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!

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Buon appetito!!!

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

Love for now.

xoxo,

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Hi!!

I know we are not that close to Mother's Day yet, but it's already almost Easter and it will be shortly after that! Sunday May 14th to be exact.

I was surfing around the internet and I found this quote:

pic via web

To all the mamas out there....don't you agree?? :)) It's true that some days I have barely enough energy to do the work of one...but most of the days this is the reality! I don't know about you, but I don't remember ever seen my mom just sitting down doing nothing. It must be in our veins, stuff needs to be done! For the love of our husbands and children... and our sanity. ;)

So, I decided to make a list of things that our Moms {or yourself, if you are a mom} would love as a present for Mother's Day. These are things that I would be happy to receive...

{a click on the images will take you to its link}

FOR THE COOKING MOM:

          

FOR THE TEA LOVER:

FOR THE COFFEE MOM:

FOR THE CRAFTY MOM:

FOR THE GLAM MOM:

As I said, these are just ideas... I had fun looking for different gifts. In the end, Mom would be probably happy even with just a hug and "I love you". 

xoxo,

~But first Coffee...

Buongiorno!!

I was reflecting on traditions and the importance to pass it on to your children. Last Sunday was the feast of St. Joseph (father of Jesus), in Italy is a big deal because that's when Father's Day is celebrated. I have to explain it to my children every year, as in the United States Father's Day is celebrated sometimes in June, I think, and for sure not on the feast of a saint, as it's not a catholic country. 

One tradition that for sure I will never change is the way I make coffee! There's million of coffee drinkers around the world and I think Italians are the most picky. I know because I'm one of them.

This is the way I make coffee:

 As you can see I used a specific machine (mine is electric), it's called MOKA. Yes, that's what you're going to get if you order a "mocha" in an Italian cafe. :)

The result is a thick, extremely dark, luscious coffee. You can mix it with milk (= Caffelatte) or with a foamy milk (=Cappuccino) or just drink it as it is. 

I don't use any type of coffee for my Moka machine, it has to be Italian, because of the way it's grounded and the flavor. My favorite brand is Lavazza {pron. LAH-VAH-TSA}.

If you are interested in authentic Italian coffee and you would like to use my Moka machine you can order yours here:

Once you'll start to make this type of coffee you won't like it any other way!! Trust me.

Now excuse me if I go drink some...

xoxo,

~Love For Cooking ~ a review

Hello everyone!!!

Those that have been following me for a while already know how much I love cooking. I shared a few of my recipes and I will share more!! I like to cook all kinds of food, but mostly Italian, of course. One of my grandmas was an amazing cook, I learned a lot from her as well as many other people in my life. 

One of the most important things about cooking is using the right tools. My favorite are the classic wooden spoons, I use them for everything, stirring, mixing, whipping.... but I have to say that I recently fell in love with a gorgeous spatula from Tovolo. It has a silicone top and the handle is made of wood {maybe that's why I like it so much!}. The design is really cute, on one side there's a tree of hearts, on the other side it says LOVE. I had entered a giveaway during Valentine's Day on their Facebook page and I had the luck to be one of the winners!

I already used it many times and I have to say that it works perfectly. When I mix a batter I noticed that the top doesn't bend like many other spatulas I've used before, it remains firm and scrapes the bowl clean. Also the size is good, it's bigger than a normal size wooden spoon, but it has a comfortable grip. I cannot deny I'm very happy with it. 

You can find the exact same one on Amazon for a great price! Just click here:  Tovolo Spatulart Love Tree Spatula There's a big variety of colors and sizes. I had never tried this brand before, how about you? Have you tried Tovolo? You'll fall in love.

xoxo,

~This blog post is affiliated with Amazon, if you click and purchase from one of my links I will receive a small percentage of the purchase. Everything written here is according to my opinion.~

~National Teach Embroidery Month~

Good Morning to all of you!!

yes, it's early morning here in California and with a little peace and quiet I finally decided to start writing this post. As you can see from the title, February is the "National Teach Embroidery Month"!!! Who knew? I would have had no idea if I wasn't following Sublime Stitching on instagram {if you are somewhat interested in embroidering, you should check out this website! It's full of tutorials, patterns...everything you need to know to start this beautiful art}. Jenny Hart is the artist behind all this. Check her amazing work HERE . I read her post about teaching embroidery and I knew right away that it was something I had to do... teaching my daughters how to embroider. I signed-up and I received some patterns in the mail. I gathered all we needed and I started teaching them. They loved it! Here is some pictures of their work:

The patterns they chose were easily transferred on fabric

Maddalena, 14 years old

Francesca, 10 years old



Their final work

Not bad for first time stitchers!! Right? All I know is that we will keep working, they are ready to start with their next project and I'm ready to start teaching them different stitches. I just want to thank Jenny Hart for the encouragement and ideas. 

Much love to you all.

xoxo,