Cream cheese, cubed and softened

24 Mushrooms 

3 Tbsp Butter

Onion 1 medium, diced fine

Garlic 2 cloves crushed

1 Tsp dried parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove stems from caps,finely chop and set aside. In a skillet melt butter and add onion, garlic and mushroom stems. Saute’ 5 minutes or so until the onions are translucent. Reduce heat to low; add parsley, cream cheese, blue cheese, and lemon juice. Stir until cheeses are melted and well blended. Remove from heat.Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon cheese mixture into the mushroom caps, filling generously. Place stuffed mushroom caps on a baking sheet with sides.

Bake approximately 8 to 10 minutes until mushrooms are cooked and cheese is melted. Remove from heat and place mushrooms on a large serving plate or platter. Serve immediately.

Makes 24 stuffed mushrooms.

Artichoke and Chicken Salad tarts

3 cups cooked, diced chicken breast

2 cans of quartered artichokes in water, drained and chopped

2 Tbsp snipped fresh parsley

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup or more of mayonnaise

1 package wonton wrappers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all but wonton wrappers in a bowl using just enough mayonnaise to hold the salad together. Press wonton wrappers into cups of a mini-muffin pan with a spoon or tart shaper. Add the salad and bake for 10-12 minutes until the wontons are just getting brown and crispy. Cool and serve. Makes 24

Spicy hummus cups

8 oz. Prepared Hummus

1 Tbsp 5 spice mix such as a Moroccan spice mix

Tortilla chip cups

2-3 Tbsp parsley, snipped

½ cup plain yogurt, Greek preferred

1 plum tomato, seeded and diced

½ cup sliced black olives (Kalamata can be used, more salty flavor)

¼ of a seedless cucumber, diced fine

Mix spices with hummus. Fill into a ziplock bag and set aside. Mix 2 Tbsp of the parsley and the vegetables. Fill 24 of the tortilla chip cups with a small amount of hummus, spoon a little yogurt on the hummus, then top with mixed vegetables. Garnish with a bit of parsley. Serve.

Vanilla Mousse Dessert Cups

10 Chocolate covered waffle bowls

1 3.3 ounce package of instant pudding, vanilla flavored

8 ounce tub of Cool Whip, thawed

1 cup cold milk

dark chocolate, for garnish

tiramisu syrup for drizzling

Mix pudding and milk with a wire whisk until thickened. Gently fold in the thawed Cool Whip. Fill a Ziplock bag with the mousse. Pipe a generous amount into each cup. Using a cooking rasp or microplane grater, shave some dark chocolate over the top of each cup. Drizzle some tiramisu flavored syrup, like Torani brand, over the top. Serve.