Category Archives: Recipes
Irish Eye Candy & Recipes
Happy St. Patrick’s Week
“I just love bikes. It’s not the safest passion to have, but I guess it’s better than Russian roulette.”~Ryan Reynolds
I am sharing a few of my favorite Irish things—Irish candy…for the eyes that is 
and a recipe.
Also going to celebrate this week with a contest (details below).
I’m Italian, but I think there’s a little bit of Irish in all of us. I haven’t done this consciously, but for some reason all the hero’s in my books so far are of Irish descent or half Irish. In my current release, What A Girl Wants, the hero, Alex is half Irish, half Italian. Maybe I was a leprochaun in a previous life?
I’d love to hear from you and have you share your favorite Irish recipes, sayings or “candy.”
P.S. Just like me, you do not have to be Irish to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day or anything Irish.
Midnight In Paris
Forget about conjugating verbs in French , or attempting to perfect a French accent (those nasal vowels will only make you sound like Steve Urkel). Indulge in rich French cuisine, find a bakery and pick up some “pain au chocolat” and rent Midnight in Paris. (In case you’re wondering, it’s not the X-rated-Oh-Gosh-somebody-taped-me-with-it-all-hanging-out movie, featuring that Paris Hilton chick).
I’m not a huge movie buff, there are few movies I rave about and recommend and this is definitely one of them. It also got me thinking about why a lot of us love movies that takes us back in time, whether the movie is set in historical times or whether there’s a fantasy element, such as time travel. (More on that later).
And what would a blog post be without two QUICK AND EASY FRENCH RECIPES for you all to try.
First, I wanted to share my review of Midnight in Paris.
Exclusive Interview with Celebrity Chef Fabio Viviani
This charismatic celebrity chef hates cilantro.
At seven years old, he set fire to his grandmother’s kitchen.
He explains why he reviewed his own cook book on Amazon. Bravo to him, I say.
He gives us insight into reality television.
Fabio is generously gifting EVERYONE free copies of all his eCookBooks.
Details below.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Fabio (Top Chef Contestant) on the phone before Christmas. I wish I could have taped our conversation so you could all appreciate his wit, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, infectious laughter, and warm personality all wrapped up with a delightful accent.
Here is a transcript of our conversation, (excluding all the laughter we both shared) plus a delicious easy-to-follow risotto recipe.
The Italian Crock Pot
Not to be confused with the Italian crack pot. It’s a good thing I proofread this before hitting pubish as I had accidentally typed crack pot. Although I have met my share of crack pots, and yes some of them were Italian. However, blogging about crack pots would totally change the theme of this blog post.
The Crock Pot is a writer’s best friend. It’s like having a chef in the kitchen after you’ve instructed it what to do. I’m going to share an Italian crock pot recipe (below), but first wanted to chat about how my mom’s cooking lessons relates to my writing journey.
For the Chocolate-Enriched Diet Plan
Simple, decadent easy to make treats, that puts the “icious” in chocolicious.
- Chocolate-Insert your Favorite Liqueur-Truffles
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cups
- Chocolate Bailey’s Coffee Lover Cups
Tis’ the Season to Experiment in the Kitchen
Kicking off the month with a few of my family’s favorite recipes.
Go ahead, experiment and put your own twist on the recipes. It’s all about having fun in the kitchen.
- Aunt Dee Dee’s Traditional French Canadian Tourtiere (you don’t have to be Canadian to make this, beware though you may get a hankering for hockey and for wearing a toque and may say ‘aboot and ‘eh after eating a piece)
- Cousin Anna’s X Cookies (all you coffee drinkers out there, you’re gonna love these cookies)
- Aunt Dee Dee’s Lemon Cookies (My sister-in-law Diane, who we also call Aunt Dee Dee, used to make these every Christmas for my dad. He loved them and so do we)
- Zia Concetta’s Fried Honey Nut Cookies (my sister, who all the kids call Zia, insists that if you don’t fry something on Christmas it’s not Christmas. The concept of low-fat, baking does not exist in her recipe repetoire. However, these cookies are worth the extra calories.) Read the rest of this entry
What do Angels, Pretzels & Contest to win a book have in common?
ANSWER: Cassiel Knight
Please welcome Cassiel Knight as she shares her thoughts on Angels, a family recipe and talks about her latest release; Relic Defender: Key of Solomon.
Cassiel is also running a contest on this blog (details below).
Vintage Family Baking Recipes
I’ve been busy this month writing my work in progress (working title—–the Un-Named Novel, as I haven’t come up with a title yet). I climbed out of the writing cave to scour my mother-in-law’s recipes as I’m thinking about starting some Christmas baking and thought I’d share a few with you all.
- Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Lemon Frosting (my mouth is watering, thinking about these—–spicy, sweet & refreshing)
- Frying Pan Cookies (no idea why they’re called frying pan cookies, since you don’t use a frying pan (has to be one of those secret family quirks)
- Apple Crisps (my father-in-law made up this recipe one day. It’s quick, easy and so tasty)
- Christmas Butter Cookies (yes, there’s butter, but it’s Christmas, one or two won’t land on your hips—–well, just in case, put in some extra gym time)
- Chocolate Mayo Cake (yes, that’s right, you use mayonnaise, but trust me, it’s moist and chocolate-ilcious) topped with Buttercream Frosting
Pasta e Fagioli For the Soul
When the moon hits your eye
Like a big-a pizza pie
That’s amore
When the stars make you drool
Joost-a like PASTA FAZOOL
That’s amore
Whether you’re Italian or not, everyone remembers Dean Martin’s enthusiastic crooning of this song, and I bet a lot of you can sing the chorus. When he mentioned Pasta Fazool in the song, he was referring to one of my family’s favorite dishes—it’s rustic, delicious, healthy and easy to make.
Dean Martin took creative license when singing fazool, and it worked beautifully for the song. The real pronunciation for this dish is fah-joe-lee.
Sharing my interpretation of this popular Italian dish.
This soup can be made and eaten the same day, but it tastes even better if you make it a day ahead of time and serve it the next day, as all the ingredients and goodness marinate together.
Ingredients:
olive oil
5 chopped tomatoes (or a can of plum tomatoes)
1 cup onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
6 cups beef broth (or vegetable stock)
1 can red kidney beans (drained and well rinsed)
1 can white kidney beans (drained and well rinsed)
1 can chick peas (drained and well rinsed)
½ cup fresh basil (chopped)
**3 cups meatballs (use your favorite meatball recipe and make them tiny bite sized)
Pinch red pepper flakes, optional
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
Pasta (your choice: penne, elbow, tubetti)
**Note: If you don’t want to make meatballs, you can use ground beef, or skip the meat all together.
- Coat soup pot with olive oil and heat oil on medium. Once oil is heated, add onion and cook until onion is transparent, then add garlic and keep stirring until garlic is infused with the onion.
- Add tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring.
- Add broth and let cook (uncovered) for 45 minutes.
- Add red beans, white beans, chick peas, meatballs or sauteed ground beef if you are using meat, and let cook for 15 minutes
- In a separate pot, boil water and make pasta according to packagae directions
- While the pasta is cooking, add the chopped basil, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste and let the soup keep cooking.
- Once pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the soup pot.
- Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil just before serving.
Note: If making soup the day ahead, then don’t add any pasta, make the pasta the day you will be serving the soup.
Buon appetito!
How can you not know what’s going to happen?
Please welcome author Erin Nicholas as she shares her musings, an excerpt and a delicious recipe.
Erin is also offering a copy of her book to one lucky winner. (Contest details below).
When I told my sister that my characters surprised me recently in my WIP (work in progress) she stared at me and said “how can you not know what’s going to happen?”
Yeah, maybe that seems weird. I’m the writer right? Doesn’t that make me kind-a like, you know, God? Manipulating events, putting words in their mouths, creating a thunderstorm if necessary.
Sure. Kind-of.
