Giuseppepaolo

Fresh berries are everywhere. I love them all. But I have to say, strawberries are my favorite. Every since I was a young child, I knew this to be a fact. And not just anything strawberry. I mean..none of that strawberry 'flavored' stuff. I need the real thing. Fresh, ripe red, sweet strawberries. I found a recipe for Old-fashioned Strawberry Shortcake in a really super old cookbook called The American Woman Cookbook. Its a wonderful book, and fun to have around. I did make a few revisions, but kept the basics as they have been for over 70 yrs. Double Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake 2 cups sifted flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 4 tablespoon dutch cocoa powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon sugar 1/3 cup shortening 6 oz chocolate chips 3/4 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee 2 tablespoons butter, melted 3 cups sliced strawberries 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional) Whipped Cream powdered sugar to garnish Preheat oven to 450' F Warm the milk just enough to dissolve the instant coff...

Before we talk about the Giveaway, let me just Do you ever have one of those days...where you wonder if you shouldn't have even stepped foot in the kitchen that morning? Saturday ended up being a day of discoveries. I discovered that my dishwasher door is being weird...it's sticking shut while the handle that you squeeze to unlock it just sorta disappears into itself. I also discovered that my oven takes foreeeeeeeeeever to heat up to the proper temperature. As in, after the preheat phase.... and the required 45 minute baking time, the temp was 100' below the needed 350'F mark. That happened as I was baking this delicious coffee cake. I opened the oven door as the timer went off...toothpick in hand, ready for the plunge (do you know that this is probably the only reason I own toothpicks?) and I stopped breathing...in total disbelief as I tugged on the rack and witnessed the soppy center sloshing around. My mind raced....did I set the timer right? Forget to put in an ing...

I went to school in a little town on the outer fringes of the Los Angeles County. Tucked into the foothills is a (what was called back then) junior high school named Mt. Gleason. I spent 7th, 8th and 9th grades there. Elementary school ended at 6th grade in those days. High school was a 3 year program and started at 10th grade, not 9th like it does now. In fact, if you were in high school for 4 years, it was because you screwed up and you'd get teased for being in the "four year program". Anyways, back to jr. high. I loved the selection of electives....art, choir, play productions, stage crew, typing, drafting, etc etc. As in introduction to these electives, us 7th graders got a "sample" version of our chosen 4 classes throughout the year. I spent several weeks in each...Cooking, Sewing, Agriculture and Play Productions (or was it drafting? Maybe play productions came later). What fun! These were the classes I looked forward to each day. They made history, Engli...

Where to start with this one (besides with a fork). Sometimes one random ingredient can be the catapult to multiple delicious results. That was the case when I received a bottle of Mandarano Balsamic Glaze & Sauce , I love balsamic vinegar. Having a whole bottle of the glaze on hand? Oh yes....I was in a little bit of heaven. The tangy sweetness beckoned to me on so many levels. From sweet to savory and somewhere in between. The first thing I did when I got home from work and opened the box was to make a drink. Not just any drink...I mean...a real drink. And yes, I used the  Mandarano Balsamic Glaze & Sauce  in it. Think...Arnold Palmer gone wild. Grab a shaker, filled almost to the top with ice. Fill half way with some good limoncello. Add a teaspoon or two (depending on your preference) of  Mandarano Balsamic Glaze & Sauce . Shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass and top off with some club soda. (If I had had a lemon on hand, I would've garnished my ...

Here's a delicious, adult kind of cake that's sweet but not too sweet. The complexity of the flavor surprised me. Sweet, slightly tangy, almost savory. The flavors come in layers, starting with the gooey, sticky sweet honey glaze....slightly citrus in the middle, ending with the subtle savory-sweet taste of olive oil. I discovered this recipe in a newly acquired cookbook titled The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook. What a find! Full of dozens of wonderful recipes I'm anxious to try and taste and savor. One note that was made for this cake is to do everything by hand. No electric mixers. Your arm might get a good workout, but the end result is worth it. Rustic Olive Oil Cake with Honey Syrup Printable Version Cake Vegetable Oil Spray for the pan. 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temperature 1/4 cup Grand Marnier 1/4 up fresh orange juice Zest from one lemon (about 1 heaping TB spoon) 3 larg...

I didn't wake up one morning and decide....'hay, I want to make Angel Food Cake'. As much as I enjoy this cake, I don't think of it very often (it's usually a strawberry season thought). Believe it or not, my decision to make Angel Food Cake stemmed from my desire to make English Muffins. It's a weird, twisted path but I needed rings to make English Muffins. Sorta like cookie cutter rings, and I didn't want to order them online. I'd heard that small tuna cans, with both ends removed, works well. The only problem was, my can opener couldn't remove the bottom of the can. I guess, somewhere along the line, tin can manufactures started making the can bottoms rounded and a can opener can't wrap it's little gears around it. Bummed me out. So I sat on the idea for a while. Searching stores for 3" cookie cutters that are sold separately. Searching different tuna brands. I even got so desperate that I started looking at the cat food cans at the m...

Ya think it's too late to make fruitcake? HA!! Think again my friend. This one can be eaten right away, or it can be made in advance and sit in the fridge for up to 6 weeks. Your choice. I'm not a fruitcake person. At all. But an old friend from high school by the name of Beth was raving about this recipe so I had to give it a try. My twist...(cuz there always is one...mostly) is the fruit that I used. And the kind of rum. One of the things that I turn my nose up on with fruitcake is the candied cherries. So I decided to use tropical fruit. And the alcohol? Coconut rum. And yes, I know there are cherries on the top of this this one. I put them there cuz they look pretty. But...there isn't a single candied cherry in that cake. Tropical Fruitcake Printable Version Dried Fruit : 1 lb raisins 1/2 lb golden raisins 1/2 lb craisins 1 lb dried tropical fruit mix 1 lb mixed nuts 1 - 2 750ml bottles of coconut rum Batter : 1/8 cup molasses 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 lb butter 1 1/8 cup...

Yep....that's all there was left by the time I was able to snap a picture. This super easy, very yummy Strawberry Summer Cake doesn't last long once it comes out of the oven. (As always) I have a little story about this cake. You all are familiar with (or most likely have an account with) Pinterest.com   I'm not as hooked on it as a lot of people seem to be. I play over there every now and then. I have a few "boards" with some "pins" hanging around. But I'm not there on a daily basis by any means. So, with that said, I remembered a recipe I had "saved" for a strawberry cake a while back. It was time to make it but I needed to find it. I immediately went to my Google Reader and searched high and low through my tagged and starred recipes. Nothing. I knew it wasn't in a magazine or cookbook. I don't keep recipes all over the place on my computer or on the internet. Well, I try not to. I do have them stacked around my desk....but that...