Food

I’m always looking for new ways to connect with my Italian heritage—most of the time, that involves trying a new recipe. I first heard of Florentine lace cookies, while watching America’s Test Kitchen.

For me to choose a favorite Christmas cookie is nearly impossible, but one of my absolute favorite Christmas flavors is ginger. Gingerbread men and ginger snaps would rank up there near the top of my Christmas cookie list.

Whatever you call them, snowballs, Russian tea cakes, Italian wedding cookies, or even Italian Wedding Christmas cookies, these powdery nutty cookies are a mainstay on most Christmas cookie platters. Despite their popularity, I had never made them before. My mom didn’t make these at Christmas, and I only had them a few times when we received cookies from other holiday bakers.

As a kid, my Thanksgiving plate was basically white — turkey breast, mashed potatoes, and a dinner roll. It’s not that my family didn’t have more choices on the table, it’s that my midwestern palate just never got very developed. I never ate the cranberries, the gravy or the stuffing. Being the baby of the family, my parents never forced me to try things I didn’t want to try, so my experience with food was limited, at best.

My baby boy, Rocco, turned two last month. For Rocco’s first birthday, I made him a low sugar smash cake decorated with cheerios. The cheerios were the dangling carrot to get him to try the cake. It worked, sort of.

On Halloween night, our friend invited us over for crockpot chili before we wrangled our toddlers into a wagon to go trick-or-treating. I asked my friend Amy what I should bring, and she said whatever I’d be baking for the blog next week. I didn’t have an idea in mind, so I decided to make the perfect side dish for chili— a honey sage cornbread.

Halloween is just a week away. I searched Pinterest to find totally fun Halloween desserts that I think both kids and adults would love. There are so many cute desserts out there. I’m always so impressed with other bloggers’ creativity and craftsmanship when it comes to fun desserts.

I’m a busy mom of two under two and a lot of times it’s a challenge fitting in a proper meal. My husband was out of town recently, and the only time I ate a full meal was when the kids were both napping, which I think happened, like once. During busy times, I sometimes grab an energy bar to tide me over to the next meal. The downfall of these convenience snacks is their price and (sometimes) their artificial ingredients. I decided it was time to try a homemade version, so I chose to make pumpkin spice granola bars.

I didn’t try Nutella for the first time until about a year ago. Gasp. This is even more shocking because I’m a true peanut butter and chocolate lover. There is no better food flavor combination, in my humble, baked-good-obsessed opinion.