HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween to All out there!

That's our scary skull jack-o-lantern carved by Pete and I earlier this week. We live in condos so I hope leaving this outside will attract at least 1 trick-or-treater. I just love this time of year as it marks the beginning of the holiday season. In keeping with tradition of both the sweetest of the holidays and my family's long-time love of holiday baking, I decided to take on my first pumpkin bread (which also turned into cupcakes) as well as my first cream cheese frosting all seen in the spread below.

Pumpkin Bread, Cupcakes, and Cream Cheese Frosting

First I must admit that I have an ongoing love affair with www.allrecipes.com. Out of all the major cooking sites, and trust me I have been to them all, allrecipes.com has the best variety and the best community interaction. Before I start any recipe I read as many reviews as my attention span can handle and then I dive right in! The recipe I used for the pumpkin bread and cupcakes is linked by Amy Posont. The minor changes I made were to the temperature and time as well as the amount of spices. I turned the temp up form 300 to 325 and baked the bread for 1hr. 15min but the cupcakes were done in about 30min. For the spices, I upped the nutmeg and allspice to 2 tsps. and the cinnamon to 3 tsps. Other than that, this recipe is the bees knees and totally easy for a first timer. :0


The cream cheese frosting recipe also came from allrecipes.com and is by Susan Lugdon. Once again, the reader reviews were uber helpful and helped me figure out before hand that my pumpkin cupcakes are going to be very sweet so I didn't need to use 5 cups of confectioners sugar. Instead, I used 3 cups. I also chilled the frosting for about 2 hours before heaving it on top of my cupcakes. All that was needed was a candy corn on top and these pumpkin cupcakes are all the Halloween treats me and my family need!

Chicago was GOOD to me!

Last week I traveled to a suburb north of Chicago to the Naval Service Training Center in Waukegan, IL directly on Lake Michigan to test a Flood Control Trainer Simulator developer by BBN Technologies and Alion on newbie sailors. In short, we tested 64 sailors and we ended up with great results with means more gaming work between us, our partners, and The Office of Naval Research. So SUCCESS! Hooray! After the two days of testing, I ventured into the city to downtown Chicago to hang out with my brother Jeremy because coinicdentally, he is working in Chicago too. We got a room at The Palmer House Hilton on E. Monroe St. and hit the town! Check out our pics...


Well, I am sure most are concerned with what did we eat? The first night we ate Greek in the GreekTown section as a restaurant called Costa's. Jeremy and I were in rare form so our cheeky waiter didn't quite appreciate our ridiculous sense of humor. We started with the saganaki. It was good but still not as good as the saganaki Pete and I had during the Central Florida Greek Fest. Next, Jeremy had a whole bass and I a lemonato lamb. We both had the potatoes as a side and the entrees were succulent and exquisite! 4 stars to say the least! My lamb was expertly seasoned and fell off the bone into the divine sherry sauce moat surronding the main dish. Jeremy filleted his fish like a champ and when the waiter remarked his skills as , "Alright," Jeremy retorted with a stining, "You're a jerk." It was too funny for me not to bust into laughter. We topped off the meal with a lemon custard tart. It was good but a bit dry, so I wish I ordered the bread pudding instead. All in all, it was the best meal we had in Chicago for sure-BRAVO!!

The next day we ate lunch at The Oasis Cafe. The food is Middle Eastern and while the vegetable couscous, the Egpytian salad and baklava were all good, the reason we really wanted to go is that this cafe is situated oddly enough in the back of a jewelry store in the jewelry district of Chicago. How many times have your ordered lunch in a jewelry store? I'll bet not many. :) That night after hitting Millennium Park, The Art Institute of Chicago, and some shopping we ended the night at Andy's Jazz for dinner and live music. We decided to go traditional and ordered a Chicago-style thin crust mushroom pizza. It was surprisingly not greasy and very tasty. Tried as we might to finish the 14", we just couldn't do it and had to leave some behind because of course I had to try the cappuccino cheesecake. It was dreamly creamy. Although my gut was busting, I did not leave one iota of cake on that plate. All in all, my first trip to the windy city was first and foremost windy but it was also a really great time.

Two Hits and a Miss : Braised Lamb with Roasted Onions and Aspargus and Parsley Mashed Potatoes on the Side

Have you ever made an entree where your sides are shining stars and your main dish came to be a disastrous dud? This unfortunate scenario befell me a few weeks back all because my local supermarket put some lamb shanks on sale.

I love lamb, not lamp (sorry, couldn't help the Anchorman reference). Every Easter my Italian family served a large succulent lamb roast with mushrooms and homemade gravy that is jowl-watering, so when I spotted a cheap package of dual lamb shanks, I said, "My Aunts can do it and so can I." Boy was I wrong, very, very wrong. My first mistake to my missed main dish was my impatience. To properly braise any meat in a pan (if braising on the stove-top), the lamb should be totally covered for at least 3.5 hours. Well, I didn't have a lid to fit my largest skillet and I couldn't wait only braising for about 2 hours. My second mistake was buying cheap lamb. After gnawing on my shank until my jaw gave way, I was able to tear through the meat enough to see the fattest ribbon of fat I have ever seen in my entire life. So because of the monstrous amount of gelatinous fat and my inability to render it out, my lamb didn't measure up and was a miss of a dish.

'The Miss' Braised Lamb Shank

Hit number one of this meal is my never-miss homemade mashed potatoes. My late brother Nate taught me how to make always spot-on mashers, and his recipe has never failed me in over 10 years. No matter what potato you start with, scrub down about 4-6 medium sized ones and cut them up into quarters or sixths depending on your forearm and wrist strength. Bring a medium pot of water to a rapid boil, sprinkle some salt, and boil those bad boys until your fork easily pierces a few pieces. Once they are tender enough, drain via a strainer and dump into a good size mixing bowl. The rest of the ingredients are measured via eyeball and taste because that's the only way I know how! 2-3 Tablespoons of milk, 4-6 Tablespoons of salted butter, salt, pepper, and in this case chopped parsley-about 2 handfuls. Now comes the is the fun part, or the therapeutic part depending on your personal levels of aggression. First cut up your mixture using a fork and a dinner knife. This will break-up the skins because their texture is too good to take out of your mashed potatoes. Then take your masher and mash to your desired texture. I like a good balance of chunky/smooth (if that makes any sense). TRUST ME, this method will make your everyday starch scrumtrulescent (Will Ferrell reference #2) time and time again.

Hit #1-Nate's Mashed Potatoes

Only recently in my life have I discovered the joys of roasting vegetables at a high temperature, and thank God I did! Hit number two was my roasted Red Onions and Asparagus. So easy and so delicious it should be outlawed. Turn your oven up to 400 degrees, roll your vegetables in extra virgin olive oil, season with salt, pepper, oregano and parsley. Pop that pan into the oven for 6-8 minutes and you get a crunchy, cooked, crav-a-licous vegetable side dish.

Hit #2 Roasted Red Onion and Asparagus

Back to the Dynamic Dimension

If you recall back in May 2008 I began working with the Winter Park, FL custom tile company, Dynamic Dimensions by designing a business card for the partnership. Since that time I have designed two other print products for the company, a flyer and a brochure.

4x6 Flyer

Brochure Out

Brochure In

Did you See Me in September?

No you didn't unless I ran into you on my trip to Philadelphia. I went home for my mama's 52nd birthday and for Pete to meet the fam I grew up with, i.e. the Italians. We didn't get to spend much time at my ma's nursing home due to her sedation from some recent dental work. Still, the weather in PA was beyond beautiful, we ate great food, saw old friends, took in the sights (amazing Fall art show at Rittenhouse Square), and I admit I cried a little when heading back South to my real life.

Confessions of a Distracted Blogger: Part Deux

Well, after that trip, that audit, and that chicken roasting I was just about ready to hit the stove top again when a most unexpected turn of events occurred. On August 8th my Grandfather (PopPop) went to the hospital complaining of pain. A short while later we learn of a pulmonary embolism and that he had an even shorter time to live. The next day 81 year old Richard James Joyce passed away in Naples, FL. No doubt his life was great with a WWII Navy service career, a 18-0-1 Golden Gloves Boxing record, a marriage lasting 58 years, 8 children, 21 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren and two more preparing to make it 5 by next year. My PopPop was the iconic Irish grandfather who loved brandy and cigarettes, golf, Jesus, his wife, his family, and most importantly - being Irish.

(Some of the Joyce clan at my graduation party. Pop's got his arm around Grandmom.)

Even though 'Joyce' is akin to 'Smith' in Ireland, our family still feels a special bond with our name and family we don't quite know still on the island. We are so much so attached to our heritage that I used to sob knowing I'd have to give up my proud Irish name of Joyce when I got married. Now I realize you are how you are and nothing can change that, but it just goes to show that even a half-Italian girl can feel be entirely Irish at times. In summation, I miss my PopPop.

PopPop was the first to really share his sweets with me creating a lifelong love affair with the chocolate chip cookie. In fact, the day he passed I made a batch followed by two more for his reception along with the raspberry almond thumbprint shortbread cookies which just delighted my large family. I can also blame my PopPop for instilling a sense of Philadelphia pride that just seems excessive at times. Living in Florida, I often pine for Philadelphia and the surrounding areas and I jump when I hear anyone say anything about my hometown. I could pull this thread all day, yet I will exemplify the over-the-top, "one-upper' Philadelphia attitude by expressing my feelings on the Philadelphia cheese steak.

The Philadelphia cheese steak can and has taken on many variations. While the original format has been tampered with, it is in fact complimentary that so many people fall in love with a sandwich and then want to make it their own. Some eateries do this the right way by not calling it a Philadelphia cheese steak on the menu. By stating 'Philadelphia' in front of 'cheese steak' you are contextually telling me that I am looking forward to a chopped steak like a Steakums sandwich smothered in either provolone, american, or cheez whiz on a nice crusty roll. Those are the roots of an authentic Philadelphia cheese steak. If it ain't that, it ain't a Philly cheese steak.

I really love making cheese steaks because they are fatty and good. In honor of my PopPop and my preferred palette, I have made some Rachel's Italian Philly Cheese steaks. Peppers, onions, and all other condiments are up to the individual eater, but you will see pictured for these particular cheese steaks: 1/2 red bell pepper, sweet cherry peppers, 1/3 yellow onion, 2 garlic cloves, a heaping handful of mozzarella, crushed red pepper, provolone sliced cheese, Steakums, and Amoroso sesame seed rolls left out a bit to crunch-up the outsides.



The preparation is so simple, you'll slap yourself. In order to make some meaty cheese steaks, you need a lot of frozen steak. I used all the Steakums pictured, 7 sheets per box. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and coat with a cooking spray of your choice. Break each sheet into several large pieces and put into the skillet. You'll cook and break apart the steak until the edges start to brown. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbslp. of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Chop, mince or grate your garlic then start cooking that in the oil. Cut up your red bell pepper, cherry peppers and onion to about 1" to 1.5" in length. When you smell the garlic and oil infusing, drop the veggies and season with salt and a good amount of crushed red pepper. Sautee these up for about 6-8 minutes, set aside.

When the meat is fully cooked to a crispness, but in your cheese. A great melting method is also break up slices in large pieces and fold into the meat letting it just gob up and melt all over. Here we used a heaping handful of mozzerella and 9-10 pieces of sliced provolone. Once it all melted, put a large amount of meat on the bun, cover with sauteed veggies, and voila!...

Rachel's Italian Philadelphia Cheesesteaks

Confessions of a Distracted Blogger

I must confess. I have been a terrible blogger failing to generate enough content over the past few months to keep even my own attention. Alas, I let life get in the way. Please let me surmise that which distracted my blog-tention before we get to the soup d'jour: Whole Roasted Sesame Ginger Chicken with Roasted Pineapple, Red Onion and Garlic.

Part and parcel of a workshop for The Office of the Secertary of Defense held and hosted by our RETRO Lab Directors and event organized by myself along with the incredible staff of the IDA Lab in Alexandria, VA, I made my very first trip to our nation's capital Washington, D.C.. Being raised in Philadelphia, you'd think I would have already made it there seeing as how I've been to Baltimore more times than I actually care to count. The truth is, I was waiting for the opportunity to present itself because I knew I would need to be mature enough to accept the depth of the awe I felt for my country.

Due to our work schedule, I had mere hours at the end of each evening to make my way through stunning architecture, countless musuems, and the largest collection of American monuments anywhere. Had it not been July, most attractions would not have been open until 9PM to accompany summer tourism hours. After hooofing through the Air & Space Museum and then over to the Capital Building on the first evening, I took the second evening to push my limit going from The Smithosian Gardens to The Washington Monument, The WWII Memorial, The Reflecting Pool, The Lincoln Monumnet, The White House and then to the The National Museum of Crime and Punishment (I'll explain, be patient) before it stops selling tickets at 8PM.

I made it to everything but The White House when I realized that the city blocks are much larger than in Philadelphia on account on the enormous size of the Federal and Museum buildings. While holding a fabulous conversation with one of my oldest friends Denise, I worked my hips like an Olympic speedwalker burning from 23rd Avenue to 7th where The National Crime and Punishment Museum is located. This museum opened this past May and while it holds some great relics like Bonnie & Clyde's acutal car with bullet holes, it also encases a personal national treasure. In the prison sector of the museum there is a permanent art display of 25 historically traditional prison tattoo designs drawn by the love of my life, Peter Rosario Triolo. As I came upon his installation, the overwhelming feeling of excitement and extreme pride filled me up until my lungs were constricting making it oddly hard to breath. Here, you gaze upon his national, historical piece of art and share in my glory:


Post-beaming, getting back home meant a day or two to rest my bones before ripping back into work. Oh a girl can dream can't she. After our very successful workshop, waiting for me back at my desk was an internal audit for seven months worth of Lab bank statements. Receipt gathering and number crunching left me partially brain dead but I did have time to cook up a few things of which I have pictures of only one. What didnt' make to the the camera was Lemon Pepper Seared Chicken Breasts and my fist Pesto Pinwheel Pasta. Both were good but each lacked the 'WOW' factor in their own ways. However, my Whole Roasted Sesame Ginger Chicken did not at all disappoint. For your enjoyment (and again for my own glory), here are 3 views of my first roasted chicken:


Boy oh boy do I love BoGos. The Sesame Ginger marinade was part 2 of a BoGo deal and already stocked in my kitchen were the complimentary ingredients of pineapple, red onion and garlic cloves. I roasted each separately and added them all to the roasting pan holding the chicken for the last 30 minutes. Sweet and savory; does it get any better?

Pleasin' with Parppardelle's Pasta

All us foodies out there know the pure, singular joy of making as many ingredients from scratch in our recipes as our time and our wallets will allow. However, foodies get to also enjoy the magnificent ingredients of others on their own or part of our own meal creations; we really do, it's in the charter. I love this club.

I have recently moved to a new part of Orlando to me, but old to most residents, called Winter Park. The Winter Park community is just that, more of a community and less of a tourist spot or university town. Since moving I'm also trying to make more positive economical, social changes such as buying produce from local growers, using cloth shopping bags, and visiting private restaurants and markets when my dogs are barking too loud to be schlepped around my kitchen. While doing two of these activities at two completely different times, I was introduced to a gourmet pasta company called Pappardelles Pasta out of Colorado.

The first time I met Pappardelle Pasta was at our Lake Eola Sunday Farmer's Market in downtown Orlando. Under a welcoming, shady tent two gentlemen helped me to taste as many of their delicious, flavorful, raw pastas as my little heart desired. While I tried MANY, the Sweet Valdia Onion, Lemon Basil, and Fruit pastas all really tantalized my taste buds. Alas, at $4.00 a half-pound I could only bring home two telling myself I'd go back for the fruit pasta.

Not only are these pastas gourmet and flavorful, them come packed with awesome recipes. I made the recipe that came with the Sweet Valdia Onion pasta and served it with my mozzerella stuffed meatballs (no picture, I could just kick myself). The Lemon Basil went to Mr. T. (Pete's Dad) and we actually ended up eating my meatball dish and his shrimp dish using the Lemon Basil pasta in one Sunday night dinner! It was very, very bella!

My second encounter with Pappardelles Pasta arrived in the form of a gift. When I came home from the market that day, I gave Pete a menu from a new restaurant/market right around the corner of our place that sells this stuff in the store PLUS making their own new age, American bistro style food with a healthy touch. This magical place is The Virgin Market in Winter Park, FL. One day Pete wanted to get lunch with his business partner some place new, so they visited The Virgin Olive Market. Upon eating a wonderful lunch, my wonderful boyfriend brought me home a half-pound of Lime Cilantro Pasta and a half-found of that same Lemon Basil pasta.

Beer-battered Tilapia with Fresh Peppers Salad and Lime Cilantro Pappardelle Pasta

Instead of following a Pappardelle recipe, this time I opted for making pasta ala Rachel 'Tha Pizza Cutta' Style. I make a killer beer-battered tilapia so I whipped up some of those, but first I mixed a fresh salad of cilantro, a red bell pepper, a orange bell pepper, celery, red onion, fresh lime juice, and salt and put it in a covered bowl in the fridge while I prepared the fish and pasta. Once the pasta is cooked and dressed lightly with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper and the fish is on the place, break out the salad, put it on top of the pasta and THAT'S IT! Savor these light, exuberant flavors over and over again; I promise you will not only love it, you'll devour it.

Italian Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Lemon Basil Pappardelles Pasta with Lemon Butter

Even though I've had "0" success in the commercial recipe contest racket, I'm still trying. This dish was born out of practice for the National Chicken Cook off. I love this Italian Stuffed Chicken Breast and will blog about that on its own later, but look at how beautiful that Lemon Basil Pappardelle Pasta is! Making it even more special, Pete made the pasta and the lemon butter that dressed it. Of course, Pete and I LOVED it!

...And the Blog Magically Reappears!

To whom it may concern,

I am hopeful that there might be a reader or two out there for Laptops and Stovetops that isn't completely peeved at me for pulling a disappearing act from online the past couple of weeks. There aren't any great excuses for not keeping up with my fellow foodie friends, but this past month I moved in my boyfriend Pete-my number one food fan.


Moving isn't so bad but work has been overwhelmingly busy. Over the month of June, 1 large grant contract magically multiplied into 4 grant contracts with a fifth on the horizon plus a paper and presentation looming over my head for the August SALT (Society of Applied Learning and Technology) conference. Don't get me wrong-being busy is where I am best but it did distract me from posting my cooking adventures; it certainly didn't stop my cooking adventures. :)

Oddly enough, there is a theme in my amazing reappearing post: the magic of moving. Yes, moving took my attention and energy away from blogging but it also forced me to try and clean out my cupboard. The following three dishes were born out of the necessity of not wasting food while simultaneously having to cook great food turning my lonesome, leftover ingredients into tasty, beautiful dishes as if by magic!

Sausage, Peppers & Onions in a Cheesy Farafelle with Fresh Basil
Albertson's (a supermarket here in Florida) has a regular BoGo sale of Florio's Italian Sausage Family Pack at 2.5lbs. Being the good guido that he is, Pete loves Italian sausage almost as much as I do! However after making your favorite dishes with the first 2.5 lbs, you have to get creative with the other 2.5 lbs left in the freezer.


The first dish our sausage supplied the protein to is my Cheesy Farafelle pasta dish. First, I fried up the sausage until cooked in a medium pan. Next, I sauteed the onions and green peppers in olive oil and fresh garlic until a medium firmness all while the my leftover 1/2 lb. farafelle boiled away. Putting the cooked sausage and peppers and onions aside-still separate-I began to melt the leftover cheeses in my fridge. I had 3/4 full large container of ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup of shredded romano cheese and about a 1/3 of a cup of crumbled Feta cheese. In a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, I melted the cheeses together with about a 1/3 cup of milk. If I had cream, I would have preferred to use that. As I pulled the pasta out just shy of my desired doneness, I seasoned the cheese sauce with salt and pepper. In the end, everything was mixed together and topped with freshly chopped basil taking our old favorite of sausage of peppers to a whole new level of cheesiness!

Chicken Riggies Ray J's Way!
Love her or hate her, Rachael Ray brings a ton of great recipes to us common folk. This dish one is a variant of her Chicken Riggies and Escarole Soul. Instead of pairing this blush, spicy pasta dish with escarole I made it a stand-alone by making it with two complimentary proteins that also happened to be leftover from previous meals-chicken thighs and chorizo. If you read RR's recipe linked above, you'll see that chicken and a variety of peppers are two accessories with the pasta. In my dish, I used 4 kinds of peppers vs. RR's three. I used the 3 large roasted red peppers, 1/2 a yellow pepper, 1/2 green pepper and about 10 small, yellow chile peppers. All of these of course were chopped and I believe I also added half of a red onion for even more sweetness. This dish had a few steps more than a regular dinner prep, but the payoff in deliciousness is way worth the effort.

(PS - that Romano cheese is what ended up in the cheese sauce in the first dish of this magical post.)

Sweet Onions & Peppers with Spicy Mojo Chicken and Basmati Rice
Finding the right heat of a dish is a new obsession of mine that, as you have read, spawns experiments with established recipes as well as my own concoctions. The flavors of sweet and spicy or even tangy truly get my goat and inspired this dish which combines chicken tenderloins marinated in mojo dressing and topped with raw, chopped yellow chiles (wow, I wonder where they are leftover from?) with a quick vegetable sautee side dish of red, yellow peppers and red onions. Breaching the two flavors with a mild flavor is my favorite Basmati rice flavored lightly with salt, pepper, and cumin.


Not only did this last dish payoff in the flavor department, it's very low in fat and is a great choice for healthy, balanced dinner.

Petey's 25 Bday Dinner & Dessert Delights

Dating an Italian boy is my bread and butter except he can't digest the tomato sauces too well which, at first, I thought limited my breadth of cooking loveliness in the kitchen but boy was I wrong. Pete's citrus-induced ageda has inspired me to break out of my traditional Italian box and find some new-to-my-cooking-skills flavors.

Lemon Pork Chops with Sweet & Spicy Potatoes

The chops are a piccata-kinda. I dredged the pork chops in flour while I had extra virgin olive oil, 1 large scallion, and 2 chopped garlic cloves. This isn't the traditional preparation, but I really love garlic with the flavor of lemon together. Also, because of the dessert I ran out of butter to make the lemon sauce so I substituted it with shortening. Of course it wasn't the same but it was good! Funny how those little mistakes make a great new difference.

While the chops were really moist and yummy, the potatoes were my pride and joy. I really wanted to go for sweet and spicy, so while 3-4 tblsp. of vegetable oil heated up on high and my thinly sliced potato chips were in the oil cooking up, I cut up half of a large red onion in nice big crescents, chopped up 4 large dates, and 2 pieces of pre-cooked, extra crispy turkey bacon. These were my sweet and fatty flavors. I seasoned all of it up with lots and lots of red crushed pepper. Then some dry parsley and garlic salt and VIOLA! The most flavorful potato dish to date. He loved it, I loved it and we love each other and isn't that what potatoes are for? Love.

For dessert, Pete picked out a recipe he really liked in the Taste of Home's 5 Ingredient Recipe book called Chocolate Chip Cheese Bars.

The original recipe simply called for store-bought cookie dough, 1 80z. cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1egg and that's it! First, preheat to 350 and spray on some cooking spray on whatever 8" or 9" baking pan. Then, whip up the cream cheese, sugar and egg in a medium mixing bowl. The original recipe calls for most of the cookie dough to be pressed into the bottom of the pan. Then, pour the cream cheese mix on top. And lastly before putting it into the oven, crumble the last bits of cookie dough on top.

For me, I just love to make cookies so I didn't buy any dough-I made some! The twist this time was using about 1 cupish of the leftover coconut from the macaroons. Tasty and textural interesting. I call this one home run of a birthday meal for the man who can't eat tomatoes!

Is My Family Italian Wedding Soup a Winner?

Before I graduated from UCF this past May I pre-supposed that without a full-time school schedule I would have A LOT of constructive energy idling in my hands, and I wanted to put that time to use on things I love to do. One evening I was at home with friends with a chocolate chip cookie Food Network Challenge came on television. I adore making chocolate chip cookies and have been cultivating my recipe since I was 11 years old so when I saw what looked like mildly atrocious cookies from the contestants on TV, I jumped off my couch and immediately began baking. It was an instant epiphany of, "I can do that!" That's when it dawned on me to start entering cooking and recipe contests for fun. I've entered two so far and just submitted my family' Italian Wedding Soup recipe to Cooking Light Ultimate Reader Recipe Contest.

Wish me Luck!

Meatless Italian Wedding Soup

What a Macaroon!

Last weekend Pete and I did one of our favorite things and browsed the local bookstore. While he was on the search for Wizard magazine to price his childhood comic book collection, I was elbow deep in Food & Wine, Bon Appetite, and well you get the idea. Being ever the gentleman Pete told me to pick a nice food magazine out and he' d buy it for me. I ended up walking out of there with Taste of Home's 5 Ingredient Recipe book.

Many of the cooking dishes are straight forward preparations so it's no surprise I found the baking section a bit more interesting. The first recipe I prepared are the chewy coconut macaroons on the very last page. The 5 ingredients for this simple cookie are non-fat sweetened condense milk, almond extract, flour, salt, and coconut flakes. To make it my own and closer to my favorite cookie flavors, I crushed up about 1/2 cup pine nuts and added them to batter for texture and flavor enhancement. Plus, I had them leftover from the pignolis and didn't want to see them go to waste!

Chewy Coconut Macaroons. Pete took this photo and did such a great job! I've got to figure out how to get him to photograph all my food which shouldn't be too hard since he eats it all anyway. o_O

Pizza & Pies to Cross Your Eyes

I am on a constant search for easy meals with undeniably great flavor but really, what modern meal maker isn't? In my particular case, I work days and my boyfriend Pete works nights. Some times I make meals he heats up when he gets in after midnight, but sometimes I like to throw something together nice and hot for him on the spot (he deserves it)! While I am on the lookout for new 'quick-n-easys', having a few go-to dishes you know like the back of your hand such as cheesy chorizo and rice with cilantro or my famous original Philly cheeses teaks, or the meal one featured in this post:

Boboli Pizza Creations

Boboli Pizza Creations started with my dad's own Mexican pizza. It's so simple it's astonishingly and delicious! First, preheat to 350. Take a schmear (that's a technical term) of cream cheese and spread it around. Go light or generous, but not too generous. Too much cheese makes a moist crust and that is a total bummer. Next, take about 2-3 tblsp. Hormel Chili No Beans (or with beans if you don't mind) and spread it on top of the cream cheese.

Mexican Pizza

My twist on the fam favorite is halving fresh jalapeno slices and tossing those around on the chili no beans before spreading any cheddar-jack cheese you got. In this picture, I only had mozzarella which works just fine too. The second real key to great pizza is sprinkling the cheese all the way to the edge. When the cheese melts, it binds all the toppings to the crust just like in the sausage and double cheese below:

Sausage & Double Cheese Pizza w/side of sausage & onions

Bake these beautiful pies at 350 for 25-35 minutes until you've got a nice crispy brown. There we have it! Two small Boboli pizzas will most definitely feed two young professionals late night, but wait-see that lil' bugger back there? What is in that small, orange cup fabu thrift store find are the leftovers from the sausages I fried up with extra virgin olive oil and onions for the pizza topping. Pete is like me, half-Irish and half-Italian and I know that even his sausage double cheese pizza as well as some of my Mexican pizza aren't going to fill him up, so why not make a side out of a pizza topping? This idea can really work with any veggie or protein pizza topping of your choice, hot or cold, and makes sure to fill up even the hungriest of eater.

Switching gears from 'quick-n-easys' to involved and intimate, I bring you artichoke pie!!! I ate my first artichoke pie, I'm sorry to be correct, Uncle Louie's Artichoke Pie when Mr. T (Pete's Dad) prepared it for one of weekly meals recently. I was dumbstruck when I devoured two slices instantly. Fluffy and light yet so rich in flavor, it's complexity was as moving as symphony. Shortly following that life changing event, my very last graduate class decided to end the semester with a pie party. "Let them have pie!" my professor often shouted, and we did. My classmates brought in lots of amazing sweet pies. That night as I tried my first buttermilk pie as well as strawberry rhubarb so it's not like education wasn't achieved that evening. Whiel all the sweet pies were t-a-s-t-y tasty, I dared to be different and brought the only savory pie; my first attempt at the glorious artichoke pie.

Artichoke Pie

In the words of the Borat, "Great success!" All my classmates really enjoyed it and most had never had or heard of artichoke pie. The only folly of this dish was an Islam classmate of my mine took a few bites before realizing that prosciutto is Italian ham and she doesn't eat pork. Doh!

Life is Super Lame Without Friends

Taking my eating and cooking addiction online was one of my best decisions of the year as I have found more people like me with amazing ideas and uber warm personalities. Thanks to many a blogger, I found my way to the Leftover Queen and then to the Foodie BlogRoll (psst, look to your right) and then onto FoodBuzz.com. This network is so exciting and I can't wait to see where it will take my cooking and more exciting, what it's going to do to my palette. ! GRAZIE !

Becky Osborne, an incredible friend of mine in the physical world, visited me this past weekend to celebrate her birthday. We met over metal music, if you can believe it! Both of our boyfriends were the guitar players in an independent metal band and we definitely did a lot of what we call 'hardcore hoedown' (I hope you all laugh at this as hard as I do):

She hijacked my kitchen last weekend!

Becky has been telling me cooking Asia food has got her goat; for her bday gift I gave her a big ole Foods and Recipes of Thailand cookbook. One of our fav past times was finding the best pad thai in all of Orlando before she left me for West Palm Beach, so I thought the gift appropriate.

Well, who knew that on her birthday celebration she would end up making me a chicken mushroom coconut milk soup and a shrimp pad thai!!

Even though I was the maid of honor at her 2006 wedding, I still wish I would have married her. :)

Becky is an amazing visual artist unafraid of taking on any new medium. Her eye and ability to create baffles me waaayyy beyond the kitchen and the meals we've shared together. Her 2006 wedding was totally DIY from start to finish. I made the wedding invitations, she sewed her veil, we both cooked along with others to feed all guests, her handmade decorations put Martha Stewart to shame, AND she made her own wedding cake and the groom's cake in her mother-in-law's kitchen.

2006 Becky's Wedding Cakes by Becky

2006 Adam's Grooms Cake by Becky

Guests at her wedding were so impression, she started getting orders. What you see is what Becky can do in an apartment kitchen!

2007 Wedding & Groom's Cakes for Friends Chuck and Traci
2008 Wedding Cake w/Gumpaste Orchids for Corrina & Tyler

2008 Groom's Cake for Tyler

She is most def an Ace of Cakes, and when she tasted the cookies stashed from the trio platter I made we both bounced around the idea of opening our own bakery in Orlando, FL specializing in custom cakes and confections!! This is just the very inception of this idea because, well I just got a Master's in a technical field so I think I should use that for a minute. But the idea of running my own bakery with a friend I love and respect is so tempting. Who knows what will happen but I do wonder if a custom cake bakery will rocket in Orlando? Anybody out there with some input on this adventure would be greatly appreciated. I love making new friends!!

Appetizers for Mr. T

Hopefully you've seen part 1 of Mr. T's birthday gift package in the last post and you drooled sufficiently over the sweet delights of the trinity cookie platter because now I bring you the succulent, savory appetizers. Since Mr. T (Triolo, that is) is a master of the eggplant parmigina, capponata, rigatoni with sausage and peppers dishes he prepared for his friends and family to share, I opted to show my savory skills with my original portobello rockefellers, my mother's acorn squash dip, and allrecipes.com artichoke bruschetta.

Sadly, I have no pictures of the artichoke bruschetta because I had to make it on the spot. I followed Roxanne Blesh's Artichoke Bruschetta recipe published in the May 6th issue of the AllRecipes.com Newsletter: Fast and Fresh Farmer's Market, but I exchanged the mayo for plain yogurt to keep it a bit healthier and to let the artichoke and onion take center flavor stage. Other than that one adjustment, this recipe is easy, light and super quick for such a great taste.

Here's the apps I do have pictures of!

This is the third time I've made my Portobello Rockefellers. Here they are whole and just out of the oven. I also waited for them to cool and quartered the caps to create the bite-size, well bite. :) What a crowd pleaser this one was! Another bit of prep info; I made these the day before the party and reheated them in the oven at 350 for about 10-12 minutes or until the cheese melts again.

Acorn Squash Dip: This is probably best served in the Autumn but the taste is light and decadent and the presentation is not only beautiful, it's self-contained!!! This dish was also prepared prior to the party but needs to refrigerate for 24 hours anyway to firm the up the dip as well as absorb more of the acorn squash flavor from the shell.

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!

You May Call Me 'Master'

I did it. On the morning of May 3rd 2008, I walked the academic plank and graduated with my Master of Arts in Interactive Media and Visual Language from the University of Central Florida. The ceremony was heads and shoulders above the ceremony for my bachelor's in 2004 due mostly to the keynote speaker choice. This year the speaker was an accomplished female business owner and FL senator, while in 2004 I was tortured by the utterly annoying Miss America whom also happened to be a UCF student - whom had yet to graduate. But I digress, my dad and stepmom attended along with the lovely Triolo family. The ultimate highlight of the two hour ceremony was my moment on the MegaTron!! UCF recently finished remodeling the arena and my moment of triumph and glory was HUGE, so thanks UCF. That $80 robe rental was now and only now, worth it.

The week after the ceremony, I headed to Naples to celebrate with the Joyce family. Their big, their Irish and if you mess with one of us you mess with of us. Check out my pics from the whole shabang:

Building the Dynamic Dimensions Brand

Tile sublimation is complicated process involving heat presses, inks, polymers and other such things that are too technical for me to explain all in blog post. In short, tile sublimation is a process that prints whatever images you want onto tiles permanently. This fun new tile application is what Dynamic Dimensions of Winter Park, FL specialize in.
For example, this tile piece to the left of a montage of Tramine Dion's art. Check out his art show next week at Built 4 Speed Tattoos in Downtown Orlando.

If you recall a few posts back, I designed their business card and they liked it so much they came back to me for their brochure. Everything I ever learned about designing marketing materials is about creating a look that is consistent and instantly recognizable plus distinguishable. This is the essence to it means to build a brand (visually speaking). Since design is about behavior, I thought the best plan was to take the business card design and transpose it to a brochure design. What is below is the trifold brochure outside in its first inception. The inside is still under heavy construction so I'll post that later in the game. There will be many more drafts before its complete but I like where its going.

Can't Beat Sweet Treats

Who can possibly resist a really yummy dessert or snack? In fact, I defy any one who may actually read this blog to NOT want to snack on at least one of my sweet treats in today's post (email me about it, please). Making home made baked goods is a simple and always appreciated way of doing something nice for you or someone you love. My first at-bats to the stove top were applications of baking. That's way I=tt's funny to me watching these Top Chefs on TV quiver at the thought of having to bake a lovely dessert when I fret over what in the H to do with chicken on a regular basis. Baking is easier than most think and a tradition in my family. I've recently baked the classic chocolate chip cookie, super sweet lemon squares, peanut butter & honey granola bars and a no-bake chocolate cheesecake from Philadelphia cream cheese website.

First up is the classic-the chocolate chip cookie. I've been making this cookie in various ways for more than fifteen years of my life. This batch admittedly are not my best, but still good enough to dunk into a fresh glass of milk.

Pete and his zombie hand looovvvee chocolate chip cookies & milk almost as much as brains!

My second favorite flavor for desserts (chocolate is first of course) is lemon. Lemon can be sweet, tart, light or heavy. It's a very versatile ingredient that pairs really good alongside something like, I don't know....Chocolate! Below are my homemade lemon squares right out of the oven (still need refrigeration and cutting). A few years ago, I would buy the lemon bar mix at the store until it dawned on me that I probably have all the ingredients needed to make them in my house regularly.

Sweet treats are totally wicked for desserts but it's important to make healthy choices for day-to-day snacking. I absolutely love dried fruit sometimes alone or sometimes with some really good nuts and other trail mix accessories. One of my mom's oldest recipes and one of my fondest is peanut butter & honey granola bars. Not only is this snack sweet and healthy, it's easy as 1-2-3. Mix 4 cups granola cereal, any nuts you'd like to add and any dried fruits you'd like to add. Melt 1 1/2 cups peanut butter and 1/3 cup of honey in a saucepan until totally melted. Mix melted mixture in with the granola totally through. Spread on a baking sheet, bake for 20 mina at 325, cool, cut and serve.


Now, the granola bars are easy but this beaut right here is so easy you will kick yourself for not trying this no-bake cheesecake recipe from Philadelphia cream cheese.Above are all the ingredients you need and it totals less than $10 at the grocery store. See the chocolate squares on the corner? Those are Ghirardhelli semi-sweet baking squares, 2 actually. Break them up and melt them down in a small saucepan over low, low heat. Careful not to burn it! Once the chocolate is all melted, take the saucepan off the hot surface. In a mixing bowl, cream together 2 cream cheeses and one 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. Next, mix the melted chocolate in totally. Up to this point, use a hand mixer. The last ingredient is a regular size of cool whip. Make sure its defrosted, spoon it into the chocolate, cc and sugar mixture gently until all ingredients make a velvety goodness of no-bake cheesecake. Spoon it into the pre-made crust of your choice and let refrigerate at least 3 hours until 24.

With food prices rising everyday, its smart to stock up with more raw foods and learn to cook and bake for yourself instead of paying out the nose for convenience. It doesn't take much to make your own sweet treat that can't be beat.