From Cream Puff and family, we wish you the most beautiful of days!

Merry Christmas! Buon Natale!

Ciao!

One more sleep to Santa!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!

I have been up since 5:00 with Mamma Cream Puff and we’ve been busily cooking away.

Actually, to be completely accurate, she’s been cooking away and I’ve been watching in awe.

Seriously. My mother is a tank. She’s knocking things off like it’s nothing while it’s taken me almost three hours to wash two heads of lettuce.

When I grow up I want to be just like her!

Right now she’s working on those lovely ravioli you see above. They are filled with a chestnut paste and are the most delicious bits of heavinliness ever. Soon they will be fried and then sprinkled with sugar and then they will be mine. All mine.

This being Christmas Eve, we only eat fish and seafood and here’s what the menu features:

We’ve got oysters on their way.

We’ve got an amazing octopus salad.

We’ve got olives stuffed with a fish paste and then breaded and fried.

We’ve got salt cod waiting to be stewed with potatoes.

We’ve got more salt cod (that’s baccala’ to us Italians) waiting to be cooked with tomatoes, hot peppers, green onions and olives.

We’ve got a whole variety of other fish waiting to take a skinny dip in the deep fryer.

We’ve got artichokes. Oh, my. Artichokes dipped in batter and fried. Next to the ravioli di castagne these are probably my favourite.

We’ve got enough rapini to feed Canada.

We’ve got cactus pears and persimmons and fennel and chestnuts and dried figs.

And we’ve got a croquembouche. From here.

In between tracking Santa and “taste-testing”, I’m just trying to not lose my mind thinking about all the goodies.

I love Christmas!

Ciao!

As part of my ongoing desire to have more bread baking in my life, I’m delighted to bring you my choice for Day 10. That’s Elinor Klivans’ Fast Breads: 50 Recipes for Easy, Delicious Bread.

Elinor Klivans is an accomplished baker and cookbook author. I’m happy to say I own many of her cookbooks and this one is another winner.

Fast Breads is about getting delicious bread and other treats onto your table quickly without sacrificing flavour.

I just really like this book. It has everything from breakfast breads to sandwich breads. All the recipes are clear and concise so even an inexperienced baker can handle them.

It’s not a biggie, but it’s a goodie.

I have to give credit to Mamma Cream Puff for helping me out with this one. She made the scrumptious “Lots of Cheese Bread” you see pictured above. It was easy, definitely had a lot of cheese and it was delicious!

Hope you put this under the tree for someone!

Ciao!

Don’t be afraid.

What you see at the top of this post is not a science experiement gone wrong. Trust me.

It is the beginning of what I hope will become a beautiful loaf of bread.

If you have ever dreamt of baking delicious bread at home, join me.

I give you Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson and Eric Wolfanger.

While I wouldn’t say I’m a novice when it comes to baking bread, I certainly have very little experience compared to other types of baking. Like seemingly everyone else in the civilized word I became a fan of the No-Knead bread phenomenon.

As a huge fan of the Tartine pastry book, I could not resist picking up a copy of the bread book.

Wow.

Impressive and ambitious, the book is about making your own bread with your own natural starter.

And that’s what you see up top.

I’m only just starting my bread journey with this book so I will keep you posted on how Sherwood (that’s what I named my starter … will explain at a later date) and I are doing.

In the meantime, if you are a bread baker, bread eater, bread lover or if you just spend your day dreaming of bread, please pick up this book!

Ciao!

Of all the months in the year, December is the one with the most parties. Sometimes it’s a relief when Christmas finally arrives because it means we can settle down to some beautiful meals and then … relax!

Don’t get me wrong. I love the parties! I especially love the planning of the parties and the planning of the food and I think that’s why I fell in love with Jennifer Joyce’s Meals in Heels.

This is just a fun, fun book that makes you want to break out the party dresses (or buy a beautiful party dress), break out the stilettos (or buy those stilettos you’ve been eyeing) and polish those champagne flutes.

It’s just plain fun.

The recipes are all designed to be served for festive occasions (although you can most certainly serve them any night of the week to jazz up any family meal) and they all feature the wow factor. Kaffir Lime Leaf Chicken Skewers. Mini Beef Wellingtons. Persian Chicken with Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce. Profiteroles with Salted Caramel Sauce.

I had some eggplant in the fridge and some feta so I chose to try the Smoky Eggplant and Feta dip for my first go at the book. Simple, delicous and perfect for a party appetizer.

This is perfect for the person who loves to entertain. Don’t forget to pick up a copy for yourself!

Ciao!

Wow … we’re already at the halfway mark of the 12 Days of Cookbooks … hard to believe!

There is never a shortage of Italian-themed cookbooks, especially at this time of year. Unfortunately, I find that many of them often disappoint for various reasons.

Not so with Julia Della Croce’s Italian Home Cooking: 125 Recipes to Comfort Your Soul.

I swear as soon as I opened this book I could almost smell a pot of tomato sauce bubbling on the stove.

It’s lovely. In every way. It’s filled with recipes for so many comforting Italian dishes. It’s nothing complicated; the recipes in this book are very straightforward and are meant to make the preparing of meals as enjoyable as the result.

It’s just a nice, comfy book on Italian home cooking.

I wanted to try a number of recipes but so far have only time to make the warm and bright Orange-Almond Ring Cake with Orange Glaze. The cake batter is augmented with ground almonds and that gives the cake such a texture! It’s delicious!

If I hadn’t already bought a copy, I’d want one in my Christmas stocking!

Ciao!

While almost all of the cookbooks that you’ll see in my 12 Days of Cookbooks feature are books that are new to me in 2010, that is not the case with all of them.

Case-in-point: Stonewall Kitchen Favorites: Delicious Recipes to Share with Family and Friends Every Day.

This cookbook has been on my shelf for many years and is one of my favourites. On many a Friday night after a long week at work I have pulled this book off the shelf and let the comforting pictures and recipes relax and inspire me.

While it holds many recipes that I cherish, the one that is all splattered, dog-eared and covered in greasy fingerprints is the recipe for “Fruit and Nut Maple Granola”.

Much like pancake recipes and muffin recipes, I have yet to meet a granola recipe that I don’t want to try. I love granola.

But time and time again, it’s the Stonewall Kitchen recipe that I turn to because it’s so satisfying.

The recipe has the perfect balance between oats, nuts and a delicious maple flavour that’s hard to beat.

I prefer to eat fresh fruit with granola so I leave out dried fruit add-ins. I also love a cinnamon-flavoured granola so I have doubled the cinnamon punch from the original recipe.

Other than that, my version of the granola stays true to the original: oats, coconut, nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, canola oil, vanilla extract and lots of natural maple syrup.

You know how good your house smells when you bake apple pie? Your house smells just as good when you make this granola.

But don’t think that’s the only reason to pick up this book. It has everything from salads to sandwiches to desserts for all occasions. And the recipes are very straightforward and will yield results that make you happy and that comfort you.

One of my all-time favourites!

Ciao!

While I’ve been to New York City several times, I have never been to Sarabeth’s.

I was enormously pleased to find out that Sarabeth Levine was coming out with a cookbook called Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours.

I don’t know if it’s made things better or worse that I own this cookbook because after purchasing it and drooling all over it, I now really regret the fact that I’ve never had brunch at any of Sarabeth’s locations in New York.

This is a big, heavy gem of a baking book. It starts from the basics and covers all the major baking topics with well-laid out recipes and lots of nice pictures.

You basically just want to turn your oven on and keep it on and just bake and bake and bake.

Once again Mamma Cream Puff came to the rescue on this one. She tried the recipe for “Margaret’s Espresso Cake”. We served it at a family function and everyone immediately wanted the recipe. Delicious!

This one is most definitely for the baker in your life!

Ciao!

It’s December 1st. For Cream Puff, that means Christmas is here.

Christmas in all its glory, all its baking, all its music, all its cheer and all its splendor!

I. LOVE. CHRISTMAS.

Last year, come December, I had so many cookbooks to tell people about that I decided to talk about twelve of them in twelve days and it was a tremendous success.

So this year, I’m doing it again. If you’re looking for the perfect gift to share with the cooking enthusiast in your life, stay tuned to the next twelve days!

On Day 1, I start with a book that has spent the past few months holding the place of honour on my night table: Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.

The sweetness of her cookbooks is matched only by the sweetness of her person! I had the pleasure of meeting Dorie several years ago and I can tell you that she is a doll. Her latest cookbook is a warm and affectionate look at the delicious French dishes that grace her table.

I’m sure it’s been said many times before by many other people but Dorie’s cookbooks are impeccable and this one is no different.

While it may not exactly fit in a Christmas stocking, it should definitely make an appearance under the tree for the cook in your life!

When I first leafed through the book, the recipe that immediately caught my eye was a recipe for “Anne Leblanc’s Pistachio Avocado”. What caught my eye was the mention of the luxurious oils sold at Huilerie J. Leblanc. When I was in Paris in June, I spent a lovely hour in that story drooling over all the incredible oils. As luck would have it, I came home with a precious bottle of pistachio oil, which just happens to be the star of this dish.

Essentially this is half an avocado sprinkled with lemon juice and sea salt. What makes this dish superb, is the touch of avocado oil that nestles in the avocado cavity.

So simple and so unbelievabley glorious! I think I’ve made this about ten times since receiving the book.

The pistachio oil and the texture and taste of the avocado marry in a way that is sublime.

Try it!

See you tomorrow for Day 2 …

Ciao!

At this time of year, it’s very easy to become lost in the great big commercial machine that the holidays have become.

So it’s precisely at this time of year that I like to look around and think that even though we live in a big city in a big province in a big country in a big world, in some ways, we also live in our own little villages of space. And the best way to feel full and warm and loved, is to inhabit that space fully and brightly.

I hope that wherever you are today, you have loved ones close by and much light in your life.

From Cream Puff and family, a very Merry Christmas to all!

Ciao!

The gingerbread scene you see above is my take on the 2009 December Daring Bakers’ challenge hosted by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. I cheated slightly (I’m allowed … right … ) by not quite making a house but rather making a little village (house facades only) based on an idea from Joanna Farrow’s book Gingerbread: 24 Inspirational Houses and Decorative Gifts to Make.

Christmas tastes like snowflakes.

And gingerbread. And amaryllis. And tinsel. And cloves. And candlelight. And angels. And chocolate. And warmth.

And éclairs dipped in chocolate.

And towers of cream puffs.

And vanilla. Christmas tastes like vanilla.

It’s almost here …

Ciao!

Christmas smells like spices. And oranges. And pine trees. And cold air. And butter. And warm bread. And candy canes. And pomegranate. And stockings. And glühwein.

And stars.

Christmas smells like stars.

It’s almost here …

Ciao!

Check out my article on glühwein at The Daring Kitchen!