Tropical Blue Jello Island Dessert

Sunday, February 23, 2014

A perfect Island cool dessert that the kids will love to make and eat! During a visit with my nephew Vinny, who is from Upstate New York, (my home town) visiting me here in Florida, we decided to make something tropical, fun and easy. Utica, New York reported having three major snow storms while he had been here on vacation in sunny Florida.

A perfect Island cool dessert that the kids will love to make and eat! During a visit with my nephew Vinny, who is from Upstate New York jello in a little cup

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Tropical Beach Spa Cake

Thursday, February 20, 2014
  Making memories in the kitchen is a must for me. There are times in our lives we just have to find something special to cook up to make a lasting memory, this was it! This Tropical Beach Spa Cake was such a fun project!  Really what better way then family memories are made in the kitchen?


My niece Pamela, her husband Bruce and their two kids came to visit me from Upstate New York this week. Samantha my great niece and their little junior cook did a marvelous job with some direction making this adorable cake.


Cake made into a spa a fun project with the kids and great memories to start your own traditions. Cooking with kids is the best way for them to learn for their future. This chocolate spa cake is a great way to start.

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Heart Shaped Cake Pops

Wednesday, February 12, 2014
These are the easiest cake pops ever, store-bought or homemade you can do these quickly with our instructions or make a whole day project out of them.

Last year I made them all from scratch for a baby shower using my own homemade poundcake recipe and homemade frosting from the half-moon cookie recipe, this time I decided to take the easy way out and used store-bought products.

These were fast easy and I didn't have to take all day to clean up loads of dishes so it's now the only way I will make cake pops.

Although you can roll these into balls, use silicone cake pops molds or just improvise like I did and use the dollar store molds they work fine.

The only other tools you will really need are some parchment paper and lollipop sticks plus some dipping white candy melts, food coloring is optional but sanding sugars are the nice finishing touch of color especially for a baby reveal party.

For the complete recipe scroll to our printable recipe card at the bottom of this page.



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Veal Lemon Stew

Sunday, February 9, 2014
A light Veal Lemon delicious stew simmered with white wine and tomato sauce that makes this meat fork tender.

Perfect served over mashed potatoes or polenta

With just a hint of lemon and fragrant herbs, this finishes off this dish perfectly.

Easy enough to serve any weeknight or to guests when hosting a dinner party.




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Southwest Tex Mex Hamburger Sauce Recipes Four Ways

Saturday, February 8, 2014
For those of you that read my blog you know that even though I am Italian I love many other kinds of foods. Southwest style is one of them. This is a great sauce almost like a homemade hamburger stew that is hearty, flavorful and healthy. A versatile sauce designed to be used in many ways.

See below for the suggestions. My favorite is really over rice.


A started south western sauce to use in tortilla, snacks or over pasta



1 or 2 pounds ground chuck or small 3 cubed boneless chicken breast
1 bell pepper
3 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
optional pinch of cayenne pepper
1 can whole kernel corn drained
1 can black beans drained, red beans or pinto beans can be used
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce (1 cup) or store bought in a jar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Optional Toppings: sour cream, shredded cheese, olives, salsa, jalapeno

Use Below As A Topping And Making Different Meals add additional shredded  cheese on top!

Version 1:
8 to 10  flour or corn tortilla's

Version 2:
Favorite Cooked Pasta

Version 3:
Cooked Rice

Version 4:
In a hurry? Pour over Torilla chips for a quick snack. Use chips, add shredded cheese, black olives and sour cream




For the sauce:

In a large fry pan saute hamburger (or chicken) with peppers in 1/4 cup water and 2 teaspoons olive oil till pink is gone, drain some of the excess oil from the meat. Add the garlic, cook 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, corn, beans and seasonings. Simmer for 30 minutes on low. Your sauce is ready to use on the three suggestive versions!


For Pasta Version: Boil Pasta to package directions. Drain. Add to casserole dish top with cheese and bake till hot and bubbly.

For Rice Version: Boil rice to package instructions. Pour into casserole dish, bake with cheese on top until melted.

For Tortilla Version: Line a casserole dish with tortilla like a lasagna. First layer tortilla some of the Tex Mex mixture, cheese and repeat ending with cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is hot, bubbly and browned.



If you enjoy Southwest Cuisine, try some of these recipes:

Southwest Soup
Tequilla Lime Grilled Shrimp
Grilled Lemon Lime Pepper Chicken and Vegetables
Pumpkin Bread Pudding Recipe
Southwest Crockpot Corn Pudding
Southwest Potato Salad
Southwest Cheddar Scones
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