My Ricotta Cake

Goodmorning!!

it's Spring Break and my children are all home. They are still all asleep, I was able to wake-up early to sip my big cup of caffe'-latte while reading the news and catching-up on my instagram feed, I love checking everybody's pictures and new posts, it gives me a lot of inspiration.

So, in this time of peace and calm I'll take advantage to share with you a delicious cake I made a few days ago. In Italy it's a classic: the Ricotta Cake. I used to make it all the time, then somehow I forgot about it, maybe because here in the States I never eat ricotta, as it's very different from the one I was used to eat. I saw a recipe online and I suddenly remembered the taste and how soft and tender that cake was. I had to make it!! I adapted the recipe to my taste and memories.

Here it is.

MY RICOTTA CAKE

Ingredients:

• 3 EGGS (whites and yolks separated)
• 1 cup of SUGAR
• 7 tbsp of BUTTER (melted)
• 1 cup of RICOTTA
• 1 cup of FLOUR
• 1 tsp of BAKING POWDER
• LEMON ZEST (1 lemon)
• 1 cup of CHOCOLATE CHIPS (semi-sweet)
• POWDER SUGAR for dusting

1. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until fluffy and pale yellow. 
2. Add the ricotta and keep mixing until smooth and the melted butter.
3. Sift-in the flour together with the baking powder.
4. Beat the egg whites until firm and gently add them to the batter, mixing softly, making sure they don't get flat.
5. Gently mix-in also the lemon zest and at last the chocolate chips.
6. Grease and flour dust a cake pan (9 inches), add the batter and put in preheated oven at 350 F degrees for 30-35 minutes. (Always insert a tooth-pick in the cake to check if it's well cooked. If it comes out clean, it means the cake is done). 
7. Dust your cake with powder sugar and serve.

It's a very simple recipe and you'll see how good it is!! Everyone will love it! My children were a little skeptical at first but they ate it all! I hope you'll enjoy it as well.

xoxo,

弁当 ... {Bento} ~ Feature Post

No... I don't study Japanese and I probably never will. I think it's nice to explore different cultures..

I was recently inspired by a super cute etsy shop I discovered via instagram. It's called BentoAday.. it sells adorable little lunch boxes {=bento}, together with little forks, tiny sauce bottles, everything you need to make a school lunch incredibly cute!

I read on wikipedia that Japanese housewives often spend time and energy on a carefully prepared lunch box for their spouse, child, or themselves. Many American women do the same! Especially during time of school... this type of lunch boxes would make me excited to prepare a lunch for my children and I know that they would be excited to eat it!! It's really something I want to buy... it's on my wish-list {I need to make some money and sell something from my shop first!}. Just go take a look and you will fall in love with the cuteness sold by April Crosier in her BentoADay shop!!

 

strawberry bento boxes

 

cute little small sauce bottles

 

panda food picks

 

..and there's many many more things...!!!

 

Here's a few cute images of bento box lunches I found online:

 

 

Some are just amazing!!!!! So.. what are you waiting for? Visit her shop and get inspired!! :)

 

xoxo,

 

P.S

You can now follow me on INSTAGRAM!!

 

 

The gift of Sewing {chevron pouches}

Lots and lots of things to do everyday in my sweet family of 6!!! Especially in this time, getting ready to leave Cali and spend summer in Colorado.. {I haven't packed anything yet... only in my head, of course}. My children are done with their school year. Already??? I cannot believe it. I have to say that it has been a great year for the 3 of them, we were blessed with wonderful teachers. At the School-Open-House meeting last week, I had to hold back my tears.. I wish they all could remain the same for every year of school. That's how it is in my country, and I would love the same thing here. I know it's going to be okay, no matter what, and hopefully we will fall in love with the new teachers next year.

Sewing cute pouches for the teachers has been part of my busyness these last days. I'm going to fill them with manicure goodies and a Thank-You note from my children. I really hope they like them!

I love the chevron pattern and the pastel colors. I lined them with a different fabric and the organza rosette is also handmade by me. {I listed them in my SHOP, in case you need one!}.

What do you think? Do you give gifts to your children's teachers? I'd love to know!

I wish you all a wonderful and creative day!!

xoxo,

 

Our long long drive

Hello you all!!! 🙋

I'm starting to write this post sitting in the car {don't worry, I'm not driving... I never drive on the highway}. 🚙 We are driving back to California after having spent a few wonderful days in Colorado. We always drive, yes, with all our children. How do we manage to entertain them for a total of 18 hours stuck in the car? ... Well, we break the trip halfway in Utah {gorgeous mountains and farms all over the place!!}, just for one night.. The rest of the hours in the car we talk, sing, listening to music.. I also crochet and play on my phone.. and the kids watch movies {i rent a few at our local library right before we left} and they share the iPad. I have to say that the technology of today helps a lot!!! I guess they would just use their imagination, as I used to do during the long trips I took with my parents when I was little. It is a big help though. There's a few apps for kids that I really like: sprouts, temple run {that's fun for me too! Especially the Oz version}, pirate school, EduKitchen and Endless ABC.

Well, while I'm gonna be here in the car for a few more hours I want to share with a family picture we took on Easter Sunday. We went for a walk to my favorite park in Denver, where my husband proposed.. 12 years ago.. and we took a picture on that same bench!!! It was very cold and windy, but I love it!!!

 

xoxo,

 

 

Happy B♥Day my Love!

Yes!! Today is my husband's birthday!..as well as my Mom's {but unfortunately she lives far far away from me}.. We celebrated with a HUGE lunch all cooked by me and served by our children! They had so much fun serving their Dad, pretending to be at a restaurant called "Mami's Kitchen". They were wearing their aprons and napkin folded on their arm.. They even wrote a Menu describing all the courses. Of course I directed this whole thing, I had a lot of fun too..especially cooking! I just love to cook. I'll share with you the dessert... Profiteroles! Et voila'!! The Puffs came out gorgeous!.. I followed a recipe from Martha Stewart's web-site.. then I filled them with pastry cream (= crema pasticcera) and covered them with a delicious chocolate sauce. YUM!!!
I know my husband had a great day and a big smile on his face. :)