New year and BIG news

Another year, another blog post-- finally. Wow, it has been way too long since I visited you here and for that I apologize. But you should forgive me once you hear my excuses.

December was quite a month! Even before that, November ended on a busy note. I did my first wedding cake which turned out beautifully. It was made for some friends, new to town, who had a lovely and intimate Fall wedding at their home. People came from as far away as New Zealand and Ireland and a good time was had by all. The cake was really special: a dense almond cake with a almond dacquoise layer and a layer of apricot glaze and almond buttercream frosting. We decorated it with handmade marzipan fruits, acorns and berries and finished it with two woodsy animals on top. The couple loved it!





Then, there were the December parties: like the staff holiday cooking party with my friends at Crema at which we made homemade pumpkin-stuffed ravioli with butter and sage, among other things.



I also catered a party for my friends Ross and Jimmy and did a barrage of Italian antipasti like bruschetta with prosciutto and figs, wild mushrooms and fontina, a bagna cauda with crudités,and little meatballs with spicy tomato sauce. I was so busy that night I didn't take one photo.

And then came the usual December baking frenzy. I made so many dozens of holiday cookies I couldn't even find time to make any for my family! They were not amused. But I did make a lovely orange chiffon cake for Christmas Eve dinner. And I cooked with my brother on Christmas Eve which was fun. We managed to make a fabulous 3-course dinner for 16 people including homemade ricotta and spinach ravioli with tomato cream sauce, a spectacular 14-lb salted and spiced pork roast from Heritage Farms, and the most amazing potato and celery root gratin which my brother makes at Minetta Tavern in New York.



The whole meal was wonderful and the time spent with my family the most important thing.

And then there was the surprise... (actually two surprises)

Which I humbly present to you here by way of apology for my extended absence.

I'm pregnant!

And, I'm engaged!



So 2010 is going to be a big year for me. It's all very exciting news and we are over the moon. Happy New Year everyone.

Next post: my New Year's Day lentil and spicy sausage soup. Can't wait to get back in the kitchen!

old school italian favorites

Lately, you could not pay me to eat sweets! I guess because I am baking so much now I almost never want to eat the stuff. This is probably a good thing. A sweet tooth has plagued me all my life, until now. I can totally leave it and I crave savory dishes full of flavor and texture.



So I've been cooking from a new Cook's Illustrated special edition called Italian Favorites. I would link to their website, but they just make you pay for looking at their recipes and that's annoying. You might as well subscribe to the magazine and have something to keep --or better yet, just buy one every once in a while when it looks appealing like I do.

I have a love-hate relationship with the magazine. I love the in-depth recipe testing and they always get everything right. But sometimes making a simple dinner from the magazine makes me feel like I'm doing research on a dissertation (all over again) and I need to read every single word of the two-page single-spaced essay. And that's no way to enjoy yourself in the kitchen.

But the Italian favorites issue is a keeper. My aunt, who is also an avid cook, came to visit me recently and then went on a wild goose chase looking for a back issue because she wanted to make everything in it. I called up the magazine and had it sent to her house. It really is a good one. Some of the 'Italian favorites' I've tried are the above 'Chicken Marsala'. I veered from tradition and made it with Cinzano instead of Marsala, but it was close enough and very good. I also made the Spaghetti Puttanesca, which I make all the time but this one was different. It added anchovies to the usual olives, capers and tomatoes which I thought worked well.



I also made the 'pork chops with vinegar and peppers' and it was surprisingly good. It, like all of the recipes in this issue, reminded me of things I ate in my childhood. My mom made pork chops just like that and the chicken Marsala was probably served in all of the old hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurants we ate in growing up in Las Vegas. There are recipes for Fettuccine Alfredo and Chicken Piccata, Penne alla Vodka and Shrimp Fra Diavolo. It doesn't get any more old-school Italian-American than that!

One dish I am definitely going to make as soon as I find the time is 'braciole': Italian stuffed steak --a Southern Italian classic. My aunt nearly lost it when she saw that. She told me stories of all the wonderful Italian dishes my grandmother (who died when I was 5) used to make when she was young and dating my mom's brother. She told me of nights when she would come to dinner and just watch her cook and then eat the most delicious things. We went through old boxes of my mom's and grandma's recipes while she was here, stopping after each one so she could tell me a story about how they made it.


old italian women (not my relatives) courtesy of kitchenmischief.wordpress.com.

While I may not be able to re-create those family recipes exactly as they were, at least I can attempt some old Italian favorites in my own home and pretend that I was there. Thanks, Cook's Illustrated. You're not so bad after all.