Last night Jeff and celebrated the conclusion of our one year anniversary living in Italy. It was over a year ago that I first started this blog and announced to the world that we were planning to move to Italy for a year. On August 28, 2017 we began our epic Italian journey and shortly after that we moved into our apartment in Nettuno by the sea.
I have had a love affair with Gyoza for many years. I first tasted them in Modesto, California. I loved the perfect little Chinese dumpling spiked with ginger and steamed, then fried crispy on one side. In the Chinese restaurant they served them with red chili oil and vinegar along with soy sauce.
Eggplant Parmesan or Melanzane alla Parmigiana as they say in Italy is claimed to be from the Southern regions of Italy both Campania and Sicily claim it as their. It Is usually served as a Primi Piatti or first course in Italian Cuisine.
Kung Pao Chicken is the perfect mid week meal, it’s fast and delicious and full of nutritious veggies! I have been making this meal for years but we are particularly interested in this dish this week for its “Keto” value. Yes, I can’t believe we are on the “Keto” band wagon, but since we have been practicing Intermittent fasting for a while now, we are adding some Ketogenic meals into the mix.
What is better than decedent hot fudge sauce melting over your ice cream? Homemade hot fudge sauce, that what!!! This is easy to make and stores well in a pint size mason jar. A fun dessert to make when served with ice cream and homemade Fudge Brownies! My husband added a layer of peanut butter and it was a hit! Hot fudge sauce is also fun and delicious as a fondue. Serve hot with marshmallows, graham crackers, fresh fruit and sponge cake!
Living in Italy is great and the food is fantastic but a California girl can get a real craving for Mexican food! One of my favorites is Chili Rellenos, those roasted green Poblano chili’s stuffed with creamy white cheese, dunked in fluffy beaten egg whites and fried up into a soft puffy soufflé of deliciousness.
The first thing I had to do when I arrived home to California was cook up some Mexican food! My “go-to” dish was Chili Rellenos with green sauce. You can find my Chili Rellenos recipe in on www.thehomesteadtraveler.com, but here is the recipe for the Salsa Verde!
Another great family recipe enjoyed during my moms childhood on the farm was Sweet Kettle Corn. Her mom would pop up a large batch of popcorn for the adults while they spent the evening playing cards. This is a favorite snack featured at County Fairs and Town Markets all over America.
Here is a classic recipe from the little blue vinyl cook book from my childhood. I’m not sure where my mom got this recipe but it was always a favorite and so easy to make when you are having a serious dessert craving and you have nothing in the house to eat. In fact, that is just what happened while I was home visiting my mom.
The Peach tree in my Moms back yard was laden with peaches when we first arrived home to California. We excitedly inspected the peaches to see if they were ready for harvesting but the results came back that we needed to wait a few more days after giving a gentle little squeeze to the hard fruit. Within a few days we were picking the first ripe fruits and happily eating the warm fruit from the tree.
