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!
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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! It can be intimidating to cook for someone who makes their living baking for other people. 👩🏻🍳😂 I get it, and I can tell you that the list of people who will actually cook for me is very short. Which is hilarious to me because my cooking standards are actually very low. Even my mom says that she doesn't like to bake for me - and she's the one who taught me how to bake! 😂 The truth is, food is my love language and I enjoy home cooked meals and treats so so much. I attribute that to the fact that, now that I have my own catering business, I can appreciate all of the love and effort that goes into preparing delicious food. Despite what you might think, if you bring me homemade treats - it doesn't matter to me if they look professional or if the flavor and consistency of a pastry from Flour bakeshop. What I value most is the fact that someone took the time to prepare something nourishing and delectable - just for me. 🍪 Did I mention that food is my love language? 😅 Grand gestures and romantic get aways are great but a tasty meal is the way to my heart. 🍝 It doesn't even need to be a super fancy restaurant meal - dinners at home are just as appealing to me as a dinner at a boujee steakhouse. My love of homemade treats and home cooked meals goes both ways - I like to give love by sharing my culinary creations with others as much as I like to receive them. I'm not a red meat eater but, I'm in love with to a carnivore who enjoys the occasional serving of red meat. 🥩 So, it only makes sense that I would show him my love with a Standing Rib Roast on special days. Is there any better way to say "I Love You" than with a perfectly prepared prime rib dinner? 😅 Standing Rib Roast 5 lb standing rib roast / prime rib, bones cut off and then tied back on 1 onion , unpeeled, quartered 1 head of garlic , unpeeled, halved horizontally 5 sprigs thyme 3 sprigs rosemary Garlic Butter Sauce 10 Tbsp butter , softened 5 garlic cloves , minced 2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary 2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme 2 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper Red Wine Sauce 1 1/2 cups low sodium beef broth 2 1/2 cups dry red wine 3/4 Tbsp cornstarch Mix together garlic herb butter ingredients.
Spread remaining butter over roast. Reduce temperature to 250. Bake an other 1 1/2 hours, basting every 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Cover loosely with foil and let rest 30-40 minutes.
Slice roast and serve with sauce.
Valentine's Day is right around the corner and if you're trying to avoid the restaurant scene on this food centered holiday, I suggest a home cooked meal. Don't try and make it perfect - just make it your own and your Valentine will surely love it. Oh, and this Standing Rib Roast would be a perfect Valentine dinner at home meal - just saying. 😅 Ciao! Anyone remember when the only way to get a new recipe was to visit your grandmas house, call your mom on your landline telephone or look through the cookbooks on your shelf? ☎📕 I'm totally dating myself, but the point is - we have more access to recipes than ever before. It's hard to even imagine a recipe that I can't find on the internet. This year I was tasked with creating a brand new set of recipes and I gained a whole new appreciation for people who used to have to come up with their own recipes for everything. Can you imagine being the first person who ever came up with a recipe for pancakes? My first task was to develop a nut flour pancake recipe. 🥞 Since this was my first go around with recipe creation, I went about it in a very methodical way. Batch by batch - I altered one ingredient at a time until I narrowed it down to 6 workable recipes. (That process took me a little over a week. 😅) I can't think of a better way to spend a couple of weeks than making and tasting pancakes. 😋 Thank goodness it's January and I'm not going to have to put on a bathing suit anytime soon. 😅 I ate a lot of pancakes but honestly, I never got tired of sampling pancakes. At some point though - I had to gather more opinions from fellow pancake lovers. So, I hosted a pancake party. This was my first experience with a recipe testing event and I made a rookie mistake. I invited 6 other people to taste test 3 different pancakes. You see where this is going, right? 2 people chose pancake 1, 2 chose pancake 2 and 2 people liked pancake 3. 🤦🏻♀️ Looking for a tie breaker, I asked my family for their pancake opinion. And because it's rare that I ask for their input on the food that I serve them, they were VERY enthusiastic about sharing their input on my test pancakes.😂 #becarefulwhatyouaskfor Even if you don't aspire to create your own unique pancake recipe - I highly recommend creating a pancake tasting party for yourself. My family and friends fully embraced their roles as pancake taste testers. 😅 Use this recipe for Lemon Buttermilk pancakes and tweak it. Add blueberries to one batch, substitute orange for lemon in another and try making one batch with cinnamon. You might be surprised at the pancake that your taste testers choose. Lemon Buttermilk Pancakes 1 1/3 cups flour 1/4 cup sugar 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 1 egg + 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 4 teaspoons lemon juice 3 Tablespoons butter, melted 1/2 teaspoon canola oil 1/2 cup blueberries (optiional)
Flip pancake and cook 1-2 more minutes. Just a heads up - National Pancake Day is March 1st - a perfect day for a pancake party.
Ciao! What level of lazy is preheating the oven from the comfort of my bed? I wish I was asking for a friend. 😂 Last January we starting dreaming about and planning a kitchen remodel. One of my biggest priorities was adding a second oven. Nothing fancy or specific - just a means of making my baking process more efficient. I ended up ordering a wall oven that has a learning capacity greater than my own. 😅 Either my appliances are getting smarter or I'm getting dumber. This oven has as app that connects to my phone so that I can preheat, set the timer and even scan the barcode on a bag of chicken nuggets and the oven will set itself to the precise cooking time and temperature. 😯 When I first learned about all of the fancy dancy features on this oven - I swore that I would never use them. My intent was to use it to bake - not to create science experiments in this machine.😅 I guess I failed to see the NEED to have my oven connected to my phone. And then I woke up one morning, dreading the thought of getting out of bed to preheat the oven to bake a batch of cinnamon rolls. That is the moment that it dawned on me. 🤣 Preheating the oven from the comfort of my bed is the reason thatt evey oven should have a phone app. 🙃 Did I mention that this oven also has a proofing setting? In a nutshell - proofing is what you do to yeast dough to get it to rise before you bake it. Proofing cinnamon rolls is key to getting that nice soft, fluffy texture. And now that I can preheat my oven from the comfort of my bed and proof them in my oven, there's really no excuse NOT to make cinnamon rolls at least once a week. 😅 Swedish Cinnamon Rolls are amazing. The soft cardamom dough and the sweet, buttery cinnamon filling is the most amazing combination. And a steaming cup of cinnamon spice tea was the perfect compliment to this delicious roll. Don't get overwhelmed by the amount of steps in this recipe. I tried to break everything down to simplify the process but I'm afraid that the lengthy instructions might be intimidating to some. Don't worry though - I got you. The pictures will help and if you need along the way - email me with questions. Swedish Cinnamon Buns Flour Paste 3/4 cup milk 1/4 cup bread flour Dough 1/2 cup milk 2 cups bread flour 1 Tablespoon instant yeast 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt 6 Tablespoons butter 2 teaspoons cardamom seeds Filling 3/4 cup sugar 6 Tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons cinnamon 1 Tablespoon bread flour 1/4 teaspoon salt Egg Wash 1 egg 1 Tablespoon water pinch salt 1/4 cup crystalized sugar
Bake 13 minutes at 425. Swedish Cinnamon Rolls require a commitment in time. These rolls actually proof twice. Once is a cold proof - in the refrigerator and the second is a warm proof in the oven. If your oven doesn't have a proofing setting - don't ;et that stop you from making these delicious breakfast rolls. Cover the rolls with a towel and put them in a warm place in the house to rise. My favorite spots are on top of the dryer while it's running or above the dishwasher while it's warm.
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