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...

It's National Strawberry month and strawberry season is at it's peak. Farmers markets and stands are boasting sweet berries by the pint, half flat or full flat. If you were to drive through Ventura County, CA...you'd probably see a road side fruit and vegetable stand on every corner. As a matter of fact, the yearly Strawberry Festival is going on this weekend in Oxnard. A mere 45 minute drive (without traffic) from my house and I've never been. I don't understand how that's happening. I mean, strawberries are my favorite fruit...I've lived here all my life.....how do I keep missing the most fabulous festival of the year? I'm so disappointed in myself. I've let my berry love down. This must be remedied! In the meantime, lets console my strawberry craving with a delightful torte. This recipe was inspired by a couple of recipes I ran into. As much as I love raspberries (they are a very close second to strawberries...but are fighting for that position wi...

Limoncello is one of my favorite liqueurs. But it's a little pricey depending on the brand you buy. And let me tell you....brand makes a huge difference. I've tried a few. One of them was just awful. If I had tried it the first time I ever had limoncello, I would never try it again. Ya, it was that bad. Anyway...I'm not here to recommend what brand you drink or like...I'm here to show you how to make it yourself. It's not difficult. The most challenging part is getting the skin off the lemon without getting any of the pith (the white stuff) and of course waiting for the end results. Yes...it is time intensive. It's not cheap either. But it is less expensive than buying it from the store. I figure approximately 2/3 the cost (kinda like a "buy 2 get 1 free" sorta thing). Although I did get my lemons for free, which helped. I've heard a lot of talk over the years about various methods and scientific measuring based on the alcohol used vs the simple sy...

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...