Blueberry muffin bread with cream cheese filling and fig muffins

 

 

My birthday came and went last week. I would have added quietly, but have you noticed how birthdays are on steroids since the advent of the book of faces? But hey, don't misundertstand me. I am grateful for each and every birthday wish I received. Especially the kind words from that girl I think I knew in nursery school; and from that friend of a friend of a friend that I have never met but that I know goes running three times a week, 8km each time, and whose heart - according to her status - is broken; she would willingly turn back time if only she could, if only he would let her.

But back to more important things. Me.
So, I am a year older and if truth be told, I feel better about myself and my life now than I did in my early twenties. Sure, this feeling of self assuredness comes with some usually-although-not-always well concealed grey hair, a wrinkle or two (thank goodness I can still use single digits for those) and a few extra pounds, but I am not complaining.

 

 

A birthday celebration these days no longer involves two hundred of my very best friends and drunken dancing.

It means meeting up for a quick, unplanned lunch with F and enjoying the guilty pleasure of sushi sans kids, a small beer during my lunch break, almost an hour of uninterrupted talk and holding hands every now and then without squealing and gagging sounds as accompaniment.

 

 

 

 

It means picking up my daughter, who may or may not have forgotten it was my birthday until way after she sulked because I did not agree to invite half of the class over for a playdate. But it doesn't matter, because when she finally did remember, I got a beautiful drawing that  I had watched her and her friends working on hidden behind a secretive wall of backpacks in the school square the day before.

 

 

 

 

It means a simple week night dinner at home, the usual racous, messy affair but the grand finale of a birthday cake complete with candles and presents.

This year, it was exactly what I wanted and all that I needed: an impromptu daytime date with my husband and a simple dinner at home with my family. A quiet, unnoticed affair... well, if it wasn't for FB, that is.

 

 

 

 

Since I didn't bake a cake for my birthday like I have in past years, the only baking that went on over the week end was for this blueberry muffin bread and simple muffins with a fresh fig topping. 

 

 

 

  

I first was inspired to make the blueberry bread when I saw a pin on Pinterest. However, when I was getting ready to make it I realized the recipe actually did not include cream cheese, although I thought it did for some reason when I pinned it. So I started looking up recipes on the Internet and to my surprise found what I was looking for on Anecdotes and Apple Cores, a blog I have been following for quite a few years now. I made some very minor adjustments and also ended up making an extra batch of the batter minus the cream cheese filling for the fig muffins*.

 

Smoked salmon and scallion cream cheese pinwheels

 

 

 

I know that for a lot of people who love to cook being on vacation means lots of time to prepare food for family and friends. They like to spend long mornings at local markets sourcing for ingredients they cannot find as good, as cheap - or at all in many cases - back home. They never leave home without their knives or some other favorite kitchen tool or essential ingredient. They relax firing up the barbecue or mixing large carafes of frozen cocktails.

 

I often entertain such Martha Stewart fantasies about moving at ease around a kitchen in Provence, French windows open on a garden where the children quietly play hide and seek behind the bushes and trees, a light flowing skirt swirling just above my tanned bare feet. A pinch of tarragon here, a drizzle of dry white wine there...

 

The reality, however is very different: I rarely cook consistently on vacation, especially summer vacation.

 

When we visit my husband's side of the family, there is no doubt about who reigns in the kitchen. I humbly hand over my scepter wooden spoon to my mother in law and busy myself with other things.

 

 

 

 

If we travel to the States every day is a whirlwind of friends and family to catch up with. We eat out up to twice a day sometimes and when we are home I spend a lot of time trying to contain my jet lagged, overexcited and overtired kids while my stepmother cooks up a delicious meal. Or we do what so many other fellow countrymen do: order in.

 

When visiting my mother, things are pretty much the same, minus the jet lag. Although, come to think of it, given Spanish hours, perhaps we should put jet lag back into the equation. There are lots of meals in restaurants and even more at family/friends' houses since the kids. When we do eat in, my mom takes care of the food while I, like the Cat in the Hat, save a vase with my left hand and a silver ashtray with my right while shouting at the kids for the umpteenth time to leave the dead snails and those piles of almonds, carobs and overripe figs outside of the front door please, not inside.

 

When we are on our own, by the time we get our tired, salty, sandy selves back from a long day at the beach, the most I can get myself to do is open a cold cerveza for my marido and myself and put some jamon, sobrasada and manchego out on the table for the niños, perhaps accompanied with some anchovy-filled olives and a glass or bowl of gazpacho.

 

This means that by the time I get back I am dying to get my hands chopping and slicing again and simultaneously a little rusty.

 

 

 

 

If you are feeling a little out of practice too, here is a really simple starter you can make in a matter of minutes. This is the perfect appetizer if you are on a no-carb mission after overeating during the holidays. Or, like us, you sometimes just miss a good NY sesame bagel with Nova and scallion cream cheese.

 

I made this following a mish-mash of different recipes online. Most of them said to refrigerate the roll for about an hour before cutting. That wasn't enough for me, so I stuck it into the freezer for another half hour and that made the process a lot less messy.

Strawberry cheesecake popsicles

 

 

Last night I skyped with my sister. We had a bad connection and we couldn't hear each other, so after trying to connect over and over we just resorted to making silly faces at each other, laughing with no sound and then hung up. That made me feel closer to her than a thousand words. There are not many people in the world you can do that with after the age of 7.  

 

When my new favorite workout song came on during my run early this morning, I felt elated and pushed a little harder, my legs burning, feet thumping to the quick beat of the tune.

 

My daughter woke up earlier than usual this morning and sat in the bathroom watching me put on make up. When I finished using the blush brush, she smelled it and said: "oooh, that smells soooooo good. It smells.... (pause to think), it smells just like you Mommy!"

 

After I hugged F good bye before I rushed off to work and he to the airport to catch a flight, I felt closer to him than I sometimes even feel when we are in the same room.

 

These are little things that make a day, a life, special. Especially today, especially when I think of families in Oklahoma. I am so fortunate. I send thoughts and prayers to them.

 

Make these creamy, slightly tangy popsicles and share with your family on a warm summer's day.

 

Adapted from here.

 

Ingredients (makes about 8, depending on mold size)

8 ounces/225gr cream cheese (I used a 200gr tub)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
about 6-8 strawberries
4-6 standard sized graham crackers or Digestives
1 tbs melted butter
 

In a food processor add the cream cheese, powdered sugar  and milk, process until well combined and then add the strawberries. Pulse to combine.

 

Pour mixture into popsicle molds, leaving about 1 inch of the top empty for the crust and tap the molds to remove air bubbles.

 

Melt the butter. In a food processor add the graham crackers/Digestives and pulse until they are fine crumbs and add the melted butter while it is running. The mixture should be the texture of wet sand.

 

Divide the crumbs evenly between the popsicles and press down to compact. Insert the popsicle sticks and freeze.

 

The crumbs will loosen while eating, so I suggest eating over a plate and dipping the popsicle in the crumbs as you go along. Soooo good!

 

A few notes: this is more of a guideline than a recipe. You can use more or less strawberries and sub frozen ones for fresh ones. You can use any kind of milk or sugar, although you may have to play around with quantities. Also, if your strawberries are sweet and ripe, you will probably need less sugar. I used a little less. We don't get graham crackers over here, but Digestives work fine.

 

Pumpkin muffins with streusel topping and maple cream cheese filling

You know from my last post that the past week has been kinda rough. On Friday my colleagues and I filled box after box, took our children's drawings off of the walls, erased the pictures of them on our desktops. Co-workers from other floors filed in one at a time or in small groups to shake hands, hug us and wish us luck. We had a farewell coffee with pastries and foccaccia. A tear or two was shed. It was tough. The hardest part was saying goodbye to three great girls I have been working with for a long time, some even eight years. In this time they have become good friends, a family away from home. We became mothers together, we literally grew up together and all I can say is that I still miss being with them in the same room every minute of my working day.

When I got home yet another good friend came to bid me farewell.  An American expat like myself, our girls were born a few days apart and literally grew up together, going to the same day care, pre-school, kindergarden and elementary school. Needless to say they are best friends and over the years our families bonded. We went on to have two boys and spent many a vacation and week end together. Now she has left too, she lives in a different city and I am happy for her and her new life despite the loss.

But you will agree with me when I say it is cruel to say good bye to four sisters in just a handful of hours.

But then I had a bittersweet phone conversation on Skype and met beautiful little Laura. And the next evening my best friends and husband stepped in at just the right time and organized another, delayed birthday party for me. Just to remind me that I am one lucky girl, with lots of great friends and a job to keep me safe and comfortable.

And so instead of curling into the fetal position and crying myself to sleep like I admit having considered on Friday I decided to celebrate the coming of the fall and Halloween and all that is good in life. Life is full of spice, just like these muffins (that are really cupcakes in disguise, minus the mess because the frosting is on the inside), with a rich and sweet heart.

Make these for your family on Halloween. They are insanely moist with a creamy heart and the lovely crunch of sugar and cinnamon on top.

 

Adapted from Annie's eats.

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Did you know there is no Easter bunny in Italy (if you exclude South Tyrol, which still has strong ties with German traditions)? There are eggs, lots of them. They are baked whole into the savory torta pasqualina (Easter tart). Almost everybody, young or old, gets a chocolate egg with a hidden surprise on the inside. These eggs come in all chocolate varieties and in several sizes. There are eggs for boys, eggs for girls, fancy eggs from bakeries. Lindt eggs, Ferrero eggs, cartoon theme eggs. But there is no bunny to hide them, no sir. He hops right by Italy.

There are all kinds of other animals instead. Lambs are pleniful, as a main course and in the Sicilian marzipan version. Doves are everywhere in the guise of Colombe Pasquali, acake similar to the traditional Christmas panettone. But no Easter rabbit.

As a half American, half German Easter egg dyeing and hunting are a must. I have to let the Easter Bunny know where we are. To make sure he visits us, I baked a carrot cake, because we all know how much rabbits like carrots. A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do, right?

I got the recipe for the cake and the frosting from the Joy of Cooking. It is fool proof and I really mean it. I baked this before rushing out for an evening on the town with F. The recipe said 25-30 minutes. Perfect! The babysitter was on her way up when I pulled the cake out exactly 30 minutes after I put it in. It looked a little wobbly in the center, not a good sign. I tested with a toothpick and it came out clean, so I turned off the oven without second thoughts, certain it would be perfect by the time it cooled off. I was in for a surprise when I discovered in the morning that it had totally sunken in the middle and was undercooked.

I wasn't going to throw away a whole cake, rabbit or not. My only option was to stick it back into the oven. I let it bake for a good 30 more minutes and the center rose, despite leaving a sunken ring and dark edges as a reminder, just to make me feel guilty about the fun I had the night before, when I was too busy downing mojitos to tend to my children cake. While it was cooling I made the frosting, which turned out lucious and creamy. I cut off the slightly burnt edges (thus the crumbs in the frosting on the sides) and slathered it in white goodness. Helloooo Easter Bunny, here we are!

We are off to South Tyrol for Easter to look for the Easter Bunny because, after all this, we forgot to save him piece of the carrot cake. Ooops...

Happy Easter to all of you!

Oreo cheesecake cookies

Saturday night was Derby night in Milan. The city's two soccer teams, Milan and Inter, were playing against each other and the tension in the air was palpable. My husband was visibly nervous and I admit I was pretty happy to be getting out of the house to go to a university reunion.

I thought I had organized things reasonably well: the kids were changed and pretty much ready for bed, their dinner was ready and just needed to be heated. My husband, however, was running around the kitchen like a beheaded chicken, desperate to get them to sleep before the game started. As I was walking out the door, he asked me the same question (along the lines of "where are the spoons?", something he can usually  find blindfolded) for the fourth time in a row. I know that glazed-over look. His mind wasn't functioning, his thoughts and heart were with his blood brothers, his other family, the red and black-clad players of his team. When I told him to relax, that the game was only starting in an hour and a half (I promise I would never leave him with the kids up just a few minutes before a game) he looked at me, incredulous. Forgive me all of you sports fans. How could I not know they were about to start broadcasting from the stadium live? How do the soccer widows of the world not understand that their men need to sit and concentrate for a while before the game?

                         

Our 21 year old nephew was at our house too, visiting on a University break from London. Minor detail: he roots for the other team, Inter (black and blue). Uncle and nephew are very close, in case you are wondering how my husband can watch the derby with the enemy. Good wife that I am, I had baked these cookies for them to munch on after pizza and beer. Black and white, the colors of Juventus. Neutral territory for that evening.

The night ended very well for Milan supporters: they won 3-0, a pretty amazing result. When I heard the outcome of the game, I immediately wrote my hubby a text message and raised my (oops! almost empty) glass to him. Too bad that in all the excitement, he forgot about the cookies. Surprised? I wasn't.

These cookies were pretty much what they promised to be: rich, sweet and...well, a pretty perfect replica of Oreo cheesecake. So if you are partial to Oreo cheesecake, you will love these.

I like cheese cake and Oreo cookies as much as the next girl and grew up opening my Oreos and licking out the filling pretty much like everone else. To be more specific, I usually twisted open the cookie, ate the 'boring' side first and then enjoyed the yummy side with the sugary white filling on it last. How did/do you eat yours?

Er, sorry. Back to my point. As much as I like cheesecake and remembering afternoons at my Nana's eating Oreos, I do not like things that are overly sweet or loaded. So why, you must be wondering, did I make these? First of all, Oreo cookies are still pretty new around here, so it was exciting to just be able to go out, buy them and make something so American it had the words cheesecake and Oreos in its name. Secondly, I was intrigued by the picture of the cookies. They looked very good and pretty cool. I mean, how do you get that wacky crumb effect?

Well, now I know, even if my cookies did not turn out as three dimensional as the Brown Eyed Baker's did (but that is the story of my life).* I would definitely cut down the sugar the next time I bake them, but now I have a good recipe for a birthday party or a playdate. They are the perfect, fun cookie to make for/with kids. Me? I think I will stick to cookies that don't have other cookies as an ingredient.

Last but not least, there are no eggs in this recipe so these are the perfect cookies to make for friends/family with egg allergies.

Fig & cream cheese bars

While people all over the US are in a baking, cooking, organizing frenzy for Thanksgiving, here Christmas is on its way. This morning, as I was riding my bike through Piazza Duomo, I was pleasantly surprised to see they had lit up the big Christmas tree to test the lights. It is still pitch black at 7am and the effect of the illuminated white marble Duomo and golden Madonnina statue on its highest spire and the hundreds of lights on the majestic tree in front of it were enough to make me momentarily catch my breath and feel that first tingle of excitement that accompanies me throughout December. Despite the torrential rain and floods pretty much all over the country on the week end, I noticed people had been at work putting up Christmas lights to decorate the streets. They were still off, but they were hanging in their more sober attire in the shadows, patiently waiting to turn into Cinderella at the ball.

As is traditional in Italy, the stores and supermarkets have started putting copious amounts of frutta secca, dried fruit, on display. Frutta secca not only includes fruit, preponderantly dates and figs in all versions (stuffed with nuts, covered in chocolate, plain); it also comprises all the members of the nut family (walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, peanuts, cashews etc.). I couldn't help buying a few bags of dates and figs recently and wanted to bake with them, something I hadn't done yet.

This dessert can be made for your Thanksgiving feast or you can file away the recipe for your Christmas holidays.

It is reminiscent of fig newtons, but the cream cheese topping adds a whole new dimension. The bars got better and better with the passing of time, so I actually suggest making them a day or two ahead, perfect when you are hosting a large gathering and want to prepare early. I also personally think you can skip adding sugar to the fig filling, as it is sweet enough from the rich honey flavor of the dried fruits, and you can also play around with it, soaking the figs in alcohol for a more grown up version or in juice if you want to add an interesting note.