Crepes have been a favorite breakfast for me for many years. It’s so delicious and decadent! My favorite is chocolate strawberry banana crepes! I love them so much it was the breakfast I had with my Bridesmaids the morning of my wedding!
The other day I saw a post from a friend, she was eating an Éclair, and I thought, “Wow! It’s been a long time since I have made Cream Puffs….” of course Éclairs and Cream Puffs are made of the same Choux Pastry but did you know that Mexican Churros and British Yorkshire Pudding are also creations made from Choux pastry? All of these pastries sound quite exotic, foreign and difficult but actually they are not hard to make at all.
I am sorry for all of the other cakes in the world, but German Chocolate Cake is my favorite. It has been for a long time. I love the creamy carmel taste of the frosting with coconut and nuts. I think it is supposed to be with pecans but I always make it with walnuts.
I am a fourth generation Italian living in America but we have done a pretty good job of holding on to our Italian traditions after so many years in America. Bagna Cauda, Raviolis and Biscotti seem to be the recipes we have clung to. You can read my past posts on Bagna Cauda (a hot Fondue made of butter, garlic and anchovies, typical of the North of Italy) and our family tradition of making homemade Beef and Spinach Raviolis by clicking the links.
Today is the first of October and already the mornings and evenings are getting cooler and there is a crispness in the air. The fields of pumpkins are ripe and ready for harvest. I couldn’t resist buying one today at the fruit stand that is spilling over with fresh produce.
Lemon Meringue pie is an American Classic, we have made it in my family for years and everyone loves it. Recently, here in Italy we were having problems with our cell phone carrier, they kept charging us for extra fees and we had no idea why because the fees were explained in Italian and it didn’t translate well to English when we used Google translate, But our good friend Davide came to our rescue. With a brief phone call to our carrier he resolved our problem and even got some cash back! So for a reward he simply asked for a pie, a lemon meringue pie. Well, that’s easy enough!
So we have passed our first week in our new house in the Itri hills in Italy. It was a week of hauling our things to the new house an hour and a half away. A hectic week of getting situated and figuring out how things work in the new place. But what better way to cozy up in a new house then to bake a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies?
Many of us in America have never heard of Pavlova, but it is almost the National Dessert of Australia and New Zealand. It has been hotly debated which country invented this dessert but we do know that it was concocted for the ballet dancer Anna Povlova during her tour of Australia and New Zealand. The dessert is a light base of meringue topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream. It is as ethereal as the dancer herself.
The wifely support of a husband on the Keto diet continues this week as we surmount another family dinner full of tasty temptations. Having just arrived home from Italy I wanted to cook a true pasta dinner for my sister and her family. I chose to make Ragu and homemade pasta which is a pretty hard thing for a husband to pass up, especially my husband who has a particular soft spot for homemade pasta.
