home made gnocchi

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Some days are special. I knew when the mister was flipping through the Rao's cookbook yesterday it was indeed going to be one of those days. I don't know many husbands who say, "I think I'm going to make gnocchi today."  My excitement for the dish was far greater than my fear of what the kitchen would look like after he was finished. Gnocchi is one of my favorites. He went off to the market to gather his ingredients. He wasn't stopping at home made gnocchi, oh no, that was a mere appetizer to his orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage. Sunday supper with the mister. Sounds like a cooking show.

The recipe he used was for Gnocchi alla Romana. A semolina dumpling prepared Roman style. This required him to stir the semolina, milk, butter, salt and pepper constantly for about fifteen minutes or until the batter pulled away from the sides of the pan. There might have been some complaints about hand cramping, but I was busy with the little miss fingerpainting!

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The batter was transferred to a pan and spread out evenly with a spatula.

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Then it was time to let it cool. In between prepping his main dish, the mister took a few spins with the little miss to a few of her favorite songs while I washed some dishes.

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Using a one-inch round cookie cutter, he cut out his little dumplings and put them on a greased cookie sheet where they were baked for about fifteen minutes. Once cooked and golden brown, he transferred them over to a baking dish and topped them with fresh mozzarella, put them in the broiler to melt, and then poured on some red sauce all while clementine and I "practiced" finding easter eggs.

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Yum.

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Our appetizer is served.

The gnocchi dumplings were so light and the flavor was amazing!

The rest of our dinner was equally delicious.

Besides being able to eat such a great meal, it was so fun to spend our Sunday afternoon together in the kitchen as a family.

banana rum coconut cake and a dream

in ,

Rainy and dreary here in Portland. Yes, the daffodils are blooming and the trees are budding, the temperature is rising and I know spring is almost here. Still, I'm over it. I want need some sunshine. I've been closing my eyes and going to my happy place, floating in the turquoise waters of the caribbean with the sun working it's magic. I knew when the mister walked in the door the other night with three mangos he was feeling the same way. It was time to bake a little tropical sunshine:

Banana Rum Coconut layer cake recipe from Nick Malgieri's The Modern Baker.

Banana? Tropical. Rum? Tropical. Coconut? T-R-O-P-I-C-A-L!

I wanted to eat a slice of this cake and feel like I was sitting on the beach. I know those two are typically mutually exclusive. Who eats cake and thinks, cool, let me put on my bikini? But for today, in my little dream, cake and bikinis are friends.

The banana cake is very simple. I could tell from the picture in the book that it was going to be more on the dense side. After baking, it had risen up and I thought maybe I was wrong, but once it cooled it flattened out and my observation was correct: it was like a banana bread-cake.

The frosting is delish! Whipped cream, dark rum, and sugar. Top that off with some sweetened coconut and you're sipping a creamy tropical cocktail with your toes in the sand.

 

window box

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I keep trying to remind myself that summer will come. It will be hot.

I probably will even complain about the heat and the sun, and maybe, just maybe I'll catch myself saying, "what I wouldn't do for a rainy day!" -

although right now I can't even imagine saying such a thing.

I planted our window boxes on our porch with summer heat in mind: cool colors, soothing textures, and low maintenance.

I used Echeveria  like 'lola', 'deranosa', and 'metallica', non stop tuberous begonias with black variegated leaves and white ruffly blossoms, 'blackie' potato vine, string of pearls, licorice plant, dusty miller, black grass, lamium, and sedum in super textured and/or silvery varieties.

I look forward to the summer and those evenings after I put the little miss to sleep and can relax in the lounge chair with a glass of wine, the smell of the air as it starts to cool, the way the sky at dusk will throw off golden hues against the purple and pink sunset and will illuminate the plants in the window box; their leaves iridescent and shimmery, a box of succulent love glowing in the night.

chewy chocolate-cherry cookies

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I wanted chocolate.

This led me to flip through my collected recipe/idea binder, which led me to chewy chocolate-cherry cookies.

I found the recipe in Cooking Light many years ago. It's almost like a chocolate crinkle cookie except with dried cherries and chocolate chips.

Very yummy.

I topped half my batch with a little fleur de sel as soon as I removed them from the oven. I like sweet and salty.

If you would like to make them, see the recipe page.