I've been in party mode and haven't really cooked "normal" for a while, so I thought I would share with you how I prepped for a recent party I had for 26 with the main course being 200 homemade ravioli.
Homemade ravioli holds a special place in my heart because I can remember my mom and aunt making them together when my cousins and I were very young, white sheets covering dining room tables and beds, filled with drying ravioli. Today I make them a little different, no more drying on sheets, instead they go right into the freezer after they're made.


All the ravioli were made a few days before and tucked away in my freezer ready for the big day, we made two different versions, meat and cheese.


Because I would be cooking so many ravioli at one time, there was no way I wanted to be boiling them while my house was filled with people, so I opted to make them the night before, something I've never done.

During the week prior to my party I went to a local restaurant supply store and bought commercial size heavy duty foil sheet pans, they were perfect to lay my ravioli on in a single layer.
They were huge and covered my whole oven rack, and even though I don't have a commercial size oven I made them fit by slightly folding up the sides.

All my sauce was cooked ahead of time so assembling was pretty easy. After spreading sauce all over the bottom of the sheet pans I placed my slightly undercooked ravioli on top, single layer, placing more sauce on top. After they cooled down I sprinkled grated Pecorino on top and covered the pans with heavy duty aluminum foil and placed them in my second fridge, ( it's older and has bigger shelves).

The day of the party I took them out of the fridge and got them to room temperature and with the foil still on, I baked them for only 15 minutes in a 350 oven until warmed through, after they were done I dolloped more warmed sauce on top and they were good to go! For a big crowd this was the perfect way to make them, no hot boiling pots all over the place, all that was done in advance.

Thanks to my family, all my dear cousins and their families for such a fun night!

So if you ever doubted cooking ravioli ahead of time for a large crowd like I did, no worries because it was a complete success!

Buon Appetito!

I love spring rolls, but have always been intimidated by them. Maybe it's because it's an Asian thing and that's totally out of my league. I heard horror stories of spring roll skins ripping and sticking together, but even so I was determined to try them!

I wanted to make these for our annual picnic at Ravinia last August, but chickened out at the last minute for fear I would ruin it all. Spring rolls are light, not fried, usually filled with fresh veggies, chicken or shrimp, always accompanied by a delicious dipping sauce, and best of all, everything is enclosed in a pretty little package, easy to handle, great to transport, perfect for a picnic, as a light appetizer, or even a light lunch.


Well I'm happy to say the whole process was very easy! I actually made Asian spring rolls first, with shrimp, shredded carrots, cabbage, cilantro and a little hoisen sauce in each. We dipped them in a great Asian sauce I got from Trader Joe's.

But since this is an Italian food blog I wanted to do a little twist on the classic and try making them Italian style!

All you do is take your wrappers, place them in warm water til they melt a little and become limp. I then laid each wrapper on a clean dish towel and padded them dry
.
I had all my ingredients ready, cooked shrimp, marinated artichokes, (drained), roasted red pepper strips, and raw zucchini, julienned. Next, I placed everything onto a wrapper with a dollop of basil pesto, a drizzle of olive oil, a little salt and pepper, then rolled it all up like a burrito!

For my Italian version I used basil pesto as a dipping sauce, but I want to experiment with other things. Do any of you have any idea's? I would love your input.

Next time you're hesitant about trying something out of your comfort zone, don't be, give it a try, because these were amazing!!

Have a relaxing weekend, and Buon Appetito!!

This happened to be a very timely challenge for me, because yesterday my daughter and I hosted a personal shower for my neice. I thought "what a great idea, I'll make these for the shower!" Considering I had a bunch of other things to cook and bake for the shower, this might not have been such a good idea! Doing something new and unfamiliar, then dipping and decorating them, and of course taking pictures! Well you know what I mean!!

Thursday night I baked the cheesecake which by the way, took me 65 min. to bake. My oven is only 2 years old and very accurate, so I set the timer for the 35 to 45 min. that the recipe called for, but it just didn't set. Other than that, I had no problems at all!


Here is the perfectly set and cooled cheesecake!



This months challenge of these DECADENT Cheesecake Pops, was hosted by two ladies, Elle, of Feeding my Enthusiasms and Deborah, at Taste and Tell. Go over to their blogs to check out the whole recipe. I have to admit these little pops were quite a hit at the shower, I got alot of "Ooooh's" and "Ahhhh's" A big thanks to them both!


As far as the melting of the chocolate, I did mine in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, it turned out nice and glossy and stuck to the frozen cheesecake balls perfectly.



I decided to decorate the lolipop stick with pipe cleaners, they were super easy to bend around, and I liked the color it added. Great for a Girlie shower!!



I got a little carried away with what I decorated them with. Here is what I used:

Mini chocolate chips

Sprinkles

Coconut

Chopped pecans

Crushed Oreo cookies

Plain chocolate

Crushed Skors toffee bar

Crushed Biscotti ( of course I had to get something Italian in there!)




These one bite wonders are perfect for any party, trust me, they're worth it!!




Please check out some of the other Daring Bakers amazing Cheesecake Pops here.

I have to admit, after seeing the September issue of Bon Appetite, with the cover being Meatball Sliders, I knew this was something I had to make! Sliders have a different meaning today, we use to think of them as tiny greasy burgers, well a lot has changed!! Now these tiny Gourmet mini sandwiches are popping up all over the place . Some of the Best Restaurants, Bar's and Parties are serving up these little Jewels!!

I take pride in my meatballs! ( don't we all?) only using the Best ingredients, and with some Good Home Made Sauce, I knew I could pull this off!! The hardest thing was trying to find good mini buns. Well after much searching I found them!!

As with Bon Appetite,I toasted the bun as well,which I think is key! Then place a couple of baby Arugula leaves on the bottom, 1 Meatball for each slider, a little dollop of sauce! and finally, a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano completes it!!! Can you imagine a tray of these at your next party?? They will be gone in a heartbeat!!