The Beginning of the End

Today is cause for CELEBRATION as it is my FINAL Dolce Vita cooking post! As you all know, today is also NEW YEARS! To top it off, I am also celebrating my BIRTHDAY!!! 

I decided to make myself a little 'cake' to celebrate. I bought some gelatin to make Panna Cotta.

Mmmm the Panna Cotta tasted like cheese cake! This is basically made of solidified cream and milk. Happy Birthday to me :)

In honor of my last blog post here -and New Years- I also made 2 alcoholic drinks from the 'Cin Cin 'portion of the cook book. I made Asti Spumante con Cilantro for me (because I love Champagne and cilantro!) I also made a drink for my Husband that is one of his favourites; Pesche con Vino (drunken peaches in Chianti).

The spumante was so refreshing and my Husband loved the fruity/floral taste of the peaches!

I started cooking my way through Dolce Vita early this year, and alas; at the end of the year I have completed the book, and made about 69 recipes! I have learned a lot and have gained such a love for Italian cooking. I truly appreciate those of you who have regularly stopped by to see what I was cooking, and I am grateful to those of you who left comments -because it encouraged me to keep going- even after I burnt a dish!

When I started my journey, I never thought in a million years that I would be meeting the creator behind the book; David Rocco!! I was so honored that he enjoyed my blog and I was in disbelief when he actually called my house! Also, if you told me a year ago- that I would be asked by Harper Collins to write a review about the cook book, I would have never believed you :) It has been a great journey in cooking! I only hope that 2012 would be just as exciting. Happy New Year and all the best to you in  2012!!!

Cin Cin!

*Sandy xox

Buon Natale!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! On Christmas Eve I hosted a David Rocco Style dinner for 17 people. I made David Rocco's Pasta al Forno (as shown above). It had an interesting twist with the olives, sun-dried tomatoes and egg plant. Everyone enjoyed the smoky taste of the scamorza in the pasta.

 Here is the crowd, happily eating their Pasta al Forno. I also made Zuppa di Zucca,  fried sole with Risotto Spinaci and Insalata di Faggioli e Tonno, among other things.

 My Mom brought her delicious home-made cream/chocolate pudding puffs. We were so full!

Also, it's tradition around the holidays that my in-laws make these fried donuts. Some have sugar on them and some are stuffed with sardines. They are so good but I had to control myself- or I would start looking like Santa's Sister. 

I'll be back with one last dessert that I will attempt to make for New Years- then I will be officially closing the chapter on my cooking journey. See you then!

Mmmmm....Doughnuts!

If there's one sweet dessert I am obsessed with- it's doughnuts! Therefore, I was excited to make Ciambelle- which are Semi-Hard Doghnuts. To start, I had to make a well with my ingredients.

Then it all turned out magically into a dough.

My kids helped me with it too!

The Ciambele turned out great! I usually buy these at the Italian bakery so I was thrilled to learn how to make them myself. They were sweet but you could taste the aniseeds and a bit of olive oil too. The wine cut into the sweetness from the sugar. We snacked on them all week at school and work. I'll have to make these for Christmas. My parents will be so impressed!

Desserts for the Holidays

Sorry that I haven't been around for a while, but Christmas is fast approaching and there is lots to do! Remember when I talked about Coco Sbatuto or Zabaglione in this post? Well I was delighted when I saw that there is a Zabaglione dessert recipe in the Dolce Vita cook book. First, I stopped off to the LCBO -after work- and picked up some Marsala to make Zabaglione con Panna Montata (whipped cream Zabaglione).

Then I got right to work on my desssert- using only farm fresh eggs. It was so easy to make, and it only took 5 minutes, (plus 1/2 hr. to chill).

This was sooo delicious! It was sweet, and the tartness of the blueberries cut into the bitterness of the Marsala. I have to make this for my Dad this Christmas- since I'm hosting the party at my place this year. I'll be back with some more desserts. They are perfect for the holidays! Ciao!

Chatting with David and my Published Review of Dolce Vita

Me: "Hello?"

David: "Hellooooo!"

Me: "David?"

David: "Yes! Hi Sweetheart!"....

That's how the conversation started when THE David Rocco called me at home last week! David has a great sense of humor and it felt like I was talking to an old friend. My little interview with him- helped me with my Dolce Vita review.

I'm excited to say that the review is on the front page of Harper Collin's Savvy Reader site this morning. Click here to read the review!!!!

It FIG-ures!

Around the holidays you will find lots of dried figs- which is exciting because I am seriously addicted to them! I didn't feel like having a meal for dinner tonight, so I decided to make a medley of 'Parmigiano con Noci e Miele', (cheese with nuts, dried figs and honey).

The honey made the nuts and figs so sweet and the saltiness from the cheese- cut through all the sweetness. It was a devine recipe from the Dolce Vita cook book!

Last weekend I was supposed to interview David -for my Dolce Vita book review- at Costco. We were to meet after his book signing- but the line up was sooo long, (it figures!) As a result, David will be calling me at home tomorrow afternoon for the interview! I will be back with that soon :)

The Marriage of Sweet & Sour

Oh how I wish it was still strawberry season.

 For now, I have to buy strawberries from the grocery store. I bought some strawberries to make this next recipe; Fragole all' Aceto Balsamico. It's a simple combination of balsamic vinegar and strawberries. Let it rest for 5 minutes and enjoy. The sweetness of the strawberries cut through the sour taste of the vinegar. David even suggested to try balsamic vinegar over vanilla ice cream. I did just that and was amazed by the taste. It tasted a bit like coffee ice cream and it wasn't sour at all.

Help; my Kitchen's on Fire!

In the Fall, my In-Laws are busy harvesting. Here are the hot peppers they grew in their garden. They are hung to dry, and their seeds will be added to sopresata, (cured meats) and other dishes.

My Father-in-Law is also busy making wine. These photos were taken in his garage.

So the other day I ATTEMPTED to make Stracotto al Chianti. It was going well and smelled like heaven.

I was to leave it in the pot with the lid on- for 2 hours. After an hour, I realized that I burnt it! I just know it's because I didn't close the lid tight and the juices evaporated. I do this all the time. I'm so disappointed that I didn't get to taste it! To make things worse, the house smelled horrible all day.

Be Cautious this Halloween!

Since it is Halloween this Monday, I thought I would make a sweet treat, called 'Croccante di Mandorle' from the Dolci section of the Dolce Vita cook book.

Four cups of whole almonds was all I needed. I purchased toasted salted ones.

I also needed 3 cups of sugar that I simply had to cook over the stove.

This is what the sugar looks like once it has melted. I threw some eye balls into my Witches brew- for some added flavor ;)

Then I toseed in my almonds, stirred quickly, quickly poured it into a pan and spread it out flat. My Mom makes this a lot and I love the crunchy sweet flavor. The almonds are deliciously sweet! However, I found there are a few warnings that should go with preparing this dessert!

Warning! When you pour the almonds onto the pan, you have 5 seconds to spread it flat before it starts to harden!
Caution! Don't be tempted to line your pan with parchment paper because it WILL STICK onto the brittle
WATCH OUT! Because if you don't pour hot water into your pan right away- that sugar will stick to your pot and be next to impossible to wash off!
Beware! Don't eat too much because there's a lot of sugar in one morsel

So enjoy your sweets this Halloween and be safe!

Drowning in my Ice Cream

      It's been a few days since I had the pleasure of meeting David in person and I am still in awe. I was so happy to share that moment with my dear friend Natalea- who was visiting here from New York over the weekend. I had actually cooked her some Gnudi (Naked Ravioli) and Penne con Pomodorini the night before. It was requested by her, after reading my blog posts. Natalea loved the dishes and was quite happy to meet the Chef behind the cook book.

Yesterday I was contacted by David's Publisher! She asked me if I would write up a review for the Dolce Vita cook book for their corporate web site! I happily accepted and will be working away on it during the month of November :) Check out my call display on my phone! It looks like Julia Child called..lol! I called the number back and it was a hair salon. That's what I call; 'a sign'!

 So tonight I felt like curling up in my P.Js in front of my T.V and eating some ice cream- because the weather is so icky! I cracked open the cook book and went to the Dolci (sweets) section of the book and made gelato Affogato (drowned ice cream). It's a simple combination of good quality vanilla ice cream and espresso. I thought it would be bitter since it didn't call for sugar, but the ice cream took care of that. It was so silky smooth and it definitely satisfied my sweet tooth. The ice cream melts fast but I always wait for my ice cream to melt before I eat it. YUM!

'David & Sandy'...the MOVIE

I did it! I FINALLY got to meet THE Chef David Rocco! I met him at Yorkdale while he was signing his new cook book: Made in Italy. He not only had the birth of his new book, but his Wife also gave birth to their new Son Dante last Friday!!

Anyway, I was surprized at how tall David was and I was a bit nervous. I introduced myself to David and he knew who I was and gave me a big hug! He asked if I would blog about his new cook book..tee,hee!

Then David suggested we do a 'David & Sandy' movie- like the 'Julie & Julia' one. Too funny! He's a nice guy and not too bad on the eyes either..lol!

THEN, on my way out- a Publisher for Harper Collins gave me her card and asked me to send her my blog link! I'll let you know what happens with that later. I'll also let you know what I think about the new cook  book when I get a chance to look it over. For now, I need to get back to some Dolce Vita cooking. Ciao!!

Made in Italy...

...yup it's the perfect title for David Rocco's new cook book. David will be doing various book signings all over Toronto this weekend and I am hoping to be able to meet him at one of them.

In the meantime I am cooking my way through the meat (secondi) dishes in his Dolce Vita cook book. Last night I made Filetto di Manzo al Balsamico. The beef was juicy, the onions were so good and I loved the sweetness from the balsamic vinegar.

Forget the canned pork n' beans...

I hope every one had a nice Thanks Giving. I ate and drank too much! My Father-in-law has taken over our backyard and planted every type of lettuce. They are growing nicely and he said they won't be ready 'til the first frost.

So the other day I made Salsiccie e Fagioli (Pork and Beans).

 I tried video-taping the process, but it took hours to download. I wanted to show you how easy this was to make. The sausages were so savoury! They reminded me of breakfast sausages.

Inspiring Men to Cook

It has been dreamy-cooking in my kitchen! Just the other day I made 8 pizzas for our house-warming party. I made patata pizza, Margherita pizza, pizza with carmalized onion/goat cheese & anchovies, and pizza with mozzarella and sopresatta. They were a hit!

I was happy to find that the Dolce Vita cook book has inspired my Husband to cook too!  I forgot to show you a recipe that my Husband cooked- when we were at the old house. He made Filetto di Manzo con Soffritto (beef tenderloin). I never realized just how small our cooking space was before.

The meat was juicy and it absorbed all the succulent flavours from the soffritto.  I was impressed!

I just wanted to send happy belated birthday wishes to my 'Tween' Kayla! 
I have been taking on more hours at work lately. I will be back as soon as things settle down a bit more. Cheers!

...and on her farm she has some.. meat balls...

Looks like I forgot to show you my finished kitchen! Here is how the kitchen looked when we bought the house.

Here is my new finished farm style kitchen. I am absolutely in love with it and have been cooking up a storm in it already. I am loving all the extra space! My neighbours are awesome too and coincidentally; my neighbour Domenic went to high school with David Rocco- and showed me his high school picture :)

This evening I made Polpette di Acciughe (Anchovy Meatballs).

While I was frying the meat balls, you could smell the aroma from down the street.

I just loved this version and you could really taste the anchovies and wine. It was so tasty!