Food Minia

Hi, I'm A! I'm 9 years old. I used to be picky but when I tried a lot of different types of food I started to like new food. These are my top favorite recipes from my mom's blog. I started with 27 favorite recipes but had to only pick 10. Here are my top 10: 10.  Roasted Tomato Basil Soup   9. Chicken Souvlaki Kabobs 8. Chicken Fajita Quesadillas   7. Garlic and Herb Italian Bread 6. Mojo Pork Tenderloin 5. Roasted Dill Lemon Potatoes   4. Bacon Mushroom Leek Risotto 3. Crock Pot Beef Gyros 2. Banana Cinnamon Pancakes 1. Crock Pot Hurry Chicken

 Pandoro is a staple in Italian households at holiday time, along with its cousin, Panettone. Unlike panettone, pandoro has no raisins or candied fruits, and is typically served with a dusting of powdered sugar. But with all the cakes, cookies, candies and ice cream eaten in our household in the last week, there is still plenty of Pandoro to be eaten.  If you're like me and have leftover pandoro, here's a way to use it up - a zuppa inglese - a classic Italian dessert whose name translates to "English soup," although it's not at all a soup, but more of an English trifle. The words "pan d'oro" mean golden bread in Italian, and it's easy to see why once you slice into the egg-rich confection. Zuppa Inglese is typically made with sponge cake and layers of pastry cream. The cake is usually sprinkled with Alkermes, an aromatic red liqueur that's used in Italian desserts and as a digestivo.  Recipes for Alkermes date back to the Renaissance, and ge

Happy Holidays Everyone!  I hope your holidays have been great so far, and you are ready for the most amazing New Year. 2016 was an exciting, fun and crazy-busy year for me. And I loved every day of it!  And that is thanks to all of YOU. Thank you for reading my blog, watching my videos and trying my recipes. I'm super grateful for all the love and support you showed me. I can't imagine what

 My husband says I'm my own worst critic when it comes to food. Isn't that the case with most things? Most of the time I like what I make but sometimes there are meals that I love.  Honestly it was a good year for food and it took a bit of narrowing down to get it to ten but I think this pretty much covers my absolute favorites from this year! 10.  Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Toffee Cookies   9.  Freddy's Burgers    8. Copycat Cinnamon Biscuits   7. Pumpkin Gingersnaps     6. Company Green Beans 5. Crock Pot Three Envelope Pot Roast     4. Grilled Honey Citrus Chicken with Basil Butter    3. Hot Spinach Ranch Dip   2. Margherita Pizza   1. Easy Caramel Cake

It's hard to believe another year is coming to an end.  In the many years I've been blogging recipes, I think this might have been my most successful.  I made a lot of recipes that I really wanted to make at the beginning of the year. I was pretty consistent at keeping up with it, I usually start falling off the wagon towards the end of the year so I'm happy about that. I love cooking and I do this because I love the thought of another family sitting down around the table with a good meal and talking about their days. That brings a beautiful image doesn't it? But I'm sure many tables look like mine come dinner time, a frazzled mom, a baby throwing food on the floor, a tired husband and a dog begging under the table. But in the REAL moments there is beauty too, there is connection and there is refreshment.  So that's why I do what I do over here in this little space of the internet.  I hope you and your family has had a wonderful holiday season and thanks for joi

Let's celebrate the holidays with these cute Christmas tree vanilla cakes  stuffed with rich custard cream, and decorated with colorful sprinkles Remember my Christmas tree dessert?!? I've posted this recipe before, and I thought you would like to see it again. After all, these little tree cakes are super cute, very festive and they will surely impress all your holiday guests. Made with

I love Bojangles, like deep love.  And I LOVED their cinnamon biscuits. Then we moved away from the land of Bojangles and then Bojangles did away with cinnamon biscuits. It's just all sad. So when I came across this recipe I knew I had to try it out to get my cinnamon biscuit fix.  These would be the perfect Christmas morning breakfast.  This recipe is adapted from Life Love and Sugar . Cinnamon Filling 1/2 brown sugar 1 tbsp ground cinnamon 3 tbsp flour 2 tbsp butter (melted) Biscuits 2 cups self rising flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp powdered sugar 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 3/4 cup salted butter (very cold, cubed) 3/4 cup plus 2 tbp buttermilk Glaze 3/4 powdered sugar 2 tbsp milk Heat oven to 450.  In a medium mixing bowl combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and butter then set to the side.  In another medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, powdered sugar and cinnamon.  Then using a pastry cutter or two forks cut the butter into the flour mixture. Once it's bl

During a recent visit to Williams-Sonoma, I spotted bags filled with this snowflake (fiochi di neve) pasta and knew it would be perfect for this holiday season.   I have a weakness for pasta shapes, and there are always at least five or six different kinds in my cabinet. There are umpteen ways you could dress this pasta, but I thought it deserved a festive red and green treatment with Christmas just around the corner. Using just what I had in the fridge and freezer (part of a red pepper, half a bag of peas, some ricotta and parmesan cheese), dinner was on the table in the time it took to boil the pasta. Of course, you can make this recipe with any pasta shape, but the snowflakes are just so apropos for this time of year. If you do use this snowflake pasta, with this recipe or any other (click here  to buy it) take a photo and email it to me. I'd love to see your creation. Buon Natale! Christmas Snowflake Pasta printable recipe here makes two very generous portions 8 ounces (half a

Hello Everyone! Put the kettle on and get ready for some cozy stitching with my new French Rose Bouquet pattern. Once I frame the design, I'll post a photo here and on Instagram.      Pattern Description: French Rose Bouquet  This pretty, petite rose bouquet is stitched on white linen with hot-pink, sage-green and French-blue silk floss. You can also stitch this pattern in your favorite DMC floss colors. Experience the gentle joy of stitching something with your hands! Please note:  This pattern is only available as an instant downloadable PDF. You will need the free  Adobe Reader  to view and print the PDF pattern on your home computer.  Measurements:  The finished size of the design area is approximately 4 x 5 inches   You Will Need: 32-Count White Linen made by the Zweigart Company   Embroidery Floss (Needlepoint Inc Silk floss colors provided with the pattern) Tapestry Needle (available in my shop) Embroidery Scissors (available in my shop) Embroidery Hoop (available in my s

Yalda, the ancient Persian festival of winter solstice is celebrated on the eve of the longest night of the year which also marks the beginning of the winter season in the northern hemisphere. Shab-e yalda (yalda night) festival dates back several thousands of years ago to the birth of Mithra, the light of the world and the god of justice and victory. It's a wonderful night when family and

I put this on them menu because I thought it sounded different and interesting. Then I made it and everyone freaked out over it. It really was so good and different but not so different that my little ones wouldn't eat it. My son took the leftover to school the next two days because he loved it so much. This recipe is adapted from Food Lovin Family . 4 cups finely shredded cooked chicken 2 (8oz) containers chive and onion cream cheese 1 package frozen spinach (thawed and drained 1 tsp garlic salt 1 jar pasta sauce (best to use a red sauce with cheese like parmesan red sauce) 4 cups mozzarella cheese 12 lasagna noodles (cooked according to packaging) Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with baking spray. In a bowl combine the chicken, cream cheese, spinach and garlic salt. Place 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, top with 4 noodles, 1/3 of the chicken  mixture and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat two more times ending with the mozzarella layer.  Cover and