mini vanilla cupcakes with chocolate ganache center

I love Mrs Millmans recipe for chocolate ganache or frosting:

This will last in the fridge for about 5-6 days in a plastic container.  I had some leftover so I decided to inject my vanilla cupcakes with it.  I used my piping bag.  Use a tip that you can easily pierce through the cupcake with.   You want a decent size tip opening to allow the ganache to flow… don’t go too small, it will take you forever.  I used a #21 star tip. They do make a tip for this very purpose(# 230).

Makes 6 cups

• 24 ounces semisweet chocolate morsels
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon light corn syrup

Directions

1. Put chocolate and cream into a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat; stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula, until thick, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in corn syrup. Transfer to a large, wide metal bowl. Refrigerate until frosting is cool enough to spread, about 2 hours, checking and stirring every 15 minutes. Use immediately

fresh warm mozzarella

There is no substitute for FRESH and I mean FRESH, just made, still warm mozzarella!!  (I prefer salted to non)  I recommend calling  your local Italian Pork Store and find out exactly when they make their mozzarella.  You want to pick it up while it is still warm and on the counter.  You don’t want it once it has landed in the refrigerator.  When you get it home and unwrap it from the plastic, warm milk should ooze out.  As you slice it, it should be very soft and milky.  Get it while it’s hot!!

I am in the process of learning how to make my own… will let you know how it turns out!

pumpkin cupcakes for halloween

i made martha stewart’s pumpkin cupcake recipe this morning to bring to my daughters class party.  they are very light and tasty.  i made minis.  i just find that the mini cupcakes are better for the little ones.  they can have just one, or 2 if they like.  one batch made about 48 minis AND one small loaf pan of pumpkin bread.  i was going to use my mom’s banana bread recipe (which i LOVE and the kids just adore!!) just substitute the bananas with pumpkin (or zucchini, sweet potato…whatever) but I thought i would try Martha’s new recipe…  it’s definitely good.  and maybe it would have been better with cream cheese frosting.  but I do think i like my moms better.  much better.  my best, and most sincere recipe taster,  my 6 year old agreed that grandma’s “pumpkin bread” is better!!  again, Martha’s is not a bad recipe, by any stretch…my husband and myself have had about 5 so far and it’s only 2:00 pm

martha’s:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pumpkin-cupcakes

moms:

http://butterygoodness.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/never-get-caught-without-a-banana/

pumpkin pie

My 6 year old son is a HUGE fan of pumpkin pie. Last week we made a pie together, and almost every night for a week he enjoyed a slice after dinner.  So tonight, he asked if we could make another.  I happily obliged.  As I set out to make our pie from my stockpile of Libby’s canned pumpkin, my little guy said…”Wait!”  Can we use real pumpkin?  We have a bunch outside on the front step!”  So we set out together to make our pie from fresh pumpkin.

I do love having canned pumpkin on hand, it is one of the top 10 super foods!!  I like to add it to cakes and brownies and omit the fat.  My kids also love pumpkin bread and cupcakes, so I like having it available.

Making pie from fresh pumpkin is more nutritious and actually quite simple.  Make sure that you use the small sugar pumpkins.

First, we scrubbed our pumpkin clean. Then I cut it down the middle with a long serrated knife.  We scooped out all the stringy fibrous  material and seeds with a sturdy ice-cream scoop.  (You can save the seeds and roast in the oven with melted butter salt and brown sugar).

Quarter the pumpkin, place it on a baking sheet with some butter and brown sugar and a little salt.  Roast it in a 350 oven (i cranked up the convection).  Let it roast until it is tender, about 35-40 minutes or so.

Let cool.  When you can comfortably handle the pumpkin with your hands, peel off the skin and discard.

Puree the pumpkin in a Cuisinart, blender…or whatever you have.

Preheat oven to 425…mix together:

1 3/4 cups of pureed pumpkin

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 /4 cloves

1/4 allspice

1 tbls vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups of heavy cream

1  9″ deep dish pie shell

Mix it all together simply in a bowl with a wire whisk…that’s it!!  Pour into pie shell and bake at 425 for 15 minutes, lower temp to 350 for 40-50 minutes

sunday lunch

just a few shots from lunch

the zucchini came out devine

 

sharing

 

My neighbor and I share so many of the same traditions, food memories, Italian idioms… If I re-tell her a memory from my childhood, she understands. If i say “my dad used to go to a Capozzelli party a few times a year” she knew what that was. Trippa, mom frying zucchini flowers in the early summer, bread and gravy on Sunday. These memories, are what define me and connect me to my past.  Certain smells, certain foods will bring those memories back in an instant.

So this is how this particular cooking lesson came to pass. My neighbor brought over a small serving of her leftover zucchni that her mother had made. I took one bite and it reminded me of something my mom used to make! OMG how silly I must look, standing over the kitchen sink eating gagootz, oil dripping down my chin and crying!!  The funny thing is, I make zucchini all the time, so many different ways, but this one was different. The taste…the little bowl it came in…and someone made it for me…

I asked for the recipe and when I did,  my neighbor invited me to her Mother’s home with loving and open arms… “Come! My mother wants to meet you! Please, she will show us both how to make it!” I went happily.

We laughed she told stories of her travels to NY from Sturno, Italy when she was 17. She came over on a ship, and was sick the entire time from her small pox vaccine. I told her about my family. My father’s family was from Padula and my mother’s family was from Bosco Tre Casa. (just outside of Naples) Both are near hear village, so, many of our recipes were similar.

The recipe is so simple. I have not made it yet, hope it’s as easy as it seems. I will let you know. I will also add that when i got home with this big bowl of zucchini (she insisted I take all of what she made!) I managed to eat the enitre bowl throughout the course of one day. My husband, who is not a lover of zucchini had a small bowl and could not get over how yummy it was. Truth!

Split zucchini lengthwise, then cut in half moons about 1/4″ thick.
Start with a large saute pan, heat about 1/2 cup or so of olive oil.   Saute about 6 cloves of garlic smashed, 3-4 whole dried red peppers, about 1 tsp of red pepper flakes & salt. (She was very particular about the whole dried red peppers.  She does not like the ones here in the states, and has people bring them to her from Italy.  She likes them to be very soft, not too long,they should be very fine and crumbly NOT tough.  I am going to check out the Italian import store in Chelsea Market, might be a good sorce…)  Saute for  a few minutes. From a can of 28 oz crushed tomatoes add about one cup at a time and let this fry up in the oil on med/high heat. As it reduces add more tomatoes every 5 minutes. Then add your sliced zucchini. Stir, do not let it stick. Let is sit another 5 minutes. Add about 1/2 cup water. Let cook another 10 minutes or so maybe more, stirring occasionally.  You want zucchini to be tender, cooked through.

dream of my father

me and my father

i had this dream a few nights ago. how special and magical it was to hug and kiss him again after all this time, eight years, wow… very hard to lose a parent and even harder to lose both…not a day goes by that i don’t think about them or talk about them. we were very, very close. they dedicated their lives to their children and i will always be grateful to them, I will alway aspire to be like them and, I will ALWAYS keep them close…

when i woke up…i immeditaly wrote my dream down (typed it actually!! ).. and this is what i wrote:

i had a dream last night that i saw my father

i went with jennifer to the foot doctor. she was having surgery and she wanted me to come. but i knew that she was doing it for me, she did not really need to me to come with her
but she took me with her. she asked me if i would be comfortable going into the OR with her and i said yes. the OR looked like an OR, but was very casual. there were docs and nurses around a table but the nurses had long fake french nails and were not wearing gloves, did not scrub hands. and doctors kept running to the corner of the OR with a half lit cigarette butt and a car lighter to light and finish cigarette. we realized how addicted they were to cigarettes and we knew that it was weird and gross that they were smoking. i wanted to tell jen but i did not want to embarrass her, i was also pretty certain that she was seeing what i was seeing. then i looked down at my hand and i was still holding my old cigarette butt, extinguished, but i still had it in position.

then jen took a small device with a metal hose and sprayed her pinkly toe with it, this was the surgery. she sprayed some more and then told me ” all done it will fall off”.
i told her and the nurse that this was crazy could the doctor please come over and help her! i think she said yes. then nurse nicely asked me if i would come with her to a new place. i went with her, but they asked me to take a little child with me, who i pushed in a wheel chair, but it was more like a stroller, the child sat on top and was arching back and squirmy and i was afraid of her falling out so i pushed the chair while holding her. walking thru this hall i kept seeing my father. and time would slow down and we would stop and latch eyes and turn to each other and hug so tightly. he was slim and wearing nice slacks shirt and tie. his eyes dug into me reminding me and telling me, screaming at me how much he loved me always, please never forget me. my mia how much i loved you. i saw him maybe 3 more times, big hugs and kisses. the last time i saw him i kissed him and hugged him and screamed to him as he started to move backwards ” i will love you more than anyone in this lifetime!!!!!” and he smiled back at me…. i woke up

my mom and dad

heirloom tomato, beauty in its’ imperfections

i am a lover of tomatoes! when i was a little girl my favorite sandwich was sliced tomato with lots of mayonnaise (hellmans)…or italian bread with tomato, salt and really good olive oil.
my local farm is harvesting some of the best tomatoes i have ever tasted. absolutely spectacular!! juicy and sweet!!

heirloom

my tomatoes in my garden are not quite ready yet, i planted maybe 4 varieties…the cherry’s have started to come in and are pretty good…waiting on the others…

fresh produce makes me smile

i happen to be incredibly blessed to live just a couple of miles from a local farm. it’s family owned and operated and the setting is just breath taking. i went yesterday, i was craving fresh healthy produce….after a weeks vacation, away from my kitchen, entrenched in an “all you can eat fest” of heavy unhealthy food my… body was craving real nourishment! as a mommy to 2 little ones I was desperate to get some quality food into their little bodies!!

my purchases included: lettuce, heirloom tomatoes that were absolutely sweet and juicy! zucchini, string beans, peaches, plums (green and black), apricots, corn and fresh cut flowers.

i made an italian giambotta (not exactly the way my mom used to make it, i omitted the potatoes) it’s sort of a vegetable stew with onions and garlic and zuchnini and stringbeans stewed with tomatoes. i also made cod (3 different ways for varieties sake…)on the grill in foil (i prefer parchment but was not sure it could handle the direct heat)

a visit to the farmstand is uplifting and oh so healthy!

never get caught without a banana…

freeze those bananas!! i have always frozen my bananas, this was something that my mother always did!! and she made the best banana bread!! I will share her very simple recipe with you. but it’s all in the bananas. she was constantly throwing bananas if they were getting a little too ripe into the freezer, skin and all, just like that. and they turn black, they get incredibly sweet.

whenever i need a banana for a recipe or a smoothie, i either whip them out of the freezer and thaw them out on my counter for an hour or two, or pop them (still in their skins!) into the microwave on medium power for about 10 secconds or so until slightly soft. peel and add to your recipe.

here is my mom’s recipe:
Marie’s Banana Bread

3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium bananas (previously frozen is great!!)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar (could use 1/2 light and half dark)
1 cup sugar
1 cup walnuts

preheat oven to 350
mix everything together in a mixer. divide mixture in 2. spray 2 loaf pans with cooking spray. bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. checking with toothpick for doneness.