Baked Feta Cheese ~ my recipe

Hello everyone!!

It's been a crazy year....maybe the longest break I ever had from my blog. Many things have happened, I'm now back in Colorado with my family probably for good. I will always keep California in my heart as well as all the wonderful places and people I've encountered these last 11 years. My new daily routine helps me now to go back to writing and posting things I like, here on my blog. 

As you already know, cooking is one of my favorite hobbies, I love to share my recipes and try new things. Yesterday I tried a NEW one!! It's a Greek dish. I've never been to Greece, I've seen many pictures of the beautiful sea, which reminds me of the sea where I grew up in the South of Italy.. {it's only 300 miles from my hometown...}

Milos, Greece

Gorgeous, isn't it? So...with images like this in my head, dreaming to be floating on those crystal waters, I decided to cook one of their typical dishes: Baked Feta Cheese.
It's incredibly simple and so delicious!

This is the one I did

All you need is this {it serves 1 or 2 people} :

• FETA cheese, 8 ounces (not crumbled)
• Extra Virgin OLIVE OIL, a generous drizzle
• Kalamata Olives, a handful (I used green olives, they were also good)
• 1 Red Onion, thinly sliced
• 2 Ripe Tomatoes, sliced
• Salt
• Oregano

1. Drizzle a baking dish with the olive oil, add the sliced onion, tomatoes and olives. Add a little salt and oregano.
2. Add the whole piece of Feta cheese on top of the veggies. Sprinkle some oil and oregano on top.
3. Bake for 1 hour in oven at 350 degrees.
4. Enjoy with a piece of bread!

.1

.2

Buon appetito!!!

Let me know if you try this dish and how it came out! I'd love to hear!

Love for now.

xoxo,

Madeleines Cookie Recipe

Bonjour!!!

Yes, this is the proper way to start this blog-post as today I'm going to share with you one of my signature recipes.... the Madeleines Cookies, those delicious French little pastries, or soft cookies; I love them so much and they are a big success every time I have guests.

I made them this morning and I took pictures to give you a step-by-step photo-recipe. Are you ready?

Here it is!

Recipe for 12 cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 EGGS
• 2 tbsp SUGAR
• 2 tbsp POWDER SUGAR
• 1 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT
• 1 tsp ALMOND EXTRACT
• 1/4 cup SELF-RAISING FLOUR
• 1/4 cup regular FLOUR
• 6 tbsp BUTTER
• 1 tbsp HOT WATER
• extra powder sugar for dusting

 

Mix eggs, both sugars and extracts until smooth.

 

Add both flours, sifted together, and keep mixing.

 Melt the butter and slowly add it to the batter, also the water.

 

Pour the batter into a Madeleines` pan. After having carefully buttered and floured it.

 

Cook in preheated oven at 400 F degrees for 10 minutes.

You will see that a little dome will form on top of the cookie...that's a perfect result! They are so good with a cup of tea or coffee. The only indispensable tool is the Madeleines' pan, if you don't have one you can find it here:

Let me know how they come out!!!

xoxo,

This recipe is my own and as an amazon affiliate, I will receive a small commission if you click and buy from my links. Thank you!

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,

~Banana chocolate-chip muffins~

Hello everyone!!!

today is Sunday and that's when we usually have a little extra time to make something special for our kids, or just for ourselves.. ;) One of the things of everyday life I really enjoy is cooking. I recently found a delicious recipe that is perfect for an afternoon snack or even breakfast. I'm talking about Banana Chocolate-chip muffins! They are perfect especially when you have a couple of bananas getting darker and darker on your kitchen counter... how many times that happens in my house....... well, if that's the case, look for a couple extra ingredients and make these!! You won't be disappointed.

BANANA CHOCOLATE-CHIP MUFFINS 

(ingredients for 12 medium muffins)

• 3 ripe BANANAS, mashed
• 3/4 cup SUGAR
• 1 EGG
• 1/3 cup BUTTER, melted
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising FLOUR
• 1 cup of CHOCOLATE-CHIPS

Mix sugar and egg to the mashed bananas. Add melted butter (you can use margarine if you prefer). Add the flour (if you don't have the self-rising kind, just use the regular flour + 1 tsp of baking powder) and mix well. Add chocolate-chips at last folding them in the batter.

Pour the batter into muffin molds and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I check if they are cooked inserting a tooth-pick in one of the muffins, if it comes out clean it means they are ready!!

I hope you like them!! Enjoy them with a cup of coffee or tea! Let me know what you think.

xoxo,