TFF Samosas with Chickpeas and Spinach

Dear friends this week we made samosas but vegetarian and baked instead of fried, I hope it's not too much of a change but that evening I really didn't want to deep fry ! The results were very good I made the samosa smaller but that way you don't get enough filling so next time I'll stick to Tyler's suggestions




I don't really have the skills of a perfect samosa's maker ! But I'll get better !



I froze half the samosas and I'm looking forward to eating them !! If you want to try the recipe is
here . Please visit the blog for more super ideas !!

TWD Chocolate Cream Tarte and Tiramisu Cake

Last week I was just finishing my job so I couldn't bake this wonderful tarte but here it is !
I really liked it and with a bit of planning it isn't hard to make at all ! Thanks to Kim of Scrumptious Photography who chose the wonderful recipe !



Then it came the Tiramisu chosen by Megan of My Baking Adventures and I changed it a bit because I had forgotten the cream so I used a cup of greek yogurt instead (making it a bit leaner too) . Usually I make Tiramisù with mascarpone and a kind of zabaione (so the yolks are cooked) and I missed the zabaione flavour but the cake was a hit at my mum's house ! Thank you Megan ! Please visit the TWD blogroll to check all the others Tiramisù.

TFF Deep Dish Ham Quiche with Herbs and Asparagus Salad

As you can see yesterday evening we were too eager to start eating the quiche so my photo was not very good, so this morning I tried again even if the asparagus didn't look so fresh anymore !!

Anyway the quiche was very tasty ! I thought you could taste more the onions so maybe next time I will add more. I used 5 eggs (instead of 8) and only two cups of cream (instead of 4) but I assure you it was very rich anyway. I also forgot the egg yolk in the dough ! Please visit the blog for more Tyler's recipes !

Recipes to Rival Coq au Vin

We went French and delicious this time with Recipes to Rival and it was a very pleasant first time for me ! I made this succulent dish for Easter and everybody loved it but I must say that the next day (we call it Pasquetta ''small Easter') It was even better ! I used a skinless and boneless chicken so we could it it safely as cutting it in small pieces left very small and nasty bones around but for the rest I followed the recipe closely.
Thanks Temperance for the great choice !!

SSB Vanilla Cupcakes

This month our hostesses (?) Maria and Rosie chose for us these very nice and tasty cupcakes. They come together in a breeze and I loved their texture .
To decorate them I didn't use a buttercream but a glaze of egg whites and confectioner's sugar ( I hope it's OK !).
Please visit the Sweet and Simple site to check all the other beautiful cupcakes and what waits for us next month !

BBD # 19 Spring Country Breads

The new Bread Baking Day theme is springy and pic-nic inspired. It is hosted by Cinzia of Cindystar a great and expert Italian blogger.
As we were all waiting for strawberries I decided to bake some strawberry muffins and I found a great recipe here , I halved the recipe and that was it .
Thank you Cinzia and happy Spring !

TFF Braised Chicken with Peanuts and Raisins

And here we go with another yummy recipe by our hero !
I followed the hint our dear host Natashya gave us in the last round up and made the recipe in the video she posted.
I didn't have cashews so I used peanuts, watercress is almost impossible to find here so I just sprinkled some basil just to have some green around and I used skinless chicken to reduce the fat a little! But even so the flavours of this chicken are wonderful !
Please visit the blog tomorrow for the new round-up !

TWD Postponed

I'm finally finishing my tour de force so as soon as I'm done I'll party with this chocolate feast !

Daring Bakers Challenge Cheesecake

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

For this challenge Jenny left us plenty of freedom so I decided to use half amaretti and half graham crakers in the crust which I didn't bake if not a for a very short time enough for melting a layer of chocolate I had sprinkled on top. In the cream I used 'grand marnier' and orange juice and zest and on top I put a caramel sauce and some hints about what was inside.

I apologize for being so short and not doing many visits but after the 30th I'll catch up !!

TFF Penne with Baby Artichokes, Black Olives and Peas

I don't know if I already told you that my husband has a worried look when I praise Tyler Florence (but he shouldn't !) it's only that with his help I can cook a good dish even in these days (few left !!!) when my fridge is sad and I feel guilty every moment I'm not sewing !
So the other evening I found this recipe where I used frozen peas and frozen artichokes
and some powdered orange zests I had prepared in the winter. We all (but the usual ONE) enjoied it very much !
Please visit the blog to find out many more wonderful recipes !

Here is the final 'corner' !



And my beautiful even if neglected plants !

TWD Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding

This week in Tuesdays with Dorie, Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle chose Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding and I was very happy because I made it some time ago and in this very busy moment I had the (ugliest) picture ready !!!

WEEKEND CAT BLOGGING #202

I'm more interesting ! Don't you agree ?

This week, Mr. Tigger and The M Cats Club at The M-Cats Club (USA) are hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #202

To submit your cat's picture, you can either leave a message in their blog's comment section (with your permalinks) or contact them via e-mail without forgetting to give all the needed informations.

Happy Birthday Viola !!

TWD 15 Minute Magic - Chocolate Amaretto Torte

This week's recipe was chosen byHolly of Phe/MOM/enon : the 15 Minute Magic - Chocolate Amaretti Torte. This torte came in a period were what we didn't need is another cake ! So I decided to half the recipe and bake it as mini muffins in a nice mini rose silicon pan . The dough was not the right one for the rose shape but it is so good that it really doesn't matter !
I didn't frost it just to save me from extra calories !
I think it is the ideal torte to bake when you have unexpected company coming ! It's fast, uses simple ingredients and is very good.
Please visit the blogroll to see more tortes !

Sourdough Hot Cross Buns

In my search for sourdough recipes I'm finding numerous sites rich of great recipes one of them was this nice one for Hot Cross Buns, my son Carlo had learned about them at school so I tried them even if I doubted he would dare to try them !
The buns were a success in taste (not with Carlo !) even if they raised too much and their round look wasn't there at all, but I'll definitely make them again maybe smaller !
I am sending this recipe to Yeast Spotting event created by Susan from Wild Yeast. This week's event will be hosted by ZORRA, visit her to see the round-ups. To join this event is very easy, here is how:

• Bake with yeast (wild or baker's) or make a dish starring bread.
  
• Post about it. Please include a recipe/formula, or a link to one, or some indication of how the bread was made. Also please include the word "YeastSpotting", with a link to this page.
• Submit your post here. Please submit it during the same week it was posted

Easter is gone !

Here are the great Bag-skets the children made to go egg- hunting.Thanks to the Blond Duck !!



And here is the Hunt in our terrace !!



We even made some coloured eggs !!

TFF The Ultimate Barbecued Chicken

This week I could luckily try another of Tyler's delightful food : Barbecued Chicken !
I know I'm repeating myself but what I like of his recipe is that I can make something new, fast and good with what I have already at home like this chicken.
The brine made it even more moist and tender and the sauce is so good ! I had cooked a couple thights without sauce for the children but they wanted ours instead and Anita dipped the potatoes in the sauce !!
Please visit Tyler Florence Fridays for many super recipes !

Earthquake Again

Dearest Friends
I was reading your nice messages at my computer and here it went again this time is eight o'clock pm and we were waiting to go to dinner ! I'm so scared and I can't imagine how the poor people in Abbruzzo are feeling at their second night out of their homes . Hopefully most of them will have a tent but in that area is still very cold at night and many rescuers are still digging mostly with their hands not to move too much debris.
Tomorrow we are going to send some stuff for children like baby food, milk and water but also toys and blankets.
Thank you again for caring.



divulgo da francescaV

Copiate e diffondete questi numeri, grazie:

Per volontari addestrati: 3270499293.

Per viveri, coperte, medicinale o altro: 800.860.146 oppure 06.68208.

Chiunque avesse una struttura alberghiera in Abruzzo in grado di ospitare: 0854308309.

divulgo da MuVaRa

Per donazioni:

Raccolta fondi Croce Rossa Italiana:

Conto corrente bancario C/C n. 218020 presso BNL - roma, intestato a CRI, codice Iban IT66 - C010 0503 3820 0000 0218020,
causale: pro terremoto Abruzzo;

Conto corrente postale n. 300004 intestato a CRI
causale: pro terremoto Abruzzo;

Versamenti on line sul sito: http://www.blogger.com/www.cri.it/donazioni.html

informazioni utili da http://www.repubblica.it/

http://kataweb-ilcaso.temi.kataweb.it/2009/04/06/terremoto-in-abruzzo-informazioni-utili/

una delle tante sottoscrizioni

http://ilcentro.gelocal.it/dettaglio/il-centro-lancia-una-sottoscrizione-per-aiutare-i-terremotati/1614669?edizione=EdRegionale

TWD Banana Cream Tartlets

This week Amy of Sing for your Supper chose the recipe and I'm so glad because this pie didn't have any appeal for me but I realized (and Andrea and our friend who made them vanish in seconds) how wrong I was !!
I made half recipe in tartlet shape using a leftover pie crust that I had frozen , making the cream and the custard was very easy and fast.

Brand New Colomba !

As you can see the last group came out well .
To solve the problem I used a larger mold and that was it !
Thank you for your great support !!