Treats for Italian Class Festa
on Nov 17, 2009 in appetizers fun stuff recipes pasta Congratulations to all of us who completed Italian due! What a great festa we had, with all sorts of deserts, ( biscotti, tiramisu, Italian torta) wines and munchies!Last time Gaby and I made a tiramisu for the festa after Italian uno. This time, pe...

Butternut squash n chicken livers risotto, perfect for the fall
on Nov 8, 2009 in risotto wine recipes It's the flavors and the colors of butternut squash that make it so well-suited and comforting for the fall season.I love squash and chicken livers, so naturally, when Michele suggested to make this risotto dish, I was ecstatic. Wolfgang Puck made a...

Chicken pineapple soup
on Nov 1, 2009 in soups recipes Now that my Italian classes start at 7 pm, I'm back to making soups early evening, so I can have a bowl or two before I head out to class, and have another bowl or two when I return home around 9:30. Eating late is not the healthiest, but after some...

Seafood and squash casarecce
on Nov 1, 2009 in pasta Here's a light pasta with fresh prawns, scallops and squash, fresh herbs and casarecce...

Halloween pappardelle
on Oct 31, 2009 in fun stuff recipes pasta Our first Hallowen in Texas.Couple of blocks down our neighborhood, there are lots of folks dressed up roaming the streets, bar hopping. We prepared lots of candy, but Michele and I have been the only patrons....no trick-or treaters have came our way...

Warm White Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding
on Oct 17, 2009 in dolce recipes This weekend, we were invited to a friends' house warming party, and I thought of making either a desert or quiche since we had two cartons of fresh eggs at home. I learned that the host had several savory appetizers lined up already, so I decided to...

Reminiscing Portugal...making Cataplana
on Oct 16, 2009 in risotto fun stuff seafood pork recipes Two summers ago, Michele and I took a trip that became our most favorite - a two week adventure in Portugal. Portugal is such a gem - great wines, delicious seafood and pastries, a variety of beautiful beaches ( rocky cliffs and sandy ones), tile-cov...

birthday and cake, and carbonara
on Oct 12, 2009 in fun stuff pasta This is a first - got a lovely carrot cake for my birthday! loved it. I love, love carrot cake and it's so nice to have this instead of a heavy chocolate buttercream cake....( I feel less guilty while turning almost 30)And believe it or not, we finis...

Italian german hamburger
on Oct 4, 2009 in burgers recipes We have been doing quite a bit of jogging/running these couple of weeks, and especially dedicate a pretty good hour and half of jogging on Saturdays. Strangely, exercise makes me crave for more protein and meat. Luckily, I get pampered when Michele h...

Homemade pizza
on Sep 14, 2009 in fun stuff mmmm, PIZZAAAAAAA....but not completely homemade. Yes, we cheated. But who wouldn't, if you can buy 2 dollar pizza dough at Whole Foods? It just makes everything so much easier=) The ingredients we used in our homemade pizza were:- cherry tomatoes, s...