Most of my most cherished Christmas cookie recipes come from my mom. She always made a number of cookies for Christmas so we could give them to our teachers and friends. This cookie was always in high demand so she made them every year. It’s very delicate looking because of the fringed edges, it’s dusted with powdered sugar and filled with a delicious blend of coconut, jam, dates and chocolate chips.
Read MoreThis recipe was given to my mother Gina many years ago by a neighbor. Florentines allegedly come from Florence Italy so one more reason to love Italy! They are buttery, nutty and sweet from the fruit. My mom always smears the backside of the cookie with melted chocolate. They are pretty and delicious - a great holiday combination.
Read MoreWhen I’m assembling my cookie tins for Christmas, I like to make a number of different cookies. So, when you open up the tin, there is a little something for everyone. I always include mini chocolate chip cookies, biscotti and tricolors. For a peanut butter lover, I make these peanut butter sandwich cookies from Tom Colicchio’s sandwich chain ‘wichcraft. These taste like the cookies peddled by your local Girl Scout troop but so much better.
Read MoreIf there is one recipe I know my children will remember me by it’s my Italian Tricolor Cookies - my husband Phil's favorite Italian dessert!
This cookie is really a mini cake. Its three layers of thin cake (tinted red, white and green) made with almond paste and slathered with apricot jam. The outside is enrobed in chocolate. You can find them in the case of any classic Italian pastry shop. For years, he would always buy a box from the bakery near our dorm and talk about how it’s the best cookie you could ever have. Even though he loved them, I never thought about attempting to make them at home. It seemed complicated.
Then, about 15 years ago, my mom was sitting in a hair salon thumbing through a Good Housekeeping and came across a recipe for tricolors. She ripped it out and gave it to me. The recipe is perfect. It makes the most delicious tricolor cookies you will ever have. They are even better than the pastry shop’s version. I have been making these cookies, every year since, for Christmas. I hope is that even when I’m old and grey, my children and grandchildren will ask me to whip up a batch of these cookies for the holidays.
Read MoreGrab a bottle of nice wine, put the kids to bed; it’s time for the annual run of holiday parties. I love going to holiday parties. Its great to see friends, have a few laughs and toast the upcoming year. My cocktail party stand by is Brie En Croute. That’s a super fancy way to say wheel of brie covered in puff pastry. I also cut mine in half, fill it with brown sugar, dried fruit and nuts. Trust me, make this baby and it will disappear before you can say, “God, that’s an ugly sweater!”
Read MoreA true Puerto Rican girl - my friend Iris loves spending time with her mamma Evelyn. She is very proud of her heritage and really enjoys eating the food of her youth. I was really touched when Iris and Evelyn showed up to my house to teach me how to make their most cherished dish, Pasteles.
Pasteles are very important in Puerto Rican culture. Served at the holidays with rice, beans and tostones, they are a labor of love. The exterior (masa) is made from unripe, green bananas. You have to grate each one on a box grater to get a fine pudding like consistency. The abuelas never complain, but it is labor intensive! The filling is a delicious blend of pork and traditional Puerto Rican spices and ingredients like pimentos and olives. The achiote oil gives it a beautiful red hue and fills the entire kitchen with a very Latin aroma.
Read MoreThis recipe comes to me from my lovely friend Claudia. She is a true Italian girl with both of her parent’s families hailing from the old country, northern Italy and Sicily. Even though Claudia always jokes she isn’t much of a cook, I tend to doubt it because she definitely has some incredible cooking genes. Her father was generous to share a few of his specialties and Claudia has saved many of the wonderful recipes her mother used to make.
Most of Claudia’s mom’s recipes come from her mother, Claudia’s grandmother Mary Zeppieri. Mary came to the US at the age of 25 from Veroli, Italy and raised five children in upstate New York. She was a dedicated wife and mother and always cooked homemade Italian food. Claudia has dear memories of walking to her Nonna’s house every Sunday after church for these wonderful cookies.
Read MoreBy the time mid December rolls around, I’m already knee deep in Christmas cookie making. My kids love making cookies for their teachers, bus driver, friends and family. We package them up in pretty tins and everyone is always appreciative to get a huge variety of all the holiday classics.
My cookie tins are really varied - sugar cookies, chocolate chips, gingersnaps, rainbow cookies, biscotti and struffoli. Every year my children love to make some candy for the tin and for sure, the chocolates are the first ones to go.
Read MoreWednesday we talked about latkes and what they mean to the Chanukah celebration. Today, I’m still frying for Chanukah but this time, it's Sufganiyot - try and say that three times fast! Sufganiyot is a deep fried jelly donut and made all over Israel to celebrate this time of year. Once again, it symbolizes the miracle of the burning oil and , boy, are they good.
Read MoreFor Christmas, there are a host of foods I make as an Italian and also as a Catholic that represent and honor our traditions of celebration. For Chanukah, Jewish people serve a number of dishes. One very popular side dish is potato latkes. My amazingly talented website designer, Jen was generous enough to offer up her mom JoAnn as a great resource. JoAnn was a caterer for many years on Long Island. A true entrepreneur, she started a baking business with her friend and grew a full scale catering company from her home kitchen. As JoAnn explained, Chanukah is a time to honor the oil that burned for eight days. So, traditionally, Jewish people will serve foods cooked in oil. Potato latkes are a small cake of potato and onion fried in oil and served with sour cream and apple sauce. Since I have never met a potato I didn’t like, I knew I was in for a treat.
Read MoreThanksgiving is over. You’ve eaten way too much pie and really shouldn’t have reached for that third helping of mashed potatoes. But, no reason to look back and fret. Today is a new day and you have a little less than a month to Christmas to be a good boy or girl.
Whipping up an easy detox meal is a cinch! Use the odds and ends hanging out in the fridge after the holiday and whip up a simple quinoa salad. It acts as the perfect base for veggies, meat or even a fried egg for breakfast.
Read MoreI have a severe weakness for bagels. I don’t eat them often but when I do, it needs to be worth the carb/calorie overload they are criminally known for. Making them at home gives you the bakery fresh taste and they are so good, you don’t even need to toast them. I make my own spice blend and I also add some to the dough so even the dough has a nice garlic and onion flavor. If you just like them plain, omit the spices. If you’re a cinnamon raisin fan, add 2 teaspoons of cinnamon to the dough and a handful of raisins. Yummy!
So, here’s my post Thanksgiving suggestion...get up early and make some homemade bagels. You can feed all those hungry stragglers that ended up staying the night and sleeping in until noon. Pull some leftover turkey from the fridge, mix up some spicy mayo and have the best bagel sandwich in the whole wide world.
Read MoreFor dessert, our family tradition, is to make a number of different pies. Everyone has his or her favorite so I like to make at least one per person. So, you have YOUR pie to grab a few slices from and then you can share with your neighbor.
Each year, my husband always asks for the same pie. Chocolate Pecan Pie. it’s the easiest pie you will ever make. Pie crust, toss in the nuts, toss in the chocolate, toss in the egg mixture and bake for 50 minutes. Easy Peasy!
Read MoreI haven’t ever met a person under the age of 18 that doesn’t LOVE pizza. Most kids will eat it any day of the week. My kids not only love cheese pizza, but they really enjoy the process of making it with me. Homemade pizza tastes really delicious and my kids always seem to eat much more when they help with the cooking.I love how proud they are of the finished product. Cooking with kids is fun and educational. Roll up your sleeves and give it a try!
Read MoreCarnitas is a very delicious Mexican dish. Carnitas simply means “little meat” in Spanish and once you let this big cut of pork cook for two hours that is exactly what you get. Delicious, little nuggets of pork that you can fold into a warm tortilla, add your favorite toppings and spritz with some lime for the perfect balance of fat, salt and tart.
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