Kick off to Entertaining 2010

Macarons from Left to right - Sweet Chili Heat, Salted Caramel & PB&J

To kick off the holiday season I thought I'd share a few pictures of some food and appetizers from my Macaron/ Housewarming party.

Of course featured were the Macarons and thanks to Kim Le who took these beautiful pics, you can see how far I've come with mastering the art of Macaron making.

Here's a closer look at those PB&J ones...mmmm

Jason, delighted us with his very own appetizing creations. Fig, prosciutto, goat cheese, pecan and honey drizzled costini and some layered tomato and Mozzarella di Bufala bruschetta.

Fig, prosciutto, goat cheese, pecan and honey drizzled costini

Layered tomato and Mozzarella di Bufala brushetta

There was also a plate of Burrata with prosciutto but that went so fast, we weren't able to even snap a picture in time. If you haven't ever tried Burrata... it's the most delicious soft cheese on the planet!

Enjoy the holidays everyone, and happy entertaining!

2009 B.Y.O.A. - Pizzelle Edition

Traditional Italian Pizzelle

Vitania and Anna, and the Peacock..:-)

.Since the holiday season is quickly approaching Vitania and I thought it would be a great time to hold our Annual Christmas Cookie Bake. (a.k.a. BYOA - Bring your own apron). We thought this day could be fun for all the ladies to get together, laugh and help each other bake in company. Plus a great opportunity for us to watch our mothers and learn the family recipes that have been part of the holidays for years.

Our Mom's Rita and Lidia

Our mothers are sisters, and boy are they ever. They both rule the kitchen when it comes to any baking or cooking going on. Days before the event took place, our mothers were shopping, roasting nuts, grating chocolate, preparing filling and barking orders at us. My mother, the head chef, masterfully over saw the many recipes while Vitania's mother ensured quality control on all the recipes being made by the newbies.

Teenagers, aka Cheap Labour.

They giggle alot, complain about everything and listen to loud music while working. They also quit early!

.... Anna and I are pleased to announce, that this year we were promoted to dough rollers! We thought we were safe from the scorched fingers of the Pizzelle Iron, only to learn dough rolling has another set of aches and pains . (more on this next post)

So without further ado, we introduce you to Pizzelle. A classic in our family as well as many Italian families. These thin waffle type cookies are great to snack on, sandwich Nutella between them, or even shape into cones or bowls and serve with ice cream. Such a versatile cookie you can almost eat them with anything.

Pizzelle

12 eggs
3 cups sugar
4 tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
4 cups sifted flour
2 cups of oil
rind from a whole lemon
1/3 cup of Sambuca or Anisette

Beat eggs and sugar well
Add lemon rind and continue to mix
Add oil and continue to beat.
Mix baking powder with flour and add mix a little at a time to the egg mixture
When completely mixed, chill dough for 2 hours or overnight to enrich flavor

Spoon batter onto a Pizzelle maker
(a note on the Pizzelle maker - You can use a traditional stove top Pizzelle maker but even our mothers have traded theirs in for an electric Pizzelle maker. Much easier and faster to use)

Use a fork or a knife to carefully lift the Pizzelle off the iron - they should be a nice golden colour but NOT brown.

Pizzelle cooling

Place on a flat table covered with a table cloth and let cool to harden flat or if desired you may shape into cones or bowls and then let cool. Only stack them once they've cooled otherwise they will stick to one another. Also, placing them in an airtight container, can make them soft. Which some people really like, but we prefer them crispy, so we keep them out where they can remain crisp.

Happy Holiday Baking !
Anna and Vitania

Cookie Cutter Creations

I’ve been sick since last Friday so I haven’t been able to post my most recent creations.

I wanted to share this with you before Halloween but regardless, cookies are great creations for any birthday, thanksgiving, Christmas or special occasion.

Our baked cookies ready to be decorated.

I owe half the credit to my 6 yr old daughter who together with me helped bake and decorate some Halloween/fall sugar cookies. What a great way to spend a little time with the kids and let them express their creativity.

I just love the cute faces kids make when they're busy creating.

It turned into a practice session for my flooding technique and I ended up decorating cookies till 1 am, but that’s besides the point.

Have a look at some of the fun we had and some of the creations we made.

The Green swirly spider was one of my favorites.