A big thank you and a small recipe: Sugar Donut Muffins

Today I really would like to start my post with a big THANK YOU! This big THANK YOU is for Emily of Fuss Free Cooking for mentioning me among her favorite 7 blogs. You should really check out the other blogs she links to from her post (here) because they are all amazing. So THANK YOU Emily, you made my day!

To tweet or not to tweet?! Rosemary Garlic and Butter Rolls

I don't know if that of the title of my new post is really a dilemma for me though...A dilemma should be something that makes you spend some (a lot) of time thinking about it...I don't spend a lot of time thinking about twitter. And that is the problem! I know, I know...twitter is a must right now. If you don't have twitter you are out...blah...blah...blah...I know how the story goes. But, honestly, how do you guys keep up with everything? How do you guys have a daily job, a husband, a house to clean, a social life (if not often I still like to go out and see friends), facebook, the blog, all the networking sites, twitter....AND still manage to bake?! How do you guys do it? 'Cause if you have a secret, I really would like to hear all about it!

Swedish Visiting Cake with a twist...or two...or three!

This was a busy week, with an even more busy weekend. Busy but good! I like these kind of days: those days when you have lots of things going on but they are all good things! It feels good! Good things, good events, good people...it makes me get to the evening tired but with that sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that give me serenity.

Risini (rice pudding tartlettes) - part I

Yesterday I spent a loooot of time online. I looked at blogs I already know, I looked at new ones. I looked at recipes I had bookmarked and I looked for new ones. And still nothing....I was craving for something but I could not figure out what. Have that ever happened to you? What do you do when you know you are craving for something but you cannot quite figure out what for? What do you do when you really really really feel like baking but you don't seem to have a big inspiration moment?

I heart cupcakes

This week was a week of celebrations for Wally and I. First off, last Monday was our first anniversary. One year since we know each other....I can't believe it...It seemed yesterday that we met at Nomad Cafe in Berkeley for a beer. And at the same time so many things happened that it could seem 10 years ago. 

10 Tips to make Pizza with Kids

Finally! Summer school with the kids started and I am very excited for two reasons: first, I love being back having kids around me; and second, the first summer section topic is "Italian cooking"! What a great way of spending my summer! Three weeks of Italian cooking with the kids, every day a new recipe. The idea is to blog about these recipes...probably not all, but at least the most significant. This is going to be a lot of fun!

Cappuccino-Cinnamon Squares

I really owed some chocolatey cake to Wally. He put up with all my creams, mousses, pastries, brioche, and all the other very European desserts of the last month. But I know he is a chocolate (and coffee) craver so I owe him one. And I didn't have to look too far or to go fancy to decide what my treat for him would have been.

Cream Cheese Brioche (HM)

In the past week or so I have done a lot of creams and desserts with cream: pastry cream, torta della nonna (with pastry cream), banana mousse tiramisu....Today, I really wanted to make something a bit more simple, light, I would say even humble. That's how I came out with this recipe. No creams, no icing, no big messes...just these plain, light and fluffy brioches.

Guess who won at the Marin County Fair Baking Competition?

Yes, that would be me! 

It all started a couple of months ago I signed up at the Marin County Fair Competition for the section "International Desserts". I have never participated in any Baking Contest in my life and as you all know I do not have a lifelong baking experience. In fact, I signed up and then I totally forgot about it...until a week ago, when I started to think that, after all, that had not been such a great idea. In my mind, I could already picture the amazing desserts that were going to be there, amazing in taste, format, color, presentation...why on earth had I decided to participate? In the last couple of weeks events haven't been very kind to me so my level of confidence was very very very low...let's say well underneath my feet. Today, I thought, was really not the best day to participate in a competition. 

How to recycle ripe banana in a new way: banana mousse tiramisu

Here it goes....as always I buy a bunch of bananas and 1 or 2 get lost in the refrigerator until I find them...already ripe! And as always, I start thinking about recycling them in a cake or something. However, this time I did not want to make the usual banana bread. Not that I'm tired of banana bread...who could ever be tired of eating it...but this time I wanted to use them for something different, for something more "fresh", more summer and, possibly, for something oven-free! Yes, 'cause in Oakland it's been pretty warm in the last few days. Our apartment gets very hot during the day and I really don't have a strong desire in raising the already tropical temperatures.

Pastry cream to restore happiness

It's funny how sometimes it happens to read another blogger's post and you think "the right post, at the right moment"! That what happened to me yesterday, when I came across Juls' Kitchen post about the Recipe's for Happiness event. Giulia, the hostess, asked fellow bloggers to post the recipe of the food that help us during those bad days or moments when everything seems to go wrong in life, and help us restore calm and happiness. The event even entails a prize, kindly offered by Macchine Alimentari.