Monday, May 19, 2008

Cookie Monster-no Master, wait...

What do you do post Masters media degree? BAKE of course!! My boyfriend's father throws himself a surprise birthday party every year and with the last name of Triolo you know he is very, very Italian; what can be said other than he cooks almost as divinely as my late great-grandmother Elviria Ferrante. My presents to a fellow foodie and Sicilian were cookies and appetizers. I thought about making some Italian dishes, but why compete with the best? I've always been a believer in doing what you know and playing to your strengths so all last week after work I was working away in my kitchen preparing buckeye balls, almond raspberry shortbread thumbprints, pignolis for a cookie platter as well as appetizers acorn squash dip, portobello rockefellers, and an artichoke bruschetta (apps to be posted later).

Cookie Platter

Pignolis: This is actually the first time I've ever made these and they came out absolutely perfect. I received rave reviews from family and friends. The secret to prefect pignolis, take the time to break up the almond paste into pebble pieces before starting. It's a labor of love but well, well worth it!

Almond Raspberry Shortbread Thumbprints: These are my second batch. I made a ton over Christmas for a work party and one co-worker ended the night eating 15 in all!

The last confection I created for Mr. Triolo are my mother's Buckeye Balls. These are basic peanut butter balls mixed with sugar and then dipped in baking chocolate. While I grew up with our version, most powdered sugar boxes have a similar recipe on the back of the box.


Look for an upcoming post of the appetizer delights tailor made for Mr. T and other cooking related posts such as, "Will a custom cake bakery do well in Orlando, FL?" Let me know what you think!

2 comments:

Haley J. said...

Oh wow! Those look amazing - recipes, please! Especially those tempting thumbprint cookes...those things are my kryptonite.

Rachel J said...

haley - the thumbprints are from allrecipes.com so try to download it there. I was going to email it to you but your email isn't on your blogger profile, so if you want it directly, send me an email and I'll be sure to get back to you.

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