Recipe: Eggplant, Capicola, Mozzarella Bake

Becoming Italian: Eggplant, Capicola, Mozzarella Bake: A few weeks ago my FIL did some experimenting in the kitchen and came up with this delicious  Eggplant, Capicola, Mozzarella dish!

E. C. M. Bake

1 large eggplant

flour for dusting

Olive Oil for frying

Capicola

Mozzarella cheese

Marinara sauce

Heat about 1/2 cup oil in frying pan. Thinly slice peeled eggplant. Dredge in flour for a light coating. Fry eggplant slices. Let cool on paper towel to soak excess oil. Once cool, line a 13x9 baking dish with a layer of the eggplant. Next the capicola, marinara, and sliced cheese. Repeat until the top layer is the last of the eggplant slices. Spoon more marinara on the top and add some extra cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted. Serve with a fresh garden salad. Enjoy!

Pupa con L'uova - Italian Easter Bread Recipe

 Italian Easter Bread

 2.25 tsp instant yeast

pinch of salt

2 eggs, beaten

1.25 cups milk

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

4 cups flour

1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp water

6 Easter Eggs

Decorative edible sprinkles

Combine melted butter with milk and heat til just warm. In your mixer bowl combine the yeast, salt, sugar, 2 eggs. Using your dough hook mix these until well incorporated then add warm milk/butter and combine. Once all is combined add the flour until the dough is not too sticky. Knead the dough until smooth and place in greased bowl. Cover and place in warm area to rise until double in size.

Punch down the dough, divide it into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into long strands about 12-14 inches long. Take two strands and twist. Pinch both ends then form a loop and pinch ends together. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Let rise til double in size, about another hour.

Once loaves are risen, paint with egg wash, add the sprinkles and place an easter egg in the center, making sure to push it down for an indention. You do not need to hard boil the eggs before, they will cook in the oven with the bread. Just be careful when coloring and placing them.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until the tops are a golden brown.

These make great gifts too! Put in a cello bag, tie a pretty bow around it and give to your Easter guests as a take home treat. I'd advise you to replace the real egg with a plastic egg for this, real eggs, though cooked will go bad after a bit.

Thumbs up by my official taste tester!

Kids are sponges with Foreign Language Immersion

It's official, my daughter does have an Italian accent.

When she first started putting sentences together my Speech Path friend Sheri commented on B's accent. Well, of course I'm going to believe Sheri, she is trained and talented at picking out the smallest of speech nuances that people such as myself are not. I, the mom, do not hear an accent. Don't get me wrong, she does say a few words a bit funny: Picnic is Pick-a-nick; Backpack  is Back-a-pack; Pick me up is Pick-a-me-up-a, but these alone do not make an accent.

Throw in almost completing a full academic year at Language Stars for Italian and staying with Nonno & Nonna at least a couple weekends a month; this girl doesn't stand a chance at NOT knowing a second language & having a nice little accent to go along with it!

Two weeks ago B was playing with some neighbors and the mom asks my husband "Where did B get her accent?".  He politely replied "My dad" and that was that. Last weekend B was at Nonno's & Nonna's from Thursday til Sunday! Saturday night we called her, and while she was jibber-jabbering on about movies, decorating eggs, eating, etc.  I heard it! 

Her accent was so strong I laughed after hanging up and still laugh thinking about it. When something is right underneath your nose you don't see(hear) it. Step away for a few days and Badda-bing, D'accordo!

CEO: Figgy the Italian Fairy by Kimberly Demetrio

Figgy the Italian Fairy

The Fairy Figgy loves all the trees

but her favorite of all has big sweet fig leaves.

She sings and dances and glows with much love.

She even talks to the figs in their own native tongue.

Figgy speaks Italian,

a language so sweet.

Another fairy who speaks it

she has yet to meet.

The Fairy Queen one day had a sorrowful job.

One lonely fig tree, she had heard it sob.

"This cannot be, all trees must be sprite

I'm sending Figgy to tend, immediately tonight."

Figgy was sent to an area unknown.

She didn't know the fairies,

she didn't know the gnomes.

Figgy was scared when she arrived late that night,

she ran to her tree and sang "It'll be alright".

She looked at the house and in the window she saw

a fairy like human a couple feet tall.

Figgy grew happy, she knew she'd be fine

she had her own fig tree and a little human divine.

One day her humans were out in the sun

her little human divine was having much fun.

The language they spoke made the fig stand with pride,

Figgy's ears perked to listen and her heart happily cried,

"I found more like me, this was the Queen's plan

She sent me to live where they speak Italian."

-Kimberly Demetrio

Figgy the Italian Fairy copyright 2012

B is in Italian school. She understands the language quite well, yet, doesn't use it much on her own. To encourage her to speak more of the language I made this wool fairy to hang in our window, looking out at our fig tree. I wrote the story to go along as a reference. B loved the story and the fairy. She still doesn't like to speak Italian much, but I have caught her using her new language skills whispering to Figgy in the window. My plan is working!

Lessons in Parenting: Geography kick to the balls

Today I felt inspired to hold an impromptu geography lesson about Italy.

Me: What does Italy look like?

B:  A boot!
Me: Nonno is from the heel; Nonna is from the toe. See the futbol the toe is kicking? That is the island Sicily. Where is Sicily? (hoping to have her point on the map)
B: Nonna is kicking its balls.

PRICELESS! I may just sign her up for Second City soon! (And consider my audience before the next lesson!)

Our New Baby!

This past month I have been nesting. I am crocheting like a mad woman, scrapbooking is on the dining room table, and crafts with B are just about every day. So, what had to be next? A new addition to our family! 

Welcome Baby Italia, our 4 month old Italian Greyhound puppy.

 

I am not a dog person. I was not a kid person either, but B has grown on me. :-)

If having a dog is like having a perpetual 2 year old pray for me! And I once again applaud all of you with more than one child, this is a very taxing job!



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A Booger of a Bug

Our family has been battling a very determined "bug" over the past few months. It got the best of our daughter who now has a Sinus Infection!

I prefer prescribed antibiotics as a last resort to fight most ailments, including icky sinus stuff.  That said, for the next few days I'm ramping up our home remedies for her Sinus Infection and here's the list:

• Keep the menthol vapor rub on her
• Put the vapor mist machine back in her room
• Make lots of extra garlic infused meals for her since she has yet to learn how to swallow capsules. Thank God she's Italian and loves all things garlic!
• Avoid ALL dairy products. Over Christmas I was lax about this and her condition worsened.
• Oh how great it would be to have my 2.5 year old let us administer the Neti Pot on her to clean out those sinuses and help alleviate the inflammation. Frighteningly that would be like attempting to hug a wounded lion trapped in a corner who is hungry. Ain't gonna happen!
• Lots of hot herbal tea (they make a great one for kids) sweetened with a heaping amount of local, organic honey.
• And of course Nonno's "special" broth soup that she loves.

If after the few days this "booger" of a bug doesn't want to leave, then off to our awesome Pediatrician for a dose of man-made infection ammo!

Another Frugal Feast!

Once again, another frugal dinner success! For $6.00 we have 2 nights of dinner for the 3 of us! That's right, a $3.00 dinner tonight. For less than 1 value meal at that fast food joint with the clown a pseudo healthy meal was created.  Here it is: (And yes, my hubs created a delish dipping sauce for our falafel!)

Fried Falafel with fresh made Naan and a Parsley Lemon dipping sauce, served with a scoop of sour cream, fresh radishes, and red bell pepper strips.

The recipes are posted here, at Becoming Italian if you are wanting to try it for yourself!

(Except for the falafel-I buy the box mix you just have to add water to!)

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Swordfish Delish Dish!

The Mom Standard is not turning into a food blog, but since I make the rules I'll allow awesome recipes that are easy to prepare, delicious, and for the most part-inexpensive!

Here's another delish dish taken from

The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

Istanbul's Pandeli Restaurant Fish Packets

1.5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/4 pound piece of swordfish or boneless fillet of sea bass, snapper, or haddock (I used swordfish steaks)

2 or 3 small potatoes, peeled, or 1 medium potato peeled and cut into 3 or 4 pieces

2 or 3 pearl onions. (I used a regular white onion 'cause that was all we had in the house)

1 thick slice of tomato, diced (I used a small can of diced tomatoes)

3 or 4 strips of green bell pepper

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of sweet paprika mixed with a pinch of cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

-Makes 1 serving

Pull out a square of heavy-duty foil or parchment large enough to make a loose packet around the fish and the vegetables.. Smear half of the olive oil on the foil and set the fish in the middle.

Parboil the potatoes for about 4 or 5 minutes

Pile the parboiled potatoes, onions, tomato, and pepper strips on top of the fish.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and the paprika/cayenne mixture. Drizzle the remaining oil and the lemon juice over the top.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the fish and vegetables are cooked all the way through. (I cooked them for 40 minutes).

The FruGAL in me wants to let you know that the swordfish steaks were from Trader Joe's and cost about $7.00. The rest of the ingredients we had in our kitchen. So for frugal meal planning, this one fed 3 for about $8.00! We would pay closer to $45 or $50 at the local Mediterranean restaurant we frequent!

My daughter insisted I photograph her plate of food as well. Yep, she ate this dish and liked it!

P.S. If you're starting to like my cooking too, you can check out other recipes I've made on my blog Becoming Italian!

July Wrap Up

Tomorrow our No Spend July Challenge comes to an end. What an eye opening, liberating, and shameful experience it's been! We are starting the No Spend August Challenge now that we have a feel for things, and we really want to do better than we did this month.

July Wrap Up:

1. We haven't a clue what we spent all our money on before and are quite embarrassed by this.

2. It was nice spending more time as a family and focusing on us.

3. I received my FIL's yummy pizza dough recipe!

4. I still haven't fully decluttered the basement!

5. No one wants to buy our stuff.

6. My daughter will eat anything we put in front of her! (tonight she ate shark)

7. My daughter gets excited about broccoli!

8. We still spent too much $

9. I'm starting to feel like I live in Italy with my clothesline outside my kitchen window

10. We have all we need

11. It feels great to be in control of our lives

12. I'm starting to become a good cook

13. I've been keeping up with my blogging!!!!!!

I'm excited to start August! I'll keep you updated on how we are doing!

Frugal is the new Black baby!

Cumin Get Happy!

My culinary adventures are usually documented in my other blog, Becoming Italian, but I had to share this one! OMG!

Pretty much 90% of the food we cook is of some Mediterranean influence, with about 98% of that being Italian. Well, tonight I pulled out my bible of Med cooking, "The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook" by Nancy Harmon Jenkins and made the most delish meal so far to date!

Seriously, we are adding it to our weekly meal plan, it's that good! Let me share it with you!

Kousbariya-A Lebanese fish baked in a tomato-cilantro sauce

OK, seeing it in a picture makes it look a bit scary, but from my mouth to G_d's ear it is good!

Want to try it yourself?

Here's the recipe (page 259)

2 pounds firm-textured white fish (I used cod)

a little flour for dusting the fish

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, chopped

3 very ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I used one 28oz can of diced tomatoes)

1 tablespoon ground Cumin

1 cup minced cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Cut the fish into serving size pieces about 1 inch thick.  Lightly dust the fish pieces with flour.  Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy saute pan over medium to high heat and, when it is almost smoking, add the pieces of fish.  /saute the fish, a few pieces at a time, for 2 or 3 minutes to a side.

When all the fish is done, discard the frying fat, wipe the pan clean.  Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and over medium-low heat gently saute the onion and garlic until soft but not brown-about 10-15 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have given off their juices and started to thicken-about 10 minutes.  Stir in the cumin and cilantro.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Arrange the fish pieces in a shallow baking or gratin dish and cover them with sauce.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the fish is thoroughly cooked and the sauce is bubbling.

Then dig in!

As a side my husband made Bruschetta on French bread that I made yesterday. All ingredients from our garden...can't get any fresher!

Day 3: A new clothesline & family time

We're starting day three of our No Spend Challenge having already spent $125! Seriously, right out of the gate we had to fork over some dough. But, I will say that we made this amount stretch much further than we would have before.  (Read the following using the voice of the dude from the Price is Right, the one who makes the Showcase of a ceramic Dalmatian sound like a pot of gold!)

Tell them what $125 gets them Kim

• A full tank of gas ($30)
• $60 dollars worth of groceries for $34--I  love coupons & sales!
• A Doctor's appointment ($35 a pop)
• A refill of prescriptions ($4 a month)
• Birthday gifts for 2 little boys ($20)
• Anchors to hang our new clothesline ($2)

You're thinking...you still spent a good amount of money is 2 days, Kim. What makes this different? The difference is we are actually thinking about our needs and planning on how to spend the money. Last month, $125 would have been spent in about 2 hours for dinner & "something cool" we should get for the house, kid, yard, etc. And, $125 is all the cash we took out. The cash is gone until next Friday when we'll take another $125 to last us hopefully to the end of the month (but I do have budgeted an extra $100 just in case).

Other "frugal" things we've done or are planning on doing:

• Transferred our credit card balance to our no-balance one that was offering 0% interest for 6 months-saving us up to $300!
• hanging 99% of our laundry out to dry instead of using our electric dryer.
• keeping the ceiling fans going to circulate the air in the house to keep it cool...turning on the AC only when extremely necessary.
• freezing half of all the fruits and freezable veggies we've been buying-this cuts down on throwing out anything when it goes bad from us not using it!
• Making homemade pizza dough this weekend to freeze
• And I'm most excited about: figuring out how to 'can' my famous Vodka Sauce so I can make a big vat of it and not have to freeze it...our freezer hasn't any more room!

This "No Spend Challenge" (NSC) is not just about not spending money, its also about saving on utilities, enjoying what we already have, getting closer as a family, and taking the time and effort to stop-look-listen to the present...stop rushing for tomorrow and looking back on yesterday asking "Where did it go" and answering "I can't remember".

Yep, this NSC is about living today for today and making every action count!

Now I'm off to make some cookie dough for a few orders I have!

Have a great holiday weekend!

Becoming Italian: Festival of the Woman! Why is this not well known?...

I posted this on my other blog, Becoming Italian, but had to share it here!

Becoming Italian: Festival of the Woman! Why is this not well known?...:

Sunday my inlaws were over and while I sat outside with my FIL he began telling me about a festival that is starting in his hometown back in Italy. It's something to the effect of the Festival of the Madonna of the high seas (he's from a coastal town).

Anywho, I thought about trying to find some 411 on this festival...wait, back note-one of the highlights of this festival is when divers take a plastic Madonna (as in Mary, Jesus's mom-not the Material girl) and at dark they put lights in it and have it slowly rise up from the ocean while the entire town looks on with awe. I found that a bit creepy, thus my interest in finding out more about it. Ok, back to the subject.

While I was searching for this kinda creepy festival I came across one that I've never heard of and obviously neither has Hallmark: Festa Della Donna: The festival of the woman! That's right, March 8 is International Women's Day and in Italy the men (and in recent times women) give their mamas, sisters, girlfriends, wives, etc. etc. a bundle of Mimosa flowers, get this--as a sign of respect for the women!

Here's my rant: We celebrate freakin Ground Hog's Day (my wedding aniversary btw) but NOT Festa Della Donna!

Come on, show a girl a little respect!

[To My Husband: Put March 8th in your iPhone Calendar to get me some Mimosa flowers!-Love You :-)]