Recipe for an amazing first year!!!

Today our little baby Anthony turns one year old!!  How exciting!  The three of us have successfully made it through the first year.  I can remember like it was yesterday being discharged from the hospital and thinking "wait a minute, that's it we just leave with him" and even more vividly walking into our home with him calling my mom and exclaiming "mom you need to get here quick, I have no idea what I'm doing". We figured it out though and I would like to think it's been one heck of a year!

When Anthony first came home I had made a promise to myself that I would bring Anthony anywhere I could as to always get him used to things.  His second day home marked his first Target shopping spree!  In his first year Anthony has participated in Black Friday shopping, trips to Maine, train rides into Boston and most recently a family trip to Disney.  It's amazing where one organized diaper bag and some patience can take you!  No matter where we go Anthony wins the hearts of everyone, he has his own friends at Markets Basket that we see every Sunday morning that he loves babbling to and smiling at!

One of my favorite things about Anthony's first year is seeing my parents with him.  Now everyone knows I think my parents are the best because let's face it they are, but now they can be deemed greatest grandparenst as well!  Most recently, dad and mom took him into dad's work to show him off and mom told me "your father walked around holding the baby with a giant smile on his face showing him off to everyone even the big boss".  My parents have been the greatest nana and pops through this first year helping us whenever we were in need and truly embracing the grandparent the role.  

Some of my favorite moments of Anthony's first year are seeing that first toothless smile it truly was heart melting. Anthony's first laugh.  Watching Anthony has he began to explore new foods and enjoy different textures allowing me to get creative with cooking his baby food. Capturing him pulling himself up to stand on video.  Walking into my house after work to a huge smile and clapping from him.  Getting to enjoy my favorite magical place with my magical little boy!  At the end of the day their are endless favorite moments of this first year and there will be countless more to come.  My advice to any new parent is to always have patience, always be open minded, don't get brought down with other  parents opinions (believe me everyone has an opinion about the way you're raising your infant even strangers in a mall), always remember an organized and properly stocked diaper bag is one of your best friends, always have your phone handy to snap pictures and just enjoy it.  The first year goes by so quickly, take in every minute if it.  

Happy Birthday Anthony!!  

What's in your oatmeal?

Growing up, oatmeal to me came from a small brown package, was mixed with boiling hot water and tasted like cinnamon and brown sugar.  The only time I saw a container of old fashioned oats would be if my grandma was baking oatmeal cookies.  

It wasn't until a little older and a trip to a chain bakery that I discovered a trend in food, the oatmeal bar.  Similar to a salad bar, but filled with dried fruits, nuts, assorted sugars, chocolate chips and fresh fruits.    I remember ladling hot oatmeal into my bowl and topping it with some blueberries, bananas, brown sugar and nuts.  I sat down at small table and took a spoonful and thought, this doesn't taste at all like the instant cinnamon and brown sugar kind, but what did it taste like?  The first thing that came to mind was paste, maybe even cardboard, yes, cardboard.  What went wrong, the ingredients were great, but the main part of the dish needed some attention.  Here is what I think sowcases oatmeal in all its glory, my recipe for Cinnamon-Banana Oatmeal....

Serves 2

2 cups milk ( I use 1%, or you could use half milk and half water)

2 cinnamon sticks

Dash of salt

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon clove

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 bananas, peeled and sliced

1/2 cups golden raisins

In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, cinnamon sticks, vanilla and salt to a simmer.  When bubbles begin to form around the edge, add the oatmeal, brown sugar and spices.  Let the oats simmer until they are tender and have soaked up all the milk.  When this happens, fold in half the sliced bananas and the raisins.  Distribute among two bowls and top with remaining banana slices.  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner....

Well it's that time of year again and I wanted to share a very simple recipe for fresh cranberry sauce that can be used all sorts of different ways. The recipe combines just a few ingredients that include pears, honey, balsamic vinegar, clove, orange zest and the star of the recipe, cranberries. It can be used as your thanksgiving day cranberry sauce, it can be baked on top of brie, you can smear it on that leftover turkey sandwich or it can folded into chicken salad. There are so many options with this easy recipe and here it is, my recipe for Cranberry Sauce

1 teaspoon unsalted butter
2 French butter pears, skinned and cut into 1/2" dice
2 cups fresh cranberries, washed
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1 tablespoon orange zest, about one orange
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Pinch of salt for balancing flavor

In a medium saucepan melt the butter and then add the pears. Cook down for five minutes and add the cranberries. Let cranberries cook until they begin to blister and break down about 15 minutes. Add the clove and orange zest and stir to combine. Deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar cooking it down for 3-5 minutes before adding the honey. Stir the sauce together, at this point the cranberries will have broken down and the sauce will be thick. Add a pinch of salt. Taste the sauce to adjust any seasoning. The goal is an agro dolce or sweet and sour flavor with the combination of the sweet pears and honey and the tart cranberries and balsamic. The sauce is perfect served at room temp. Enjoy!

To cut or to shred?

About a month ago the whole family got together at my cousin's cabin up in Maine for a good old fashioned eating and drinking kind of Sunday. As always the conversation turned to food because that's what we do, we always talk about food whether it's sharing recipes or reminiscing about a dish, it is always a topic we discuss. We started talking about chicken salad and how my mom made it vs how my aunt made it and of course how grandma made it.

The chicken salad in question is so simple in ingredients, there are only 4, chicken, celery, black pepper and mayo, but the prep of the chicken is what sparked the discussion. We all agreed that the chicken used to make the soup (family recipe can be found on my blog), makes the best chicken salad, but where there was debate was how to break apart the chicken. My aunt uses the shredding approach and my mom uses the kitchen scissors to cut the chicken into tiny pieces as well as the celery. The table was divided and I thought to myself, if ain't broke, don't fix it, so if both ways work, do what feels most comfortable. For me I'm going to stick to using the scissors because thats how I was taught, but you can feel free to shred as you like. Here is our recipe for simple chicken salad.

Chicken Salad makes 4 sandwiches
1 whole bone in chicken breast, skin on and poached
3 stalks of celery
Good pinch of course black pepper
1/4 cup mayo
8 slices of Scali bread

Take the skin off the chicken breast and remove from the bone. Using sharp kitchen shears, make strips of chicken and then cut into small dice, placing into a large bowl. Do this until all the chicken is cut. Do the same with the celery so that is a small as the chicken. Add the pepper and mayo, then mix the salald until well combined. Build your sandwiches, cut them half and serve with pickles. Enjoy!

Summer time means zucchini time....

This past weekend brought us to our favorite farm in Amesbury, Cider Hill Farm, for blueberry picking and some shopping. The blueberries were unbelievable and plump. I've been enjoying them in my cereal and am looking forward to baking with them, but tonight I wanted to share a recipe filled with another favorite summer produce, zucchini.

Growing up we always had zucchini in a variety of recipes. Whether it be breaded and fried, stuffed with seasoned breadcrumbs, thinly sliced in a salad or my favorite in tomato sauce on top of pasta, it was always part of our table. While at Cider Hill I picked up two zucchini and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them, with a little help from Cider Hill basil and heirloom tomatoes, a summer dish would come together. Here is my recipe for zucchini ribbons with basil and tomotato. You can enjoy this on top of your favoritie starch or on thick sliced grilled bread.


Serves 2
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 zucchini cleaned and thinly sliced lengthwise using a mandolin
3 heirloom tomatoes cleaned and quarted
1/2 cup basil cleaned and whole leaf
Salt and Pepper

In a saute pan, heat the oil until hot. Add the crushed red pepper until seasoned about one minute. Add the zucchini ribbons and saute until soft. Add the heirloon tomatoes and cook until they begin to break down and make a sauce (you can add a little water or wine if you like). Season with salt and pepper and simmer for thirty minutes, fold in the basil and let cook for five more minutes. Serve over pasta, rice or with sliced grilled bread. Enjoy!

To my Auntie Virginia...

This is for my Auntie Virginia, may she rest in peace.



We all had a special name to call our aunt. Some of us called her Gugi, Gin, Ma, Betty Crocker, nana Ginny, and of course Virginia. To us she was auntie and we were blessed to have been able to call her that.

Auntie had a certain kind of magic about her, that we never quite understood. Was it the way she made our headaches disappear or her ability to use Facebook better than some young adults? Her magic came from her constant generosity of not only gifts, but her words. Though sometimes her words made you blush, she was most often times right.

Auntie was not a woman who cared about labels. What she truly cared about was her family, her tradition and East Boston. She was always so proud to say she was from East Boston. As we were going through some of her papers, we noticed a letter she had written to Bishop Hennessey and the last paragraph, she wrote "I never wanted to retire down in Florida or the cape, thanks, but no thanks, I love East Boston and I'm so proud to live here", in reading that quote you can almost hear her voice and the pride she had.

Auntie's love for family and friends was unmatched. She loved spending any day she could with her family. No matter the occasion, a birthday party, a holiday or a bowl of soup, she was always there. She just needed to know what time you would be there to pick her up.

We would be remiss not mention her son, our cousin Gene. You were the light of her life, her hero. When you entered the room her eyes would sparkle as a proud Mother's always do.

Auntie you have quite a bit of catching up to do with those who have gone before and we know they will take care of you. Words can't describe the loss we feel, no one will be able to fill your seat at our table or your spot in our hearts. We feel a little better knowing we have one more pair of beautiful eyes watching over us. We will remember the good times we had together and all the laughs we shared. Thank you for being an amazing friend, daughter, sister, mother and auntie to all of us. You will not be forgotten. We love you.

We Did It!!!!

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone. And it was a busy holiday season as always filled with too much eating and lots of fun.

In an earlier post, I had mentioned that I would be challenging myself to conquer a recipe for cappelletti, which are modenese hats in Italian and are typically enjoyed in a clear broth during the holiday. My mom and I tossed around a lot of "I think" and "remember when's", until we agreed on a filling and shape. The Sunday before Christmas she and I rolled out the pasta, hand cut it, filled them and folded them. I had watched so many videos online about how to fold cappelletti and each one had a different story and a different reason why. It got me thinking, it didn't matter the exact shape or size, what truly mattered was creating that memory again and possibly inspiring a new tradition. Here is my recipe for cappelletti in brodo, with the help from my mom and of course my kitchen guardian, grandma who would have celebrated her 98th birthday this past Christmas Day.


For the pasta
Makes about two pounds of filled pasta
2 1/2 - 3 cups flour
4 eggs
Pinch of salt

For the filling
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 pound ground veal
1/4 pound ground pork loin
1/2 pound ground chicken breast
1/4 pound prosciutto
1 whole nutmeg grated
handful grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

For the pasta, on a clean work surface, pour the 2 1/2 cups of flour in a pile. Make a well in the center, crack the eggs one at a time into the middle and add a pinch of salt. Using a fork, scramble the eggs and gradually begin to work the flour into them. As it gets too difficult to use the fork begin to use your hands. If the dough feels too wet, add a little bit of flour at a time, working it into the dough. Knead the dough until gathered together to form a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic and set aside to rest.

For the filling, in a sauté pan heat the butter until melted. When the butter is melted cook the three meats one at a time until cooked through. Let meat cool in a large mixing bowl for about an hour. Strain any fat from the cooked meat and place meat mix into a bowl. Using a meat grinder attachment to a kitchen aid stand mixer or a hand held meat grinder, you are going to pass the meat through until it is paste like. We ran our's through, twice. On the last go through, put the prosciutto through as well, so it gets mixed in. Once all the meat is ground to a paste add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly to incorporate everything. Taste and adjust seasonings.

This is where it is good to work in a team because someone can work on this while someone else begins prepping the dough. Using a 1/2 teaspoon scoop, make little meatballs that will eventually be the filling to the cappelletti and place them on a sheet tray lined with parchment. This makes filling the pasta much easier and consistent.

Prep a table or bed with parchment paper that has been lightly floured, this where the completed pasta will go to dry. The pasta dough should have rested enough, cut into quarters, take one quarter out and cover the rest to not get a hard crust. Flatten this piece into a rectangle. Run pasta through a pasta machine starting on 1,until you can see your hand through the bottom of it, we rolled it through to number 7. You need to work with someone else, so one person can guide the pasta in and one person to guide the pasta out. When the pasta dough gets too long, cut it in half to make a more manageable piece.

On a lightly floured surface, lay the rolled out dough down and using whatever kind of shape cutter you may have (round cookie cutter, square ravioli cutter, biscuit cutter or a glass which is what we used), cut the shape out of the pasta, you should be able to get 8 rounds out of each piece of rolled pasta. Gather together any scrap dough and set aside to run through the machine. Fill each piece of dough with the prepared filling and now the fun. Like I said before there are many ways to fold the cappelletti, the main goal is to ensure that is looks somewhat like a hat and it is properly sealed. This is my method, fold dough covering filing to look like a half moon. Press down on the edges to ensure the pasta is sealed, if you need use a touch of water and also press any bubbles out of it. Lift the half moon up with the round part facing up, pull the two ends down and together, then create the "hat shape", by pushing the rounded edge halfway back. My mothers method, was a little more simple, after you sealed the pasta, lift it up with the round part facing up and bring the two ends around your index finger to meet and done. Continue doing this until you have filled all the "little hats".

We dried our pasta for about two hours and then placed it in single layers in the freezer. Once completely frozen, they were placed in freezer bags to use for Christmas day.

Mom made her famous chicken soup, which you can find her recipe on this blog. There are two changes to the recipe for this dish which are instead of using chicken we used fowl and we used two plum tomatoes, not crushed. The broth should be clear and the fowl gave it a thick and rich flavor.

On the day you going to enjoy the cappelletti in brodo, you will want to bring the broth to a simmer and place the pasta in it to cook, once the pasta has floated to the top, they are done.
Enjoy!



Hope everyone had a great holiday and here is to an amazing 2013!!!!