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!