 I gave my family a pass. A pass to NOT get me a birthday cake this year.🎂 Birthday cakes, cupcakes and cookies are as common in my kitchen as white rice or bananas in a most homes. 🍎🍌🤣 Most years, If I'm being honest, the thought of another cake isn't how I want to celebrate my birthday anyway. 😬 In past years, my sweet husband has gone to great lengths to get me a sweet birthday treat that I don't make for clients on a regular basis - which is no easy task. But this year, I decided to make my own birthday treat.  Roughly 2 decades ago, we lived in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and it was there that my love affair with raspberry pie began. We lived close to the most amazing raspberry farm that sold freshly picked fruit and slices of the most incredible raspberry pie. Some of my fondest memories of our years spent in Pennsylvania, occurred while sitting around tiny cast iron tables, on a vine covered terrace eating homemade raspberry pie at this farm with my family. 🥧 This is also where I learned that kids eat raspberries like they eat they eat ice cream. 🤣🍦 #raspberrieseverywhere  There are things that I don't miss about Pennsylvania - our drafty house, shoveling snow and closed bridges. But, leaving Pennsylvania also meant saying goodbye to our sweet friends, our neighbors and this amazing pie. Apparently I wasn't shy about sharing my feelings about this raspberry pie with my family because my better half actually arranged to have one shipped and delivered to me for my birthday a few years ago. This year, I'm taking the burden off of my family and making my own raspberry pie for my birthday. This might just be the only day all year that I make a dessert specifically for myself. And I couldn't think of anything that I'd like more than a slice of homemade raspberry pie.  Raspberry Pie 1 recipe for double crust pie 4 cups fresh raspberries 5 Tablespoons cornstarch 1 cup granulated sugar 1 pinch salt 3 Tablespoons lemon juice 1 egg 1 Tablespoon water 3 Tablespoons coarse sugar
 Dust with sugar and bake 10 minutes at 400. Reduce heat to 375 and bake 35-45 more minutes. Cheers to another year! Thanks for hanging out with me once again blog friends.
Ciao!
0 Comments
 I'm a terrible poker player.🃏 I'm just not very good at hiding my feelings and even though I might not always say everything that I'm thinking - my face always tells the truth. 😬 Those that know me tease me about the fact that I have absolutely zero poker face.😅 It's not necessarily a bad personality trait but it's gotten me into trouble on more than one occasion. I'm not a wine snob or a wine connoisseur in any sense of the word. I enjoy a glass of wine when we go out to dinner and I generally stick to something in the cabernet family. One night I decided to stretch outside of my relatively small wine comfort zone and order something different. The server recommended 2 different wines with so much vigor and conviction that I ordered a sample of each. 🍷  What I did NOT expect was that our most gracious server would stand at the table and watch me sample her suggested wines.😬 This is where my face gets me into trouble because I just knew that my expression was giving away all the thoughts that were swirling around my head while I sipped. I wanted so badly to tell her that I agreed with her recommendations and I loved them both, but after one sip, there was no denying the fact that I wasn't a fan of either wine. 🥴 So, I did what every socially awkward person would do in that situation. I attempted to avoid the condemning stares from the server and sidestep the conversation by asking for a sample tasting of third type of wine. 🤦🏻♀️ I'm honestly not sure whether the 3d glass of wine was really exceptional but I didn't make a weird face when I drank it, so I'm took that as a good sign and I ordered a glass. 😅  I'm not the only person in my family that has a hard time maintaining a poker face when I eat something that doesn't meet my expectations though. 😑 I've learned to read my family's faces when they take that first bite of something, pretty well. It also helps that they're not shy about sharing their feedback after a meal. 😅 Eggplant Lasagna is always a good choice if I want to get truly authentic facial feedback. It's impossible to eat this cheese and marinara smothered veggie layered in between delicate sheets of pasta, without making a face. You have to either smile because you enjoy it or make the face of someone who is trying to swallow a bite that they wished they hadn't ever put into their mouth. 😋🥴 I'm happy to report that there were lots of smiles at the table when I served this eggplant lasagna. We all agreed that it was delicious and we ate every bite - no poker faces required.  Eggplant Lasagna 3 large eggplants 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons olive oil, spray olive oil or ghee ———- 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 onion, diced 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped 6 ounces baby spinach 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper ——- 16-ounce tub of whole milk ricotta 1 large egg 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper —-- 24-ounce jar marinara sauce, about 3 cups 8 no-boil lasagna noodles 1– 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella 1/4– 1/3 cup pecorino 1/4–1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
 Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes at 375. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer.  It's completely up to you as to whether or not you want to disclose the fact that it's a vegetable based lasagna, ahead of time. As for me, I'll never stop trying to sneak vegetables into soups and tacos. It's just how I roll. 🤣 Enjoy the recipe!
Ciao!  Does anyone else have a spouse who eats as if someone is standing behind them waiting to snatch a french fry from their plate the minute they look away? I'm not trying to throw him under the bus, but my husband eats with such gusto that it's not uncommon for him to not look up from his plate until it's empty. There's so little time between bites that any discussion outside of "pass the ketchup" is usually out of the question at mealtime. 🤣 I've tried to get to the root of his accelerated eating and I have absolutely no answers. He's had this style of eating for as long as I can remember - and I've known this man since he was 10! He's never lived in an environment where food was limited or been in a situation where he was required to eat quickly but he eats every meal as though it is his last. 🤷🏻♀️  I give my poor husband grief about being a speed eater but I would not categorize myself as a slow eater, by any means. My competitive spirit keeps me engaged in the race to keep pace with my husbands accelerated eating. 😅 I do have to remind myself to put my fork down between bites, to take time to enjoy and appreciate every forkful and to relax and enjoy the mealtime experience. I feel like the time that I devote to preparing a meal is directly proportional to the appreciation that I have for it. I can devour a turkey sandwich that I slap together for lunch in under 2 minutes. But if I spend several days, preparing, kneading, rising and shaping a bread dough - you better believe that I am going to appreciate every single bite. 🥖  I realize that the thought of making a bread over the course of two days is daunting for most people. But I promise you that this Overnight Focaccia is easier than you think. Other than a minimal amount of hands on time prepping and kneading the dough, most of time is spend rising and proofing which doesn't involve any work from you. And if you've got a Kitchen mixer or a food processor that can do the kneading for you - it's even more hands off. It goes without saying that Overnight Focaccia is the perfect accompaniment to almost any Italian meal. 🍝 But you might not have thought about serving focaccia as an appetizer. It's goes great with cheeses and olives. It also makes great sandwiches. And if you've never had a warm focaccia sandwich with turkey, Swiss and avocado - you're missing out.  Overnight Focaccia 4 cups flour 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons yeast 2 cups water olive oil coarse salt fresh rosemary
 Press fingers straight down into dough to dimple.  Transfer to a preheated 425 oven immediately and bake 25 minutes.  Lift out of pan with a spatula.  Slice into squares.  If you want to fill your kitchen with the smell of fresh-baked bread but you're nervous about shaping and working with a starter, focaccia is the best place to begin. This homemade focaccia requires minimal baking skills but still provides ample opportunity amaze yourself by the wonders of yeast. Letting the dough do its first rise in the fridge produces the most deliciously, bubbly bread. This focaccia is worth a try for sure.
Ciao!  Ciao! All it took was one Andrea Bocelli concert for me to decide that it was time for me to learn Italian. 🇮🇹 Anyone else tried to teach themselves a second language at the age of 50? I can only say that it's equal parts challenging and hilarious.🤣 I question my decision daily but I'm invested (and incredibly stubborn) and I need to see this through to find out if it is indeed possible to teach an old dog - new tricks. 😅 I do most of my lessons while I'm in my car so if you see someone driving down the road mumbling to herself and giggling uncontrollably - it's just me trying to get through my Italian lesson without sounding like a complete bafoon. I'm not sure what this says about my driving, but the time that I spend in my car seems to be the best time for me to concentrate on learning new words. I've tried listening to the Italian lesson while I clean the house but apparently, scrubbing the toilet requires more of my attention that operating a vehicle. 😬🤣  The exception to my habit of practicing my Italian exclusively while I'm on the road, is when I'm in my kitchen, cooking anything Italian. In my house, the use of Italian words is required when making any Italian food. 🍕🍝 Oh, and I should point out that my definition of "Italian" food is anything with basil or olive oil.😂 Needless to say, there is a lot of flour being tossed about as I repeat phrases like "ha bisogno di più farina."  New York Style Pizza Dough 3 cups bread flour 2 teaspoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon yeast 1 1/3 cup ice water 1 Tablespoon canola oil 1 1/2 teaspoons salt Sauce 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/2 cup Parmesan 2 cups shredded mozzarella, shredded
 Bake in a 500 degree oven or on a Big Green Egg.  So here's to practicing my new Italian phrases while simultaneously learning to make an authentic New York style pizza - nessun problema. 😅
Caio!  There's no question that adulting is hard. Bills, jobs and responsibilities that simply cannot be avoided. 😩 Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't WAIT to grow up and become an adult? And then you reached adulthood and had the stunning realization that you had to pay taxes and buy insurance? 🤷🏻♀️ And don't even get me started on the worsening eye sight and you the fact that the older you get, the more everything hurts... for a little longer. 😅 #ifyouknowyouknow No one is arguing about the fact that growing old is hard - and in my case, NOT graceful. 🤣 It's not all bad though. I have been blessed beyond measure and I'm grateful for my health, my friends, my family, my job, etc. etc, etc. which helps me navigate through this thing called middle age.
I've learned that an afternoon of exploring and adventuring outside in the fresh air is therapy when I get overwhelmed by adulting. I can't explain why, but for some reason, spending time in nature is my de-stresser and it makes me feel like a kid again. Ben and I spent last weekend "playing" at Banning Mills. It was the best little mini vacation and exactly what we needed. We tromped through the woods on a 3 hour hike with no clear direction or preparation - very unlike the adult me. 😂 We also got behind the wheel of these swincars last weekend. Speeding 30 miles an hour, through the woods while dodging trees and traversing suspension bridges is enough to make anyone feel like a kid. 🏎 I definitely didn't possess the mental or physical dexterity that should be required to keep oneself safe while operating this vehicle but somehow I managed - and it was amazing.  Our day of hiking, driving and general adventuring was so much fun but it had an irrefutable effect on my appetite. 😬 Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate this when I made our, later than usual, dinner reservations for later that evening. Let's just say, that by the time we sat down at the table, I was ravished and maybe even a little hangry. 😅 Most days, I try and limit my consumption of white bread. But on 3 hour hike days - I make an exception. 🚶🏻♀️Bring me all of your rolls, baguettes and flatbreads with extra pats of butter and bowls of richly flavored olive oil. 😂🥖 I figure, if I'm going to eat carbohydrates in the form of bread - I might as well enjoy them to the fullest.  True bread fanatics know that value of a freshly made loaf of homemade bread. In the world of me - there's very few other foods that tempt me more than a thick slice of bread - fresh out of the oven. There's just something so warm and comforting about crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside - homemade bread. If you're as passionate about bread as I am - I recommend this no knead bread recipe. It relies less on yeast and kneading than a traditional yeast loaf but it's equally delicious. Follow my super easy step-by-step instructions to make this yummy bread for yourself.  No Knead Bread 3 cups flour 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon yeast 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons water 6 Tablespoons lager beer 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
 Remove lid and bake 20-30 more minutes or until loaf registers 210 degrees.  Cool 2 hours in pan before removing.  I'm throwing it back to the early days of this pandemic when everyone was baking their own bread at home, with this recipe. (At least I think that's what everyone was doing with all the flour they were buying. 😅🤷🏻♀️) If you happened to miss bread baking bandwagon of 2020 - or if you just want a new and easy bread recipe - this loaf is for you. 🍞
Caio! |
