Three Years of Deliciousness mark the end of 2011!

Wow, it's been three years for 'la bella vita' as of this past October, and here we are once again at the end of another year!  Time truly does pass by quickly, doesn't it?  I know that all of us in the blogging world enjoy looking back at our original blog posts and seeing how our blogs have 'evolved' over time.  I know that 'la bella vita' has certainly transformed since it's beginning in 2008.  And what a unique and wonderful community of friends I've made in these three years!

This end-of-the-year post is my annual compilation of your 'favorites' that you've commented on the most and have also prepared in your own kitchens (the ultimate compliment).  I have to agree with you, these are wonderful recipes, with some that were entirely new and some that are tried and true family recipes.  I hope you enjoy this ensemble of good eats from 2011.

January, 2011's chill of winter, as usual, always presents opportunities to heat up the oven to prepare delicious recipes.  For us, this oven-baked pork roast created by the late Craig Claiborne back in the 70's when my passion for cooking sprouted, is simply perfect.  Dripping in a garlic-thyme-lemon-olive oil marinade, this Roast Pork with Garlic and Thyme never fails to warm us up with super flavor!

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In February, 2011 we were still experiencing some serious winter weather here in the South.  However, since winter is the premier, peak growing season for citrus I created this special Italian Blood Orange Polenta Olive Oil Cake with a sweet mascarpone filling, then drizzled with honey.  This is a less sweet and heavier-crumb cake that is perfect with a hot cup of coffee or tea any time of the day.

For March, 2011 there were two recipes that tied in popularity with you!  I think my readers have some serious sweet teeth!  First, for breakfast or brunch, I created a decadent Raspberry and Italian Mascarpone Cheese Stuffed French Toast.  It tastes as wonderful as it looks!  The second sweet treat is a 'lite' version of Luscious Lemon Cake with Limoncello Cream Icing!  Yumminess with less guilt!  You loved both of these recipes!

In April, 2011 the most popular recipe was another one of my creations that is super easy to make and definitely a diet-buster!  Farfalle Carbonara with Spring Peas is this creamy pasta dish with loads of cheese and cream to make it totally blissful!  

In May, 2011 I decided to make my own balsamico vinaigrette for a Fresh Spring Salad with Strawberries.  It is just wonderful and I'm grateful for Larry over at Big Dude's Eclectic Ramblings for trying this salad and vinaigrette and for confirming how flavorful it is!   Even my ranch-dressing-only husband enjoyed it! 

In June, 2011 you'd probably find me frequenting our local farmer's market for fresh, local produce that wasn't growing in my garden on the acreage.  I have absolutely no berry plants, so I always buy locally grown berries for a more intense level of flavor.  You loved this Blackberry Cobbler with Sweet, Tender Biscuits.  This is the quintessential summer dessert!

During July, 2011 I traveled to Iowa for my annual summer visit with my parents and other family.  I brought a huge box of perfectly vine-ripe tomatoes for everyone to enjoy.  My mother used some in a delicious batch of cold Gazpacho that was thoroughly enjoyed during the heat of those summer days!

In the continuing heat of August, 2011 my husband and I escaped to spend a few days in the cooler mountains of North Carolina where we enjoyed some recipes that utilized minimal amounts of heat for preparation.  While there I made this Panzanella Salad with Bacon, Tomato, and Basil for the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club that I'm a member of.  This salad is outstanding!

In September, 2011 the Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake was not only a chilled sweet treat in the midst of an intense summer heat, but it was gorgeous just to look at too!  This cheesecake didn't last long at all!  After all, who doesn't love the combination of lemons and raspberries?

For October, 2011 I shared my delicious Chicken Salad with Dried Cranberries and Grapes.  The dried red cranberries and red onion add a lovely crimson hue for autumn color.  Red grapes can be used instead of green grapes to add even more red if you like.  I know there are a million recipes for chicken salad, but this one is really a winner!  Thanks to those of you who made this chicken salad for writing to me and letting me know how you liked it too.

November, 2011 marked my first month as a member of The Secret Recipe Club.  I discovered a wonderful little treat that everyone loved.  These little Nutella and Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites are a new find and a true keeper in my family!  It seems that just reading and saying "Nutella" strikes a most happy note in all of us!

And lastly for December, 2011 this is my family's most cherished holiday recipe, Tortellini in Brodo (Broth).  We make nearly 2,000 hand-made tortellini for every major holiday throughout the year.  I couldn't imagine Italian life without these delicate little stuffed pastas to enjoy and share with family and close friends in celebration of Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!

It has been such a pleasure for me to be able to come into your computer screens, tablets and cell phones with posts about great food, healthy gardening, restaurant reviews, and fun stories and photos while on the road traveling!  I have valued all of your friendships, recipes, stories, and inspiration.  So heres a big cheers to another fun, delicious, and inspirational year of blogging together in 2012!

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Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix ~ ~ Secret Recipe Club!

What would Christmas and winter be without a hot, frothy mug of hot chocolate to warm us up inside!  I just cannot imagine it!  Growing up in the cold Midwest, we always enjoyed hot chocolate after being outside sledding, building snowmen, or snow forts to protect us in snow ball fights!  As a child, that frigid cold didn't' seem to bother me at all.  It was just normal winter weather!  But even now, as a warmer weather lover adult in the South, I still savor quiet moments by a crackling fire with a mug of this liquid chocolate love!

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, my 'secret' blog is from a young aspiring cook, Casey, who is in high school and enjoys cooking and team sports (lucky girl to work off the calories from all of her yummy creations on her blog).  Casey's food love can be found on her blog, Beautiful Disasters where I found this delicious recipe reminiscent of the blend that I grew up with (and even took to college to heat up in my dorm room):   Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate Mix!  The biggest difference between Casey's recipe and my family's is that Casey's is more up to date with a focus on DARK chocolate and not milk chocolate.  I guess that eases up the guilt a bit since dark choco is better for our health!  Casey's recipe also includes chocolate chips for that extra cocoa blast!   Mmmm!

This hot cocoa recipe is also great because you can make it in a batch that you can always come back for more when you want to and it is ready to mix right there and then!  Easy, the way I like things in the kitchen!

I hope that everyone is having a blessed Christmas and holiday season!
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Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix

1 cup cocoa powder (half Ghiradelli‘s unsweetened cocoa and half  Hershey’s Special Dark)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup powdered milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix all of the ingredients except for the whipped cream in a medium bowl.
Place mix into a jar or airtight container to store.
When making hot chocolate, microwave a mug of water for about 60 - 70 seconds (until hot-desired drinking temperature).
Add about 3 tablespoons of hot chocolate mix, or to taste.
Garnish with whipped cream of course and whatever other goodies you like on top!


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Cooking Gifts for Aspiring Cooks in My Family!

I've just found some time for Christmas gift-making and shopping!  My life has just been a whirlwind of over-busyness and I'm focusing on a holiday season filled with as little stress as possible!  One great way for me to decrease the normal levels of stress experienced at this time is to keep our gift-giving expenses within budget and at the same time give gifts that will have lasting meaning and memories!

Several years ago I began our first family cookbook with recipes that have been cherished and enjoyed since my own childhood. Each of my kids received one of these cookbooks as a Christmas gift, as well as did my mother and sister.  Every Christmas since the first 'edition' was created, I add about 15 more recipes to their cookbooks since they are binder-bound and can easily be snapped open to add more recipe inserts.  This year I even began adding my favorite and most popular recipes from my blog, 'la bella vita'.  

"Tastebook" is the name of the web-site that helps develop your own custom cookbook.  I love how I can add my own 'story' or thoughts and notes to each recipe.  Having my own photos uploaded really adds a lot to each recipe as well.

One of the coolest things about this cookbook is that there is also an awesome app that can be downloaded onto my iPad2 and iPhone.  So when I'm out and about doing errands or away on a trip and want one of my recipes, all I need to do is pull up the Tastebook app and retrieve a recipe, ingredients, and procedure!  Actually I needed one of my mother's recipes included in my cookbook over Thanksgiving when we were in Hilton Head.  My mother couldn't remember how much of an ingredient to use in a recipe, and so all I did was pull it up on the app and there was her answer!  

How sweet is that?

So all of you foodies, if you need a super great gift for the cooks or cooks-to-be in your life, I highly recommend this cookbook for a gift.  If your friends and family are anything like mine, who not only love to cook, but also value family traditions, I know that they will love this and treasure it for many years!

Isn't this so cool?  My recipes in the cookbook pull up identically on my iPad2!

(PS: I wasn't paid nor solicited for this free publicity for "Tastebook"; 

this post was simply sharing my thoughts with my fellow blogging friends and readers)

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