Tropical Pom Rum Runner

Fun Holiday and Summer drinks can start out with a delicious fruity Tropical Pom Rum Runner or our Caribbean Rum Punch just like those popular cruise drinks you can experience them in your own home with these tropical flavors.

Our delicious drink has banana rum, lots of fruit juices, and a lemon drop schnapps!

The Caribbean Rum Punch is another fruity favorite similar to a Coco Loco we had on many cruise Islands so let our drinks take you away to a favorite vacation spot!

Crockpot Ham and Cabbage

When I was growing up, ham and cabbage in the crockpot was a staple in our home.  Mom was great at making inexpensive meals that would stretch our budget for the week. This one one that fed many of us. Being Italian we always had a houseful at dinner time.

Feast of 7 Fishes Roundup

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is eating fish that night for their Christmas Eve celebration dinner.

Christmas Eve is a fasting day and the customs and respect given it to abstain from eating any meat that day until Christmas Day.

This Italian Christmas Eve Tradition has always been practiced by our family here in America.

Seafood is part of Catholic abstinence from eating meat until the feast of Christmas Day.

This celebration was to wait and welcome the Vigilia di Natale, and the birth of baby Jesus.

When the clock strikes 12:00 am everyone gathers in our family for Midnight mass and prayer for our baby Jesus as it has been written that was the time of his birth.

Although the tradition is 7 Fishes, we usually have more than 7 with the medleys we serve in the meals along with the Insalata Caprese and Italian Struffoli dessert.

Below are the links to the recipes highlighted by name.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookie Recipe

Chocolate cookies filled with a delicious creamy peanut butter center in every bite.!

The cookie dough has a hint of peanut butter in the fudgy dough and is a dream cookie for any peanut butter cookie lover.

One of our favorite flavor combinations is chocolate and peanut butter, so if you have someone in your home that also enjoys those flavors you're about to make some happy family members!

They are called surprise cookies because the magic is inside the cookie and wrapped with a wonderful chocolate dough that no one knows until they take that first bite.

In a hurry? We included a printed recipe card below with tips if you want to skip all the long writing in this post just scroll to the bottom!

Peanut Butter Cups

These are super easy-to-make peanut butter candy cups with just a few ingredients that can just be the start of the perfect gift during the holidays for those hard-to-buy folks.

Peanut butter cups are a favorite here, however, this easy recipe is versatile and there are several kinds of candy cups you can transform with a basic recipe guide.

We have filled them, left them solid topped with nuts, coconut, or dried fruits and we also have placed the melted chocolate into fancy molds for special events.

These are not only great for parties, fundraisers, weddings, and showers but mainly they're fantastic to eat and the skies the limits of possibilities.

We love experimenting with using these mini muffin tins and liners which makes the whole candy-making process a breeze.

If you have a peanut butter cup lover, this is the easiest way to make them not to mention economical.

Scroll through all our tips, substitutions, and filling ideas, these are fun to make and everyone will rave about them!

Candy Bar Dream Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ever wonder what to do with all that leftover Halloween candy? Well, this cake is a great way to use up assorted candy bars.

I usually make this cake right after we get stuck with a bunch of the candy after the holiday and use whatever I can on top.

The cake is layered with instant pudding, cream cheese filling, and a whipped cream topping in between and is very yummy.

All of those creamy layers with a favorite baked cake is just a decadent dessert for any party your hosting and of course, the kids love it.

Although we add Bailey's Irish creme to a layer for the flavor to make this kid-friendly just use a flavored extract or butterscotch, rum, or another flavor you prefer.

The recipe is super easy to make and you'll be asked to make it again, especially for a birthday party for that special someone who loves candy!

Fish, Chicken or Veal Francese Recipe

Every Christmas Eve it's a tradition to make 7 kinds of fish and we usually have more varieties than that.

Since some folks have food allergies and can't eat fish mom would substitute eggplant on Christmas Eve since it was a tradition not to eat meat.

Otherwise, the oil will taste like fish and so will the Chicken. We were not disappointed with the fish, it was wonderful.

Every year we made the Francese sauce and you can actually use this for Chicken, Veals, Pork or even Venison during any weeknight meal, it's a delicious combination of lemon and wine.

Using all fresh ingredients including fish makes a gourmet delight and the recipe is really super simple with some other suggestions and a few additions, you can make an authentic dish from different Regions of Italy on your plates.

If you love lemon, white wine, and egg-coated meat, this will be your new favorite meal for any occasion.

Christmas Befana Cookies

La Befana was approached by the three Wise Men (Magi), Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar, who asked her how to get to the road to Bethlehem and they asked her to join them on their journey to bring gifts to the Christ child.

First, she refused to say she was too busy however later that night, she saw a great light in the sky and decided to join the Wise Men and the shepherd bearing gifts that had belonged to her child who had passed away.

She relentlessly looked for Baby Jesus but got lost and never found the manger, this is just one story of the many legends that's been written.

The Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated on January 6 as a national holiday in Italy, and the tradition of La Befana is a big part of Italian Christmas celebrations.

The old woman who visits children in Italy on the eve of January 5th and on January 6th the Epiphany is celebrated similarly to the story of Santa Claus.

The woman enters children's homes through the chimney to deliver the gifts and through her visions and the loss of her child, he brings those gifts into her child's memory and feels like she became the mother of every child in Italy.

Every Epiphany Eve, the old witch is covered in black soot, from the chimney, has tattered clothes, and flies around the world on a broomstick, then comes down chimneys to deliver candy and presents to children that have been good all year.

To those who were naughty, she left coal so we have included both cookie recipes we make for this traditional legend to celebrate and recognize La Befana on this traditional day.

Ricotta Nutella Frangelico Cheesecake

This is a delicious rich cheesecake with a cookie crust. The filling is made with a Ricotta Nutella and Frangelico. A truly decadent and off the charts tasting Italian Cheesecake that's amazing!


The cheesecake reminds me a little something like an Easter Italian Cassata but with Nutella and then with a shot of Frangelico, if you're a lover of these flavors like me, this will be your new found love of desserts to make at Christmas time.


I make this every year and usually freeze them for gift giving. Take a stroll to see the recipe at the end on how to make this easy delicious Italian cheesecake with Nutella!

Decadent Hazelnut Nutella Truffles

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounces) can sweeten condensed milk
1 1/4 cups Nutella
1 teaspoon hazelnut-flavored liqueur or 1 teaspoon vanilla
60 whole hazelnuts (approx)
1 -2 cup chopped hazelnuts
dipping chocolate

 Melt chocolate chips with milk and Nutella.  Remove from heat and stir in liqueur or vanilla. Chill in the fridge till firm. Shape into 1 inch balls around a whole hazelnut, then roll in chopped hazelnut.  Dip in melted chocolate if desired and store in an airtight container in a cool place.

Shrimp Parmesan

This dish is called Shrimp Parmesan an easy fried shrimp that's then baked with marinara and topped with mozzarella served on a bed of your favorite pasta.

The steps are very simple and this dish is perfect for hosting a dinner party, especially for all those who love seafood.

Our Italian American dish is a terrific alternative on Christmas Eve as part of the Feast of 7 Fishes here in Florida where we had it for the first time in Key West.

Parmesan is a wonderful cheese, we use Parmesan Reggiano grated with this dish which makes it a star ingredient.

This recipe is so easy and comes together with just a few ingredients in less than 30 minutes!

Christmas Jello Cake

Christmas Jello Cake is a blast from the past fun cake treat from the 1960s and perfect when changing out the colors to match any holiday

We've adapted our cake colors for Easter, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, and Patriotic colors to match our party's theme and for adult parties, we've even added little spirits to the water for an adult jello shot-style cake!

This is the best cake all summer long just changing up the colors to match your party theme of maybe you're celebrating Christmas in July it's a freshing pretty festive dessert!

The cake stays moist with the jello injection of colorful flavor and is so pretty that it is certainly a showstopper for any party you host or holiday gathering.

Italian Hot or Cold Caramel Macchiato Coffee Recipes



Italian Caramel Macchiato Coffee
This recipe is a great combination of freshly brewed espresso with foamed milk and caramel syrup. Caramel macchiato is basically  a coffee drink that is quite similar to latte, but it contains caramel syrup and sometimes it may also contain vanilla syrup or vanilla extract. There are various methods to prepare a caramel macchiato recipe. Some prefer to drink it hot while some love drinking iced caramel macchiato. So, do you want to learn making caramel macchiato?

I had to experiment with my new toy my  new espresso machine! Unfortunately it broke the first month and had to buy another one. Then that broke so I got a much better one!
 This happens to be my favorite coffee whenever we go out... here is my simple recipe!


Italian Hot or Cold Caramel Macchiato Coffee 

Vanilla Syrup (you can purchase in a local supermarket or fine coffee shop)
1/2 cup fresh espresso
8 ounces milk, steamed with foam
3 to 4 tablespoons caramel sauce I use ice cream topping or make my own click here
Whipped cream
More drizzle for the top of the whipped cream of caramel

Recipe

 To make your coffee drink, add two tablespoon of vanilla syrup to a 16-ounce glass. Add 1/2 cup fresh brewed espresso followed by 8 ounces of steamed milk ( if you don't have an expresso machine you will have to heat the milk.
 Add 3 to 4 tablespoons caramel sauce to the drink. Stir before drinking.  Top with whipped cream and drizzle caramel on top.

Do you like chilled better?
Espresso - ½ cup

Cold milk - 8 ounces
Caramel sauce - 4 tablespoons
Vanilla syrup

If you love  chilled  or iced coffee drinks and caramel macchiato, then here is an iced caramel macchiato recipe for you. First brew half cup of espresso. In a 16 ounces glass and add 2 tablespoon of vanilla syrup to it. Then fill 3/5th of the glass with cold milk. Add in ice cubes and stir the liquid. Gently pour the cooled espresso over the ice cubes and see that the espresso gets mixed with only half of the milk down the glass. Then top the liquid with whipped cream and drizzle caramel sauce over it.

Zucchini Raspberry Lemon Loaf

A festive Zucchini Raspberry Lemon Loaf everyone will love this holiday season with the addition of red raspberries that makes this so special and just the right colors for Christmas homemade baked gift giving.

Disposable loaf pans are perfect for giveaways, tree pans can be found at any local dollar stores great to bring for holiday parties or you can use regular-size loaf pans if you can keep the family from devouring these yummy loaves.

This is a very old recipe from back in the '80s. I actually won a ribbon at a fair in Upstate NY one year.

We also make a Zucchini Cranberry Chocolate Chip loaf you may also like so we included the recipe below in the recipe card to print it off.

I entered a quick bread baking contest and won the first prize making them in mini loaf muffin tins.

The lemony glaze really enhances the zucchini with fresh raspberries in this soft delicious loaf!

Plus the easiest Holiday cake/bread you'll ever make, so hold on to this recipe it's so darn pretty to serve and even perfect for serving during an elegant dinner party you may be hosting with some raspberry ice cream or sherbert.

If you're not a fan of red raspberries, maraschino cherries or diced strawberries can be substituted so just pick the one you prefer to make the recipe, with another choice!

I have made so many and given these as gifts over the years starting in September making and freezing them after thawed just place in pretty tins, or wrapping them in clear plastic wrap with a nice bow added to a basket with other homemade mason jar goodies.

Scroll down to our printable recipe card for all the recipes, and remember you can substitute any red colored fruits you prefer even dried!