Sfogliatelle

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Ingredients
For Pastry
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter (cold)
1 cup ice water
3/4 cup melted butter 

For Ricotta Filling:
1 lb. Ricotta cheese
2 tsp. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. grated orange peel

Preparation
For Filling:
Combine Ricotta, milk, egg, sugar and vanilla and run through sieve. Add orange peel. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

For Pastry:
Sift together flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Mix in cold butter with fingers. Gradually add enough ice water to hold ingredients together. Toss on lightly floured board and knead about 8 minutes or until dough is smooth. Cover and set aside in cool place 1/2 hour. Divide dough into four even parts. Roll out each piece with rolling pin on lightly floured board, making rectangular sheets about 20-inches long. If necessary, pull and stretch dough with hands while rolling, to make tissue thin and almost transparent. Brush each sheet and place sheets on top of each other. When four sheets are piled up, brush top with melted butter or shortening. Let stand 5 minutes, then roll tightly as for jelly roll. Roll in waxed paper. Set aside 30 min or more in refrigerator. With sharp knife, cut roll into 1/2-inch slices, which will resemble narrow rolls of ribbon. Place on board or platter, cover with towel and set aside 15 min in cool place.
Place each slice on palm of left hand. With right thumb on center of roll, gently press through slice so that it forms a ribbed cone; make sure that ribs do not become entirely separated. Carefully work around cone with thumb and index finger until it is well shaped, 3-inches across mouth and 1/2-inch at tip. Press tip together. Fill each cone with 1 heaping tablespoonful of filling. Flatten cones slightly between palms of hands; place on lightly buttered cookie sheet; bake in a preheated 190°C-375°F oven until cakes are golden color and crisp and filling is firm. Remove from oven, cool, dust with confectioners sugar.
Serve.

Cheeseburger in Paradise

Serves 4 to 5 people

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 large onion (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon of seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
a dash or Worcestershire sauce
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (I used 3/4 cheddar and 1/4 mozzarella)
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of Original Bisquick mix
2 eggs

Directions:
Heat oven to 400°F.
Spray a 9 inch pie plate with non-stick cooking spray
Cook beef and chopped onion in a skillet over medium about 10 minutes or until beef is brown. Drain excess fat.
Stir in salt, garlic powder and worcester sauce and then spread in pie plate
Next, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the beef
In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and Bisquick. Make sure you try to get as many lumps out as you can. Pour over meat mixture.
Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until a knife comes out clean

Enjoy!

Homemade Mosquito Repellant

MOSQUITO REPELLENT
Back my popular demand from last summer! This got rave reviews including places in the world where the mosquito's are the worst! Make sure you Share this one so it's saved in your timeline photo album; you don't want to lose it!

For those of you with Mosquito invasions. Here's an easy & pleasant repellent recipe you can make at home:

Combine in a 16 oz bottle:
15 drops lavender oil
3-4 Tbsp of vanilla extract
1/4 Cup lemon juice.
Fill bottle with water.
Shake and ready to use as a topical spray.

Make some extra to gift to your neighbors,family & friends. Trust me.. it'll be appreciated!

Very Vanilla "Twinkie" Bundt Cake

Ok, maybe I'm just a little excited about it. But it's really good, I promise. 

Happy weekend. xo


3 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste {optional}
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs + 4 egg yolks
1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 325. Prepare a bundt pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray or brushing with melted butter. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer {or a large bowl}, beat together butter, vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste until smooth. Slowly pour in sugar until well combined and fluffy.

4. Add vegetable oil and beat until incorporated. One by one, add eggs and egg yolks, beating well after each addition.

5. Carefully add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet mixture, then 1/3 of the buttermilk, alternating until all of the flour and buttermilk is added. Mix until just smooth and incorporated.

6. Pour or spoon batter into prepared bundt pan evenly. Smooth out the top. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a skewer or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 45 minutes to an hour before attempting to remove from pan. There have been many a bundt cake casualty from impatient bakers trying to flip over a still-warm bundt.

For Marshmallow Filling

1 stick butter, softened
1 7.5 ounce container of marshmallow creme
1 teaspoon vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste if you like the little specks like I do. :)

Beat all ingredients together until well mixed. Transfer to a piping bag with a round tip, or a zip top plastic bag with one corner snipped.

For Assembly

This cake isn't hard to assemble, but it is messy. Do yourself a favor and do this over a sheet pan so you don't have cake crumbs all over your kitchen. The idea is to create 6 or 7 deep holes in the bottom of the cake. I find that the easiest way is to use an apple corer. Be careful not to poke all the way through the cake.

Once the holes are made, use the best kitchen tools you've got: Your hands! Burrow your fingers into the holes and create a tunnel from hole to hole. Do this carefully so you don't split the cake. {Like I might have.} Carefully flip the cake over to clear the holes. Flip back over again and get ready to fill.

Using the marshmallow filling {you haven't eaten it all yet, have you?}, stick the piping bag into each hole and squirt the filling in until you get some resistance. Don't overdo it because, again, you can bust the cake open. We don't want that. Make sure that the filling is getting into the main tunnel and not just each hole.

When you've used up all the filling, flip the cake over {carefully!!!} onto your serving dish. Sprinkle the whole bundt with powdered sugar before serving. Then sit back and watch your guests ooh and ahh over your surprise Twinkie cake

Sausage & Scamorza Braciole

Ingredients
4 Tbsp 100% Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil
8 slices veal
1 1/2 cup- scamorza diced
1 1/2 cup- sausage casing stripped
2 Tbsp sauce
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 cup red wine
salt
black pepper
parsley

Preparation
Mash the meat slices with a meat mallet, then the center of each slice put sausage, scamorza, garlic, salt and pepper.
Roll up, then, the chops and tied each with kitchen string.
In a pan with the extra virgin olive oil fry involtini until golden then add wine and let evaporate.
Add the sauce and cook over low heat for 30 min. then sprinkle with parsley.

Serve.

Insalata Southern Italy Style

Ingredients
4 Tbsp 100% Organic Extra virgin Olive oil
4 sliced tomatoes
2 diced Mozzarella
2 chopped onions
12 black olives
chopped capers
salt
black pepper

Preparation
In a large bowl put the tomatoes, mozzarella, onion, black olives, capers, salt, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil then gently mix thoroughly. Allow the mixture to stand for 15 min. 

Serve.

Mom's Famous Cream Puffs

Ingredients

Shells

1 stick butter (8 Tablespoons)

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

1c flour

MOM'S FAMOUS FILLING:

1 pint heavy cream

1 package (3.4 OUNCES) instant vanilla pudding

⅓ cup milk

Makes approx 16

Instructions

Shells

Bring the butter, water and vanilla to a boil.

Add the flour and stir constantly until it leaves the side of the pot and forms a ball.

Remove and cool.

Beat in 4 eggs, one at a time until smooth.

Drop by T. onto parchment lined cookie sheets

Bake at 400 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.

LET COOL.

Slice in half and pipe or scoop in Mom's filling.

Dust with powdered sugar.

Filling:

Beat the cream, pudding powder and milk in a mixer until thick like whipped cream!