Uncategorized Archives - Page 6 of 19

What I did on my Thanksgiving week vacation!

November 30, 2011 by Marie 17 Comments

I had a wonderful dinner with family!

I attended afternoon tea at the Peninsula Chicago in honor of my niece.

The setting was gorgeous, the minute you walk in you feel the elegance!
It was especially beautiful because of all the Christmas decorations they had up, the tree was stunning in warm colors of reds and golds.

Live music filled the air as we sipped on our teas and

ate our goodies. The service was wonderful and they were happy to replenish our plates!
A great experience and a fun thing to do if you’re in Chicago with your girlfriends.

I learned how to make Bietole from a master, my daughter -in -laws nana.
This woman is well into her 80’s and shes a spitfire in the kitchen, she puts us all to shame!
Bietole is basically swiss chard that is sauteed with lots of garlic and oil.

The sauteed chard is then placed on a pasta dough with enormous amounts of Pecorino romano, more garlic and olive oil then rolled up jelly roll style and baked. It’s so simple with just a few ingredients but the taste is out of this world!

Then to top off the week I spent a day at my house making ravioli with my cousin and sister-in-law for a party we’re having this weekend, the music was blasting, there was flour everywhere! We were even going to crack open a bottle of wine but opted for coffee instead since it was only 9:00 in the morning!

We ended up making 200 total, a combination of both meat and cheese.
I highly recommend a day of pasta making with family or friends, it’s a great way to spend a day!
Buon Appetito!

17 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: bietole, Chicago Peninsula, homemade ravioli, swiss chard, Traditional Afternoon Tea

Sausage Making 101

August 13, 2009 by Marie 32 Comments

Each month a member of our Italian/American club gets to host a cooking class of their choice, its called Cucina Italiano. I did one here. This past week I attended a sausage making demo at a members home. Homemade Italian sausage made “old school way” with a hand cranked meat grinder.

She was very prepared and had her pork shoulder all trimmed and ready to go, leaving it about 80% lean to about 20% fat. The meat was then cut into chunks and passed through the meat grinder. Seasonings such as salt, pepper, fennel and red pepper flakes were then added to the ground sausage. At this point I would cook up a tiny bit to see if your seasonings are to your liking, if not, you could always add more before you start stuffing.

Next the sausage stuffing attachment was put on and the casings were placed over the stuffing tube. It worked great with 2 people as one was cranking and feeding the sausage meat into the hopper, and the other was guiding it in the casings.

Grills and ovens were going as everything got cooked up and taste tested! Its nice to know what’s actually in your sausage. Quality meat with no fillers! Years ago I use to make my own sausage, it inspired me to try it again. I’d like to try making some of those gourmet sausages that cost a fortune, maybe a chicken sausage with sun dried tomatoes and artichokes. Yumm!

The possibilities are endless!

FINAL GARDEN UPDATE

Well I have to give a big shout out to the hubby he has proved he has a green thumb!

Our tomatoes are coming in like gang busters. Vine ripened juicy tomatoes of several different varieties, a joy to eat with our dinners. Eggplants are almost ready to be picked and the zucchini has all been perfect, we make sure to pick them before they get to big.

I’m sure gonna miss this when the cold weather comes around!

These are little Japanese beetles going to town on our grape leaves. We have a small vine on our fence and they’ve been destoying all our leaves. They feast on the tissue between the veins and leave it looking all skeletal, nasty little creatures!

Enjoy your weekend, and Buon Appetito!

32 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: garden tomatoes, italian sausage making

Taking a Little Break…

May 11, 2009 by Marie 43 Comments

Taking a short blog break to reflect on the memory of my dear sweet aunt that passed away this weekend. She’ll forever hold a special place in my heart.