Friday Photo Flashback

With December upon us, I’m thinking about Christmas. Specifically, Christmas Eve. We spent Christmas Eve at my Italian grandma’s every year. She was the one who would make us a huge tin of cookies (chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, sugar cookies, and more). She also introduced me to Pignolata (sometimes called Struffoli).

Grandma would always have pignolata out in pie tins covered with plastic wrap. Man, did we love this! Most Italian bakeries make it like it pictured above, but grandma didn’t. In all the years she made it for us, it never had the colored sprinkles on it.

Pignolata is a Sicilian treat and there are many different recipes for it online. I believe my brother has my grandma’s recipe somewhere. I’ve never attempted to make it myself, but may decide to do that one day.

Here is one recipe I found online which seems to be close to grandma’s.

Ingredients

All-purpose flour
Granulated sugar
Salt
Eggs: (large sized eggs)
Vegetable oil: (olive oil can also be used)
Milk: (1 tbsp.) for pignolata that is tender on the inside.
Vegetable oil: (avocado oil can be used) for frying
Honey
Colored candy sprinkles

(For grandma’s recipe – you’ll need chocolate chips, chopped walnuts and powdered sugar)

First, you want to place the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add eggs; vegetable oil and milk. Use a fork to beat the eggs, oil and milk.

You then want to slowly incorporate the flour into the wet ingredients until a raggedy/rough dough is shaped. Then you want to transfer the dough to your counter and knead until a smooth dough ball is formed. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

After the dough has rested, divide it into 4 pieces. Roll into long ropes of about 1 cm thickness. Cut into 1 cm pieces. Leave the pieces as is or, if you prefer, roll into a ball.

Transfer the pieces onto a baking sheet without overlapping to prevent from sticking together.

Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil on medium-high heat in a heavy bottomed pan or your fryer. (To test if the oil is hot, place a pignolata piece in the oil. If the oil immediately sizzles and bubbles around the pignolata you’re ready to fry!) Fry the pignolata in batches without overcrowding your pan for 1-2 minutes until light golden brown. Then transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper towel covered tray or plate to absorb any excess oil.

As the balls, heat the honey in a small sauce pan until it is runny (this only takes about a minute). Place pignolata balls in a bowl. Add honey and toss to coat all pieces.

Once coated in the melted honey, place pignolata balls in a mound (Some people will shape them into a wreath) on a serving platter or dish (or pie tin, like my grandma). This is where the recipe says to top with colored candy sprinkles. My grandma used to put chocolate chips or chopped walnuts in (sometimes one or the other, sometimes both) and then sprinkled it with powdered sugar.

I will probably stop by the Italian bakery and grab some before Christmas. If you do make this, please let me know how it turned out and what you think of it.

Too Delicious Not To Share

It has been a very long time since I made homemade Alfredo sauce. I usually use fettuccine noodles, but we only had regular spaghetti noodles. You can also use angel hair pasta. I almost always add chicken or broccoli to it as well.

A few people have tried it and always ask for the recipe for the Alfredo sauce, so I thought I would share it with you!

Ingredients

½ Cup Butter
4 Oz. Cream Cheese
1 Pint Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Garlic Minced
1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
½ Teaspoon Salt
¼ Teaspoon Pepper
1 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

Preparation

Add the butter cream cheese and cream to a large skillet.
Simmer over medium heat until melted.
Whisk in the garlic/garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and whisk until smooth.
Whisk in the parmesan cheese slowly .
Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for about 3-5 minutes or until it starts to thicken.
Serve immediately.

Enjoy!!

Recipe – Hot Taco Dip

I’m not one that will sit here and post a weekly recipe. As a matter of fact, the only recipe I posted was for Waikiki Meatballs in a blog about my mom. Yet, here we are. Today’s blog stems from the following Daily Writing Prompt: Do you have a favorite recipe from your childhood that you still make today?

The answer is yes. This is one of the easiest things to make and it always reminds me of my mom. She used to make this for parties and get togethers, and at times would make it for dinner! It is such a favorite, that whenever my brother or I make it, we almost always send a picture of it to each other with the text – “MOM’S TACO DIP!!!”

For the dip, you need a pound of ground beef (or turkey if you choose), a packet of taco seasoning, a block of cream cheese (lite cream cheese works too), a tub of sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese. Some recipes include chopped onions, tomatoes, or peppers – but my mom never used them. Of course, you also need your favorite dipping chips.

Our oven takes forever to heat up, so I usually preheat my oven right from the get go. You don’t need much heat, I set mine for 350. Anyway, first you brown up your ground beef (for meatier dip – use a pound and a half). If you are going to use onions or peppers, brown it all together. Once the meat is brown, drain it and return it to the pan. Next add your taco packet with a little water. Once the meat is seasoned, add the block of cream cheese (cut into pieces helps it mix better) and about half of the sour cream tub. For thicker dip, use less sour cream or more cream cheese. Once it is all melted together and is as thick as you like it, spread it into a glass casserole dish like this:

Once you get it spread out into the casserole dish, sprinkle your shredded cheddar cheese on top. I like a lot of cheese, so I really lay it on there. I know some recipes call for the “taco mix” shredded cheese, but I always use cheddar. If you are so inclined, you can also add chopped/sliced black olives on top. Next, you toss it in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted. Let it stand for about 5 minutes and dig in.

Just remember thicker dips require thicker dipping chips!

Enjoy!

Waikiki Meatballs

When I was growing up, my mom used to have this yellow plastic recipe card holder. For some reason or another, I think that it was loaded with these cards from Betty Crocker. At any rate, she made quite a few recipes from this box – most of which I hated!

One of those meals was Waikiki Meatballs. I remember just abhorring this dish growing up. As a matter of fact, I hated it so much, my parents would use it to threaten me with! “If you don’t get that room clean, we’re gonna have Waikiki Meatballs for dinner!” Needless to say, it always worked – I did whatever I had to do to NOT eat that!

Over the years, my taste buds have changed. I have often told my dad and my brother, “You know, I’d probably like Waikiki Meatballs now.” I’m not sure exactly what made me search up the recipe, but thanks to the Internet, I found it. The above picture is exactly how I remember it looking. Now, I have no idea what it tastes like, but since I have the recipe, I may just have to whip some up and see if I like them.

Just in case you’d like to try them, here is the link to the recipe….

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/25197/waikiki-meatballs/

If you happen to try them, let me know what you think…