Are you one of those people who find it stressful at Thanksgiving to get the bird and the mashed potatoes and the gravy and everything else on the table at the same time?  Well, there are tricks to help you at least eliminate the stress about the mashed potatoes.  Here are three that I find very helpful:  you can make the mashed potatoes hours ahead of the meal and stick them on low in a crockpot. They keep very well until dinner time.  Or, if you don't have a crockpot, you can place them in a large bowl, set them over a pot of simmering water (effectively creating a double boiler) and let them stay warm that way.  Another way is to make these absolutely declicious Buffet Mashed Potatoes, a recipe that I want to share with you because I've been making these for about 20 years.  You can make them the day before and refrigerate until ready to bake or you can even make them ahead and freeze them. Totally takes the stress out of the mashed potatoes.

When I was growing up, this was often how we ate pork chops - simmered in tomato sauce and served with pasta. When I introduced this dish to my husband, he loved it right from the start. It's a simple dish but giving it the time it deserves is what is essential.

I'ts hard to see the enormous amount of apples in the farmer's markets right now and not think of apple pie. I was going to make a straight up apple pie for you with a cheddar cheese crust but then I decided to make it a little more fun.  Instead of adding the cheese to the crust, I put it in the filling and made pretty rosettes on top from thin apple slices instead of a pie crust.  

My local farmer's market right now is bursting with bell peppers.  This recipe uses roasted peppers to make a rich soup that's made a little creamy by adding some mascarpone cheese.  If you've never roasted peppers yourself, please give it a try - it's so easy and they are really worth it.  You can use the jarred roasted peppers in the grocery store, but once you see how easy these are to roast, I think you will prefer these.  And if you line your baking sheet with foil, there is no clean up!

I made these for my son's graduation open house this past spring and they were such a big hit. So many people wanted the recipe that I thought I would go ahead and share it here.  These are outrageously tasty and crunchy and very easy to make.  The phyllo is brushed with good mustard and sprinkled with Asiago cheese and then rolled up with asparagus. The best part about these is that they can be assembled a day ahead, refrigerated and then just baked the next day right before serving - my kind of recipe!  And you don't even have to precook the asparagus - I just use them raw in the assembly.  I even made a video to show you how fast and easy these are to whip up. 

It looks like a serving bowl full of pasta noodles, doesn't it?  But it's not - it's "spiralized zucchini noodles" and so many people are making these right now, I wanted to make sure you knew about the great gadget that makes these! Whether you are trying to avoid wheat, or trying to cut back on calories or just trying to get rid of a ton of zucchini in your garden, this Spiralizer is for you. When I first served these zucchini noodles to my husband, he thought they were pasta - so did a couple of other people who had them. 

If it's hot where you are, Italian granitas are a refreshing and delicious way to enjoy something frosty.  They are super simple to make, require only two or three ingredients and everyone loves them.  For this post, I'm showing you how to make a coffee granita, which is popular is Sicily, but once you understand the technique, you can make all kinds of granitas - watermelon, strawberry, lemon, even almond - which is a favorite in Catania.  

Do I need another bundt cake pan?  No.  But I couldn't resist this swirl cake pan from Nordic Ware.  I was picturing all kinds of cakes in it.  Lemon pound cake, Coffee Cake, and of course, chocolate cake.  For this recipe, I'm using my favorite chocolate cake recipe and combining it with a rich red wine chocolate glaze that I spied in Bon Appetit.  Chocolate and red wine are such a great combination, why not combine them in a cake?

Did you know there are hundreds of different pasta shapes in Italy?  Each region seems to have a special shape or two which is popular in that area.  Thanks to the good folks at Barilla, you will be able to experience some of these shapes because they are introducing five new pasta shapes with Barilla® "Collezione" pasta. I'm so excited about this line of pastas. And Barilla is even offering a giveaway gift basket for you, which includes each pasta shape plus goodies from Williams Sonoma, to a lucky reader.

ceramic platter from Fifty One and a Half

Everyone needs a new recipe for asparagus just about now, right?  Asparagus season is great but after a while, you need something new to do with this vegetable.  This sauce is the answer.  It's a breeze to whip up and chances are your guests have never eaten this.  It's a delicious blend of fresh herbs, chopped eggs, capers, vinegar and olive oil. The French and the Italians both have their versions, but this version comes from the Queen of Food herself, Ruth Reichl.   

When I made this incredible caramel mousse recipe previously in order to layer it in a trifle, it was so, so good that I knew I wanted to use it in a recipe all on its own.  This mousse has such a luscious, rich taste to it that you just need a little of it to feel as though you've eaten a lot of dessert. Because of that, you can serve small portions of it piped into small wine glasses or served in these great little tasting spoons that my good friend, Yvonne, gave me. This dessert is perfect for those. 

ceramic plate from Fifty One and a Half

Have you seen these little mini peppers that the grocery stores are stocking now? Well, I've become a big fan of these and I always have a bag in the fridge. They make the nicest little appetizers. I even like them better than the large bell peppers for stir fries.  But one of the best things to do with them is to cut them in half, stuff them and bake or grill them.  

ceramics from Fifty One and a Half

I've been posting about the joys of making homemade ice cream for a long time now but I have modified my recipe for the better and I wanted to share it with you.  Making homemade ice cream is super easy and delicious. Not only do you know exactly what is in your ice cream, but you can make any combination of flavors that you want.  

In my old recipe, I used a simple mixture of cream, half and half, sugar and whatever flavorings I wanted (I did not want to make ice cream with eggs). Now this worked just fine and was absolutely lucious and delicious. The problem was keeping the leftover ice cream in the freezer - it would form ice crystals and the ice cream wasn't so creamy anymore.  This problem is solved by simply adding a cornstarch slurry and a little light corn syrup into the mixture, which prevents this crystallization. 

We just flew back last night from being out in Boston and watching our oldest son, Barry, run the Marathon. What a picture perfect day it was and it was so exciting to see him take part in such a great event. He worked hard to get there. I loved the atmosphere at the race, with everyone cheering total strangers on and people applauding the military and all the "Boston Strong" tee shirts.  I've never seen so many policemen in my life. And an American with an incredible background story won the men's race - how awesome was that?  Here's a picture of Barry after the finish line:

If you are trying to think of some different dishes to fix this Easter, here are a few that you might like.  Some are more ambitious than others to make, but worth the effort.  The Italian Easter Breads are very easy to make and delicious - they are a sweet bread.  The Pesto Eggs are super easy and the Edible Easter Egg Nests are something different that will get the attention of everyone at the table.  They make cute little place setting decorations.  The Italian Easter Pie is definitely a labor of love, if you want to try your hand at it.  Buona Pasqua!

Doesn't this cake look like Spring and/or Easter?   I even thought some Peeps on the top and sides might be cute. I put a little tiny jar in the middle of the cake where the hole is, filled it with water and put in some little rosebuds.  I wish I had some spring flowers to put in the cake but it's just too early here in Michigan.  

I'm a big admirer of Thomas Keller and everything that he has created.  He is so innovative and amazing so I think it's funny that one of his favorite desserts is a good old fashioned pineapple upside down cake.  Of course, his version uses a fresh pineapple and dark rum but it's still a great classic dessert.  You can also use almost any other kind of fruit in this recipe instead of pineapple.

The recipe starts out with making what he calls a "pan schmear" - a combination of brown sugar and butter with other flavorings - that is spread on the bottom of the pan.  The recipe will make more than you need, but it's difficult to make a small amount.  So you can either use it within a couple of weeks, freeze it for a later time or make two desserts.  In my version I used a little more than he called for and froze the rest. 

Here is a fun recipe for parties and get togethers because people think it's just a loaf of bread and then you slice into it - surprise!  It's pizza inside!  And these are so easy to make.  If you haven't attempted to make pizza dough yet, please start now with these.  You will love them.  

Pizza dough is not at all hard.  You have all the ingredients on hand right now in your pantry.  For this dough, all the ingredients are just blended together in one big bowl.  You finish the dough by kneading it a bit on the counter. That's it.  Let it rise.  Divide the dough in half and roll the halves out into rectangles.  Spread out your topping ingredients on the doughs, roll them up and bake.  You can totally do that!

I do encourage you, though, to use instant yeast instead of regular active dry yeast.  I wrote a post about that a while back and there is absolutely no reason to use active dry yeast, which requires a proofing step.  Do yourself a favor and only stock your pantry with instant yeast - and just skip the proofing step in any recipe.

Do you remember the classic Sicilian pasta dish Pasta alla Norma that I posted a while back?   It's a great vegetarian dish made with eggplant, capers and tomatoes.  Well, I thought it might be fun to turn it into a lasagna for this post. 

It's very simple to make - the method I prefer for the eggplant is just to roast it in the oven instead of frying. I like it much better this way and it's in fact a lot easier and uses a lot less oil. The whole lasagna can be assembled ahead of time if you want and refrigerated.  Just bring it to room temperature a bit before popping it in the oven to bake.