With Christmas coming around the corner, it is time to post a recipe that I usually get many requests for around this time of year. In my family, Grandma Lorrie’s Anise cookie is by far the favorite of every person, young and old. It is a traditional Italian cookie that is dressed up for Christmas…
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bumpy Cake
If you are not from Michigan, you may never have heard of Bumpy Cake. Bumpy Cake is basically a cake, with piped buttercream frosting over the top and then covered with a fudge ganache. It is a fun cake to make and a very fun cake to eat. I made my own homemade chocolate cake,…
French Style Fruit Tart
A beautiful, easy tart for breakfast or dessert!
Easy Berry Cake with shaken whipped cream
I love this time of year, when fresh seasonal berries make the best desserts. I grow gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, tart cherries and currants in my yard and I love being able to use them in a dessert. This recipe fits that bill nicely, because it works well with so many summer fruits. You can change…
Italian Almond Paste Cookies
Note: This is a special post requested by my sweet niece, Anglea who is a new Mom to Anthony! Congratulations, Angie and Joe! – Love, Tia At Christmas every year I like to make a large variety of cookies. There is nothing like having people drop over and having a freezer full of cookies to…
Explosive Mixture, a labor of love!
In the next week, I will be blogging about two completely different things that have one thing in common: They both take more than one day to make. Today, it is all about Explosive Mixture! I was introduced to explosive mixture by my brother, Rick… a Renaissance Man to the nth degree. Rick had made…
Gooey Ice Cream Cake
Have you ever been stuck with bringing dessert to a party, but just don’t have enough time to impress the crowd with your amazing baking skills? Well honey, are you gonna thank me for this one! This recipe is super simple, make-ahead and loved by adults and kids alike! It transcends your basic ice cream…
Old School Sausage Risotto
Comfort food. Food Mama made. The tastes and smells of a day gone by. These are the things that keep me coming back to an old, but dare I say it, incorrect recipe. Growing up with six brothers and sisters really made for interesting family dinners. My mother was adept at fixing good, wholesome food…
Summer Grain salad
Its Father’s Day and I am already sick and tired of potato and Macaroni salad! Dad wanted burgers for dinner, but I needed to come up with an interesting side… I got some inspiration from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten and threw together this amazing couscous salad! It has some bold flavors, is…
Memories of Italy
My brother is the original renaissance man. He makes his own beer, sausage, bacon, pickles…you name it! On my last visit to his house, I tried a batch of his homemade cavatelli. It was so good and sent me on mental trip back to an Italian trattoria. A few weeks after the visit, my…
Cooking for six 