It is Gwyneth Paltrow Week!

     So after an extended Easter break, we are back with an exciting new cookbook!!  This week we tested Gwyneth Paltrow’s new book “My Father’s Daughter.”  Now Gwyneth has been everywhere these days, TV (Glee - one our favorite shows), movies and even making an album (she recently signed with Atlantic Records).  So of course the natural next thing to do is write a cookbook!  Her theory on food and cooking is interesting.  She started cooking with her father, and after he was diagnosed with throat cancer she started investigating the food that we put in our bodies.  Since then she has tried to feed herself and her family primarily organic and healthy foods.  For our dinner we decided to make four recipes: Gazpacho, Chicken with Dumplings, Fried Rice with Kale and Scallions, and Blueberry Pavlova.

The Book:

My Father’s Daugher

The Author:

Gwyneth Paltrow

The Menu:

Gazpacho – Page 62

Chicken & Dumplings – Page 159

Fried Rice with Kale & Scallions – Page 198

Blueberry Pavlova – Page 258

The Undertaking:

     Now Gazpacho is an interesting concept.  Essentially, it is cold tomato soup which isn’t something I was excited about.  I love soup and I love tomatoes, but cold tomato soup?  Isn’t that a V8?  So imagine my surprise when I tasted it and loved it!!  It was tasty, refreshing and the perfect summer time lunch.  Amber was in charge of making this item.  She said the most labor intensive part was the peeling of the tomatoes (which did take quite some time, so prepare yourself).

     Our main course was the Chicken and Dumplings, with a side of Fried Rice with Kale and scallions.  To begin, we want to point out that due to Gwyneth’s stance on organic meat, we decided to splurge and buy organic chickens. We discovered that they are $13 each compared to the $9 for a regular one. Now I believe that if you can buy organic or local meat, it is a great option.  Now in these times of financial strain it is not always a viable one, so it is an individual decision.

The first step to making our main course was breaking down the chicken into pieces.  Now, I watch allot of Food Network and have seen it done on plenty of shows, I have also done it a few times myself...but Amber was a chicken butchering virgin, so this was a great learning experience for her.  The most important thing when separating chicken is to have a sharp knife and to know where the pieces are meant to be separated.

     Also, the recipe called for stock, which we made from another recipe in the book (it was ridiculously easy and fast to make).  I may never buy stock from a store again!  Really!  It was THAT easy!!

      This meal had a few steps, but mostly it was a straight forward, one pot meal with simple ingredients that you can find anywhere!  It does need a few hours to cook but the result is fall-off-the-bone chicken with amazing flavor.

          The fried rice was exciting because both Amber and I were excited to eat Kale (and to trick our kids into eating Kale)!  Brown rice is a staple in my house and my kids love it, but “green bits” in their food isn’t always well received. The preparation of this side was very simple.  All we had to do was make the rice, chop the veggies and toss altogether along with a little bit of olive oil and soy sauce.  Voila!

The best endings are always sweet ones, so our dessert was well worth the wait. The Pavlova, which seems to essentially be a fancy word for meringues, where easy to prepare. A few quick steps in the mixer and into the oven where they cook low and slow for about an hour. We then topped the marshmallow-y puffs with plain blueberries and a little whip cream...they were gorgeous!

The Judgment:
Gazpacho:
"Surprisingly good…Refreshing” – Amber’s Man

“High garlic taste but grows with you with every bite” – Helen’s Bob

“Interesting but I am not a soup fan in general” - Stuart

The Gazpacho got an average score of 3.3 out of 5.

Main course:
“The side and main complement each other so well…it reminds me of a thanksgiving dinner only lighter and tastier! A new family favourite comfort food” – Amber’s Man

“Tasty and tender chicken, robust and filling…The rice was a bit of an Asian persuasion, nice…” – Helen’s Bob

“Delicious” – Stuart

The Chicken & Dumplings got an average score of 4.1 out of 5.
The Kale & Scallions got an average score of 3.9 out of 5.

Blueberry Pavlova:
All our judges felt the same way….Light and Delicious!!!
The Blueberry Pavlova got an average score of 4.3 out of 5.

The Kids Vote:

Gazpacho:Unanimous vote:  “Did not like it at all!!!” (just picture their puckered little faces and shaking heads! Hee hee hee).

Chicken & Dumplings and the Fried Rice with Kale & Scallions: Abbegail and Samantha: They liked it except Abbegail didn’t like the green stuff (the Kale).

Jaxon and Seth: Seth really like the dumplings and Jaxon liked the chicken … both ate a little rice and thought it was ok. 

Emmersyn and Carter:  Emmersyn gave the chicken a 10!  This was not a surprise, because she is a meat lover!!! The Dumplings got infinitity so that speaks for itself!!  Carter ate the chicken too but neither one cared for the rice.
Blueberry Pavlova: Unanimous vote: “Can we have some more?”  (as they do each blog dinner night!!!)

What did we think?
Amber: “The gazpacho was a little too garlicky, but (with less garlic) it would be a nice summer soup.”…“The chicken was juicy and the broth was really yummy.  I would have liked the dish to have more veggies in it.  It would have felt like a complete meal with some potatoes.”…“The rice was super tasty.  I loved the addition of kale!”…
“The pavlova was really tasty…I love Meringue!”
Helen: 
“The gazpacho was great & refreshing. Surprisingly, you could really taste the cucumber but it has a bit too much garlic.”…“The chicken was really tasty. I loved the flavor of the thyme in the dish!  I also thought the main dish needed more veggies.  I would add more the next time I make it.”…“The rice was good but a little greasy for me (I would use less oil in this recipe).”
“The dessert was delicious and was just the right amount of sweet…Yummy!”


     In addition to these recipes I made the Fish Taco recipe (Pg. 165) which included a great guacamole recipe that was the simplest and yummiest I have ever had!!  The fish was too oily but if it was grilled, with the same fillings, it would be awesome!  I also made the Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Spices [(Pg. 200) which includes maple syrup in the ingredient list].  Both the Fish Tacos and the Roasted Sweet Potatoes were extremely well received in my house!


     Overall we enjoyed this book.  We especially like her message about cooking with kids and eating healthy, natural foods… most of the time!  The only downfall is that she does not eat red meat and the book is filled mostly with fish and seafood recipes (in the main course section).  So if you are a die hard Alberta beef eater, maybe this would be a good option for the other nights of the week!!


     See you next time, when we see what a "Desperate Housewife" knows about cooking, with Eva Longoria’s new book “Eva’s Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends”… have a great week!

"Giada De Laurentiis Week" number three & a new cook book...Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes

          I never knew Italian food could be so fantastic until our latest “blog dinner”.  I always thought that Italian food was just salad and pasta.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to East Side Mario’s a time or two, but I have only ever ordered a salad or a menu item which is in the English language only (that way I know what I am ordering).  Since we were going to be cooking out of a book called “Everyday Italian", we had no choice but to pick some recipes that were truly Italian…right down to the name of the dishes.

Unfortunately, Stuart and Andrea had a prior commitment during the evening of our dinner, so we invited a friend as our very first “guest judge”!  Terrel, our guest judge, was very surprised to be asked to a three course meal where he did not have to bring anything and where he didn’t have to pay, but was then encouraged to critic the meal!  As it turned out, Audie and Bob where outside setting up the kids’ outdoor play center when Terrel arrived for the evening…needless to say, payment for the dinner was help with construction. J

The Book:

Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes

The Author:

Giada De Laurentiis

The Menu:

Fried Polenta – Page 122

Vodka Penne – Page 57

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta – Page 205

Chicken Piccata – Page 153

Fruit Salad with Cannoli Cream – Page 223

The Undertaking:

I had never heard of Polenta before I read the fried polenta recipe.  I did a little research and found that Polenta is popular all over the world!  All it is, is boiled cornmeal.  I read that it is similar to grits, which of course is popular in the southern States, only the grain that is boiled is different.  I learnt that sometimes Polenta is even eaten topped with a drizzle of maple syrup.  Yum!  Can you guess what I will be doing the next time I make Polenta?

To help save time, on the night of our dinner, we decided to start some of our dishes (polenta and marinara sauce) the night before.  The polenta kept nicely in the fridge and was cold and firm when we were all set to fry it up for our appetizer.  The marinara sauce was really easy to make…it just required an hour of simmering and lots of prep work, this is why we thought it would be better off done the night before.

We started off our “blog dinner” night by frying up the Polenta.  As many of you probably already know, when frying food, you must make sure that your oil is HOT, HOT, HOT!  When I was frying up my first batch of polenta, my oil was not hot enough and they all stuck to the bottom of the pan.  As a result, they soaked up the oil and got really greasy.  The worst part of all, was that they didn’t hold their shape and ended up not looking very pretty at all (there are no pictures of the first batch)!

          The vodka sauce was easy to make, and because it was made using the marinara sauce, it took no time at all.  Good thing it was so easy to make, because the Brussels Sprouts were a little time consuming to make since they required a lot of prep work…clean the sprouts, blanch the sprouts, put the sprouts in ice water, sauté the pancetta (which is salt cured pork belly)…not hard work, just time consuming.

                            

          The Chicken Piccata was super easy to make as well and smelled amazing while it was cooking.  However, I noticed after looking up the word piccata that we prepared it incorrectly, but I blame the recipe as we don’t think that it explained clearly how we were to prepare the chicken.  In my research online I found in the Italian language the word is only used in reference to preparing food.  It means sliced meat, sautéed and served in a sauce containing butter, lemon and spices.  I also read that in preparing Chicken Piccata, the chicken breast is usually butterflied or sliced along its width and flattened with a tenderizer.  In the book, the recipe calls for the chicken to be “halved crosswise”.  Helen and I discussed what we thought “halved crosswise” meant and decided not to slice the chicken breasts at all.  Perhaps I should have done my research prior to preparing the food! Hee hee!

During my web surfing, I found the recipe for the Chicken Piccata from Giada’s "Everyday Italian" cookbook online here. I noticed that the wording for preparing the chicken is different online from the directions in the cookbook.

We chose the desert of Fruit Salad with Cannoli Cream because it seemed like a nice light desert to have after such a grand dinner.  Also, after watching Cake Boss and seeing their Cannoli on TV, who wouldn’t take the chance to make that cream and topping it on some strawberries?!?!?  The cannoli cream was made with ricotta cheese, and after using the same type of cheese last week, we learned that our dish could turn out soupy.  Thinking ahead, we strained our cheese in the fridge with cheese cloth for a few hours preparing our meal.

The Judgment:

Fried Polenta:

“The polenta had pleasant textures and flavor.  It was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  The marinara was an excellent full flavored sauce.” – Amber’s Man

“The polenta was crisp, buttery, creamy and yummy.  The marinara had a rich tomato-y taste.  The two were a nice combination.  Sweet.” – Helen’s Bob

“I enjoyed the crisp outside and creamy inside of the polenta.  The Marinara sauce was slightly sweet – no bitterness – very tasty compliment to the polenta.” – Guest Judge Terrel

“Best part of the dinner.” – Pre-Teen Parker

“Creamy center but greasy.  Marinara was delicious.” – Helen

“The polenta had an interesting texture, kind of like a tater tot or something.  I LOVED the marinara sauce it was better than store bought!  It will be made over and over again in my household.  Yum, Yum, Yummy!” - Amber

The Fried Polenta got an average score of 3.75 out of 5.

Vodka Penne:

“I did not enjoy the sauce.  It’s hard to describe.  It tasted like tomato sauce but different.” – Amber’s Man

“The vodka sauce had a rich, tart taste and a creamy texture…could not taste the vodka.” – Helen’s Bob

“Nice creamy tomato sauce, but there was no vodka flavor.” – Guest Judge Terrel

“I don’t know why…I just didn’t like it.” – Pre-Teen Parker

“Delicious, creamy, tasty!” - Helen

“Love it!  I couldn’t taste the vodka, but it was really tasty all the same.” - Amber

The Vodka Penne got an average score of 3.3 out of 5.

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta:

“Excellent.  Lightly flavored, but I LOVE brussels sprouts!” – Amber’s Man

“Least favorite vegetable EVER.” – Helen’s Bob (who loathes vegetables.  He took 3 brussels sprouts and ate one.)

“The brussels sprouts were tasty but you had to make sure to add the juice [from the bottom of the pan] to taste the garlic and oil.” – Guest Judge Terrel

“I don’t like them.” – Pre-Teen Parker

“Simple taste.  They taste much better when eaten with the broth/juice from the bottom of the pan.” – Helen

“I love, really love brussels sprouts.  These ones weren’t anything too exciting though.  They didn’t taste much different than ones that we have had sautéed with bacon.” - Amber

The Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta got an average score of 2.7 out of 5.

Chicken Piccata:

“Tangy, juicy, good!!” – Amber’s Man

“The chicken was moist.  Sauce had a nice lemon flavor.  It was tender and delicious.” – Helen’s Bob

“Juicy, succulent chicken and the caper sauce has a very unique lemony flavor.” – Guest Judge Terrel

“Too sour.  I don’t like the round things.” – Pre-Teen Parker

“Super good.  Lemony juicy flavor” – Helen

“LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the chicken piccata!  The capers and the lemon go so well together.  I love the huge caper taste!  It was my favorite dish of the night!” - Amber

The Chicken Piccata got an average score of 3.7 out of 5.

Fruit Salad with Cannoli Cream:

“Tastes as good as it looks.  You won’t be disappointed.” – Amber’s Man

“The canola cream was superb.  The fruit salad had lots of flavor.” – Helen’s Bob

“The creamy cannoli sauce makes the fruit flavors balanced.  No overpowering fruit flavors.” – Guest Judge Terrel

“Second favorite dish of the night…but I don’t like the texture of the almonds on top of the cannoli cream.” – Pre-Teen Parker

“Delicious.” – Helen

“Mmmmmmmmmm!  I’m so excited that I have a cannoli cream recipe!  I’ve had the desire to try cannoli cream for so long!” - Amber

The Fruit Salad with Cannoli Cream got an average score of 4.7 out of 5.

The Kids Vote:

Fried Polenta:

“I liked the sauce and the sticks.” – Jaxon

Jaxon and Seth enjoyed the Polenta…but my kids did not eat it.  Carter had fallen and cut his lip earlier on in the evening so I assume that it was why he didn’t eat the appetizer.

Vodka Penne:

“I like the noodles.” – Emmersyn (but then she didn’t eat them very well.)

          All of the kids enjoyed the penne.  Seth and Carter kept asking for more.  I think that they had 3 or 4 helpings each!

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta:

“No, but I like the bacon.” – Emmersyn (when asked if she liked the brussels sprouts.)

Chicken Piccata:

“I took a bite of everything, and I like it all!” – Jaxon

As Emmersyn will tell anyone who is eating dinner with her that she is a meat eater…and she really is.  She loves to eat all types of meat, it is usually her favorite part of any meal and the night of our dinner was no different.  She finished up the chicken right away and asked for seconds.  The boys enjoyed it as well but they enjoyed the pasta the most.

Fruit Salad with Cannoli Cream:

“Strawberries, juice, sauce and the nuts were 89 out of 5, mom.  It’s so good I want to eat them everyday!” – Emmersyn

“More ice cream, Mommy.  Yummy!” – Carter

“Strawberries!” – Seth

All of the kids loved the fruit salad and cannoli cream.  Each one of them were asking for more.  We really need to start doubling the deserts so that everyone can have seconds for desert!

“Joke” of the Night:

Helen: “What’s the timer going off for?”

Amber: “It’s the timer for the polenta.  It needs to be turned.”

3 minutes later…

Helen: “What’s the timer going off for?”

Amber: “It’s the timer for the polenta.  It needs to be turned again.”

Another 3 minutes later…

Helen: “What’s the timer going off for?”

Amber: “It’s for the timer for the polenta.”

Helen: “Right! Sorry about that…I’ll try to remember that for next time.”

3 minutes later again…

Helen: “What’s the timer going off for?”

Amber: “It’s the timer for the polenta, Helen. It needs to be turned again!”

Week # 2 cooking with “Giada’s Kitchen: New Italian Favorites – Giada de Laurentiis

This week was Stuart’s birthday and we decided to celebrate by cooking up some more recipes from Giada de Laurentiis’s cookbook “Giada’s Kitchen: New Italian Favorites".  Since we were celebrating a birthday and since I made the birthday boy’s favorite cake, we did not include a desert from the book this week.  Instead we threw in another main dish from the book.  The second dish that we chose to make was found in the “(not) just for kids” section.  That’s right!  Giada  has a kid’s recipe section in this book too!

The Book:

Giada’s Kitchen: New Italian Favorites

The Author:

Giada de Laurentiis

The Menu:

Mediterranean Bruschetta – Page 22

Lemon Risotto – Page 121

Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree – Page 166

Parmesan Fish Sticks – Page 206

Black Forest Cake – first one ever made by Amber

The Undertaking:

          Giada’s book is wonderful to cook out of.  It is stocked full of easy recipes.  This week our menu began with the Mediterranean Bruschetta.  It was a simple recipe to put together.  All we had to do was grill some bread, season it and throw the rest of the ingredients into a bowl.  It was so easy!  The most laborious task was to chop the tomatoes and mint.  Easy-peasy!

          The prep work and process required for making the risotto was pretty basic as well.  Here were some things that we took note of with this recipe: it called for a lot of lemon, and it calls for two different types of cheese (expensive cheese): Mascarpone cheese and parmesan cheese. 

We did find the mascarpone cheese in our little town, but it was quite expensive.  We had to buy an entire package of it for the ¼ cup called for in the recipe.  The package we found was $7!!! 

We thought about substituting the mascarpone cheese, but decided against it, because the point to our blog is to make exactly what is on the pages of the recipe book.  In the future cream cheese could easily be substituted with the same results.

Next up on the menu was the Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree. You might be wondering, “What in the world is Brodetto?”  I didn’t know either, so I looked it up online and found out that it is a fish soup/stew.  It is the Italian equivalent of bouillabaisse (type of French fish soup).  This recipe calls for chicken broth in the making of the brodetto though and is not made with fish.

          I had quite the time making the Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree, as I was having a very “off” day.  First I burnt the scallions, and then I messed up by adding the olive oil to the peas before pureeing them (I was supposed to add it slowly while pureeing the peas).  These two mistakes where not the only slip-ups that I made in the kitchen that evening... 

          The recipe for the salmon makes 4 servings and the plan was to make the adjustments in the brodetto and the pea puree to accommodate our entire clan.  Since my brain was not in the kitchen, I forgot all about making sure there was enough food for everyone!  Funny that such an easy recipe to make could cause me so much trouble!  In the end, everyone was served smaller portions so that everyone had the chance to sample the recipes.

           Preparations for the evening actually started the night before our big dinner.  That is when I made the Black Forest Cake for Stuart’s birthday.  I decided to make his favorite cake, because what better gift to give him for his birthday but his favorite cake!  I had never made Black Forest Cake before but I found myself a wonderful recipe using my favorite website www.allrecipes.com.  The recipe looked complicated but had lots of great reviews.  There were a lot of steps for this novice to following in the making my very first Black Forest Cake (3^rd ever cake from scratch), but I made it through miraculously, all on my own, without anyone’s help!

          The cake was so yummy that there weren’t any leftovers for him to take home with him at the end of the evening.  I felt so bad that he didn’t get to have another piece that I made another cake for him on Monday!  Now I am almost a “Pro”! J

If you are interested in knowing which recipe it was that I used, just leave a comment on this post and I will send the link to you.

The Judgment (except the cake…I wouldn’t let them critic my cake):

Mediterranean Bruschetta:

 “The mint and ricotta cheese tasted like cold eggs.  No thank you!” – Amber’s Man

 “The bruschetta recipe could use a stronger cheese, but the mint and tomato were a nice combination.” – Helen’s Bob

“I enjoyed the mint flavor and really liked the tomato!” – Andrea

 “I didn’t like the cheese.  It was soggy.” – Pre-Teen Parker

Helen & Amber’s Review on the Mediterranean Bruschetta:

          Mediterranean Bruschetta tasted alright.  What did we like about it?  We liked the fresh tomatoes with the fresh mint…we also loved the seasoning on the bread, it set off the flavors in the bruschetta.  What we didn't enjoy was the cheese.  It was probably the texture of the ricotta that was the main problem.  It was just too watery. 

          If you want to try this recipe, Helen’s suggestion is to strain the cheese through some cheesecloth first to drain off some of the liquid before mixing it in with the rest of the ingredients. 

The Mediterranean Bruschetta got an average score of 3 out of 5.

Lemon Risotto:

 “By itself it was too tangy, but with the fish and the pea puree it was SUPERB!” – Amber’s Man

 “It was sticky, but flavorful. It went nicely with the fish and sauce.” – Helen’s Bob

“It was really lemony.  It caused sour mouth.” – Stu

“Sour!  It tasted ok when eaten with the fish.” – Andrea

“Too Lemony” – Pre-Teen Parker

Helen & Amber’s Review on the Lemon Risotto:

The Lemon Risotto was very lemony…too lemony for almost everyone at the table.  We think that half of the lemon called for in the recipe would suffice.  The sourness of the risotto was diminished when eaten along with the brodetto, pea puree and salmon, so the pairing of the two dishes worked out well for us.

The Lemon Risotto got an average score of 2 out of 5.

Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree:

“Excellent!” – Amber’s Man

“The salmon was juicy and tasty.  The pea puree set off the flavors nicely and the broth was also very nice.” – Helen’s Bob

“The salmon was delicious and the peas complimented the salmon nicely.” – Stu

“Awesome!” – Andrea

Helen & Amber’s Review of the Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree:

The Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree was the best part of the meal.  We thought that the whole dish (fish, brodetto and pea puree) went very well together.  I would definitely make this again.  It was easy to make and was so full of flavor.

The Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree got an average score of 4 out of 5.

  

Parmesan Fish Sticks:

 “Ewww!  FISH!?!?!?” – Pre-Teen Parker (who was told to eat them anyways)

“I’ve never been over excited about anything breaded…[the fish sticks] were nothing spectacular.” – Amber’s Man

Audie and I seemed to be the only ones out of us adults (not including Parker, because, as I remind her everyday, she is NOT an adult – yet!) who weren’t captivated by the fish sticks.

The Kids Vote:

Mediterranean Bruschetta:

“I don’t like the cheese, but I like the bread” – Jaxon, Abbegail and Emmersyn

“Can I have more?” – Seth and Samantha

The youngest of the youngsters ate the bruschetta all up and asked for more.  Even our picky little princess Samantha!  All of the kids enjoy eating bread, but they don’t usually enjoy anything that is red (like tomatoes), so it was a little surprising to us that the smallest kids were so fond of it.   Most of the kids  brushed the bruschetta off completely so that they could enjoy their bread appetizer before the main course.

Lemon Risotto:

“We like it!” – Jaxon and Emmersyn

“No” – Abbegail (when asked if she liked the risotto)

Only two of the 5 year olds ate up the lemon risotto, while the rest of the kids did not appreciate it.

Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree:

“We don’t like the peas; do we have to eat them?” – Jaxon and Emmersyn

From this dish the children were only served the pea puree.  This was because we served them the salmon fish sticks instead thinking they were more kid friendly.  At first the kids were turned off by the look and consistency of the peas…because really…who feeds their kids pureed food unless they are babies?  (Helen and I, that’s who!  Especially when we are testing out a cook book and pea puree is the only veggie in the main dish we are serving!)  When we told them that the green mush was peas, they made an effort to try the green goop on their plates…but they still didn’t like them.  Carter was the only one of the kids that ate the peas.  Makes sense…he was the last one to eat pureed food.  It was only just over a year ago when he dined on pureed food daily for nourishment! LOL

Parmesan Fish Sticks:

“The fish is yummy!” – Emmersyn

“I love it!” – Jaxon

“No” – Abbegail (when asked if she liked the fish sticks)

The salmon sticks were a hit with Jaxon, Seth and Emmersyn, especially served along with the dipping sauce that the recipe provided.  But again, the fish was yet another miss for the night with the rest of the children.  Stuart and Andrea’s girls didn’t want to eat the fish sticks at all, while Carter gagged when he took a bite.  We took the fish away from Carter to make sure that we didn’t end up turning him off of fish all together!  Yikes!

Time for Desert!

           Our evening was finished off with a special birthday tune and a birthday cake (which was topped with cherries and an insufficient number of candles).  What a wonderful ending to our evening full of good eats, fun family and well behaved children! J

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STU!

  

Next week we plan on moving onto another one of Giada de Laurentiis’ recipe books:

“Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes”