Pizzelle Perfect

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Baked in Bloomfield ( using a special pizzelle iron)

Maria Merante – Celebrating all things Italian since 1983

Anise or vanilla?  They are delicate and delicious.

 

Knit Yesterday, Baked Fruit and Nut Biscotti Today

Here is a bit more on knitting first. Molly showed me all of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s books and told me about the quote at the end here. Not that wedding preparations are crises but you get the idea.

“Zimmermann was the first knitter to be honored with a full obituary and article in the New York Times titled “E. Zimmermann Is Dead at 89; Revolutionized Art of Knitting.” It appeared on Sunday, December 12, 1999. Her motto was

“Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises.” “

And on to the recipe from the NY Times.

When Matthew graduated from college in St. Paul his friend Patty’s family from Vermont, brought these biscotti. I thought they were delicious. Baking them for the cookie table. My friend Lara typed up the recipe.

I use the apricots, dried cranberries, pistachios and almond combination. The lemon and orange zest are fragrant. I bake them about 28 minutes at 350. You can slice and bake again to dry out the slices. When you make the logs, you need a bit of flour to shape them as the dough is a tad sticky and wet.

Jozie’s Mother- Genoeffa Sciulli- Baked a Biscotti Cake

The unexpected gift of cake!   Her daughter Jozie brought it to me at Mama D’s retirement picnic down the hill in the park on Friday night.  Mrs. Sciulli taught me how to make this cake in her basement kitchen a couple of years ago.  It is like an Italian sponge cake, light and not too sweet, perfect with coffee. Just delicious.   Today she baked one and sent it to me.  So nice of her.  I came home, cut a piece with a serrated knife and photographed it in the living room before I ate it. Mrs. Sciulli calls it biscotti but it is not like biscotti we think of biscotti, a twice baked cookie., hard and ready to dunk. This cake is light and eggy and has a beautiful crumb. Thank you Mrs. Sciulli.  And Joz for bringing it to me. What a nice surprise! It is delicious.

Cookie Table(s) at Pittsburgh Weddings are Tradition

Cookie-Table-WeddingTonight Mark and Erika are at a wedding and I am thinking about the cookie table. Wondering if they packed a container and brought home some cookies. (Probably not since they are doing the PX90 workout these days.)

There was a big article in the New York Times in Dec 2009. Several theories as to the origin of the tradition. The wedding reception featured in the article took place at the Le Mont where Mark and Erika had their reception, too. The cookie tables shown today on the blog are from a May 2009 wedding of my friend Donna’s son John and his lovely bride Angie. They had multiple cookie tables and the cookies were delicious. Everyone must have baked their hearts out for this wedding! Dozens and dozens of cookies. Everyone has a favorite type cookie and I have seen wedding guests scarf down a dozen or so lady locks BEFORE dinner is served.

Anyone know about the unwritten rules of cookie tables as written about in the Chowhound article??

Cookie-Table-Pittsburgh-Wedding-Fruit-Centerpieces

Cookie-Table-PittsburghCookie-Table-Pittsburgh- WeddingThese cookie tables are all from the SAME wedding!!