Archive for the ‘books’ Category
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Trees and Brownstones Grow in BrooklynI recently finished Betty Smith’s classic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and I can’t get Francie, Neeley, and the gang out of my head. That, my friends, is the mark of a book that’s bound to be one of my all-time favorites.
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Sweet Apple Omelet from Gina DePalma’s Dolce Italiano
Meet Gina DePalma’s Sweet Apple Omelet, or as I like to call it, How to Eat Apple Pie for Breakfast Without Feeling Guilty.
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Ricotta Pound Cake from Gina DePalma’s Dolce Italiano
**NOTE THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED.**
Welcome to Day 3 of the Dolce Italiano Contest in which you can win a free, personalized, signed copy of Dolce Italiano, the newly-released, highly-acclaimed Italian dessert cookbook by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Mario Batali’s Babbo Ristorante Enoteca in New York City.
You can read more about the contest in this post of mine and also over at Shelley’s At Home in Rome, home of the event, but here’s the gist: Shelley, Sara, Ilva, Jenn, and I are going to be posting recipes from the book over the next two weeks.
In order to be entered into the drawing for the free, personalized, signed copy of Dolce Italiano, you need to comment on the recipe posts; you can comment on all 10 over the next two weeks to maximize your chances of winning.
All comments must be posted by 11:59 p.m. PST on Friday, December 7th, 2007 to be entered.
So, after you leave me a note here, if you haven’t commented on Sara’s Mosaic Biscotti from Monday or Ilva’s Chocolate Kisses from yesterday, do go over and comment.
When collaborating, we had to figure out which days we would all post our recipes. I, of course, requested Wednesdays to keep the What’s Cooking Wednesday theme alive and also to enrich the WCW collection with some delicious Dolce Italiano recipes.
Now to the recipe.
I’m a cake and cookie girl, so it’s not surprising that the first dessert I’ve chosen is in one of those food groups–namely the Ricotta Pound Cake.
I love any kind of cake and I also love ricotta, so I had a pretty good idea I’d enjoy this too.
“Enjoy” doesn’t do this justice.
I *love* this cake. LOVE THIS CAKE.
The ricotta gives an extra kick to the normally tame (I didn’t say boring–did you hear boring?) pound cake as well as an awful lot of moisture. I love how the outside is nice and crunchy but inside it’s actually almost wet. This is without a doubt one of the best cakes I’ve ever made or eaten.
And as Gina wrote in the book, it *is* even better the next day–that just didn’t seem possible after I took my first bite nearly fresh out of the oven. I really have to learn to trust the experts.
Ah, and another bonus? It goes great with espresso!
Ricotta Pound Cake
(condensed from Gina DePalma’s Dolce Italiano)
1 1/2 c cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c fresh whole-milk ricotta
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 vanilla bean
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and place rack in center.
2. Grease and flour 9-inch loaf pan.
3. In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, cream together butter, ricotta, and sugar until smooth and light.
5. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping sides of bowl after each addition.
6. If you have a vanilla bean (I didn’t), split it lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the blunt side of a small knife, then beat them into the batter along with the vanilla extract. I just used another teaspoon of vanilla extract.
7. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients to combine them, scrape down sides of the bowl, and beat the batter for 30 seconds on medium.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula. Tap pan on counter a few times to remove air pockets.
9. Put cake in oven and let bake for 15 minutes, then turn 180 degrees to ensure even browning. Lower the temperature to 325°F (160°C) and let bake until cake springs back when lightly touched, the sides of the cake have pulled away from the sides of the pan, and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 minutes more.
For some reason, mine took another 35 minutes, so do keep a close eye on it. Perhaps it had to do with the water content of the ricotta I used versus what Gina uses? Experts?
10. Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert it on wire rack to cool completely. Mine came right out of the pan like no other loaf I’ve made before–the browned outside is key here. Dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.
As Gina says, flavor is best the next day, and I have to agree. Leftover cake can be stored for up to three days so long as it’s wrapped in plastic.
Buon appetito!
Today I’m thankful for:
Ricotta Pound Cake of course! YUM!
Dolce Italiano Contest with Gina DePalma
If you also read Shelley’s At Home in Rome (and if you don’t, why don’t you?!), you probably already know this, but just in case, I’m letting you in on the big news:
We’re having a contest! And it involves desserts! And books!
Brainstormed and organized by Shelley, the Dolce Italiano Contest centers on the book by the same name by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef at Mario Batali’s famous New York City restaurant Babbo.
And this is no ordinary cookbook. It’s getting rave reviews all over the place and has been named the 3rd best Cooking, Food, & Wine book of 2007 on Amazon.com and one of Publishers Weekly’s best books of the year (Lifestyle).
So now, Shelley, three other bloggers that you know and love, and I are getting together to help one of you win your very own signed copy!
Starting today and for the next two weeks (Monday-Friday), one of us will feature a recipe from Dolce Italiano. If you leave a comment on a post, you’re entered to win the book. Only one comment per post counts toward the drawing, but if you comment on each of the 10 posts, that gives you 10 chances to win.
Comments on all 10 posts will be accepted for the drawing up until 11:59 PST on Friday, December 7.
And you and your family can have a very lovely holiday season with all these delicious Italian desserts.
So where do you need to go? Here’s the schedule:
Mondays: Sara’s Ms Adventures in Italy
Tuesdays: Ilva’s Lucullian Delights
Wednesdays: Right here baby!
Thursdays: Shelley’s At Home in Rome
Fridays: Jenn’s The Leftover Queen
Since it’s Monday, you need to head on over to Ms Adventures in Italy and see what Sara has made just for you today. And comment! Don’t forget to comment!
Please note that comments on this post (that you’re reading right now), although sincerely appreciated, do not count as entries in the contest; only comments on recipe posts will be entered into the drawing.
Also check out Shelley’s three-part interview with Ms DePalma here, here, and here.
Today I’m thankful for:
The opportunity to be a part of the Dolce Italiano Contest. I cannot say enough good things about this book. Yes, there are recipes for cookies, cakes, spoon desserts, tarts, ice creams, sorbets, semifreddos, fried treats, dishes with fruit, celebratory desserts, and savory goodies–but there’s also a whole lot of information on Italian baking in general, techniques, equipment, ingredients, and more.
Goodness my grandmother would’ve loved this. She *loved* Molto Mario.
If you’re a foodie, this is a book you’ll want to get all floury and sugary during the day and then curl up with at night. It’s an awesome gift for anyone who loves baking, so whether you win one or not, I highly recommend picking up a copy.
The Daring Book for Girls
Today my blog is one of the stops on MotherTalk.com’s Blog Tour for The Daring Book for Girls by MotherTalk founders Andrea J. Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz.
The Daring Book for Girls; Andrea J. Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz; ISBN 978-0-06-147257-2, HarperCollins Publishers (October 30, 2007); hardcover; 280 pp.
Four words can easily sum up how I feel about The Daring Book for Girls:
I LOVE THIS BOOK.
Now let me take you back to the day when I received it in the mail. I opened the package and saw what looked like an old school textbook: uber-retro from the electric blue hardcover to the throwback font.
And then I noticed the glitter, and right then I knew this was no ordinary “Here’s what to do on a rainy afternoon with your little girl” book.
I opened it up to find even more of the retro style through font choice and drawings, which I just loved. It transported me right back to my childhood, surely one of the book’s goals, and that was before I even got to reading all the good stuff inside.
The Daring Book for Girls is meant to be a manual full of the things that young girls should know; it’s set up in quick, easy to read chapters, perfect for you or the young girl in your life to pick up whenever the mood strikes and always find something interesting.
Now lest you think we’re talking about how to press flowers, making knots and stitches, how to throw a good slumber party (complete with Bloody Mary and Light as a Feather!), and putting your hair up with a pencil–although all of these are in the book too–some other subjects include: building a campfire, tree swings, how to negotiate a salary, watercolor painting, and finance (interest, stocks, and bonds).
For the athletically-inclined, there are sections on hiking, yoga, paddling a canoe, softball, roller skating, bowling, karate, climbing, and hopscotch from around the world. For the more smartypants-inclined, there are math tricks, words to impress, Greek and Latin root words, and a list of “books that will change your life.”
Interspersed throughout this trip down memory lane are history lessons (“What is the Bill of Rights?”) and stories of famous and notable women (among which are Amelia Earhart, Joan of Arc, and a five part series on Queens of the Ancient World), which make this book a fairly complete reference book full of information as well as things to do.
The Daring Book for Girls is 280 pages of fun–a one-stop guide of what the young girl in your life needs to know and how you can teach her.
I have to admit that at first I felt a little guilty getting this book to review when I don’t have any daughters (yet, hopefully), but I quickly realized that’s not a prerequisite to enjoying it. This is a great book even for those of who simply want to take a walk through more innocent times, to remember what it felt like to be out on the corner playing Chinese Jump Rope or doing cartwheels with the neighborhood kids.
And if you don’t remember the words to some of those handclap game ditties? You just might find them here. “Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black….”
Oh, and some of us might even still find the section on boys particularly useful.
And so, with my first ever 5 espresso cups out of 5 rating, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone with a special little girl around, who wants a great reference book of what a young girl’s childhood should be about, and/or who would simply love to reminisce with the help of Buchanan and Peskowitz.
It is so comforting to know that all of the silly, innocent fun that I experienced as a child isn’t gone forever; indeed it’s in this book.
Today I am thankful for:
The awesome memories that surfaced while looking through this book, such as:
- endless games of hopscotch, jump rope (Chinese and regular), and handclap games I played with my cousins and the neighborhood kids;
- what it was like when I first started to seek out books to read on my own;
- building forts in the living room with the couch cushions and lots of blankets;
- all of the paintings, drawings, and other art projects that helped pass many rainy days;
- playing football on the baseball field in the winter snow;
- exploring in the woods and picking up anything that struck my fancy from arrowheads to pretty rocks to blueberries.
Those *were* the days.
What are some of your fondest childhood memories?
P.S. I’m posting this from an internet cafe but at least I saw a rainbow on the way.
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[tags]the daring book for girls, books, book reviews, childhood memories, nablopomo, 30 days of thanks[/tags]
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
Calabria Guidebook
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