December Desserts

I told myself that December would be full of posts about holiday foodstuffs, and just look at how I've failed! Since I wasn't able to deliver on that front, I'll just give summary of some of the golden moments of the last month of 2011:

1. Maple Bacon Cupcakes

New-fangled Squash Lasagna

This lasagna is a real crowd pleaser: creamy without being oily with a good punch of squashiness. It lacks the often painfully long lasagna prep and is very easy to throw together. I've gotten a lot of compliments on this pan o' noodles, and we all know how much I love to be flattered.

Venison bourguignon (aka How to make the best out of a roadkill situation)

Dinner parties are one of my favorite things in the world. I love to plan the meal, turn on the backyard twinkly lights, and spend the whole day cooking something fabulous. When a hunk of deer turns up in your neighbor's freezer, you know it's time for a dinner party of your own.

My own dear neighbors offered up some of their venison (not roadkill, sadly) for last night's soiree and it was pure perfection. We found a tasty looking recipe on Pinterest and, with a few tweaks, it was soon our very own:

Venison bourguignon with crispy roast potatoes. 

Nonnie Sauce (Majorly delicious spaghetti and meatballs)

This is a very old Pelliccia family recipe that my dear father has consented to promote on the interwebs via my blog. Consider yourselves quite lucky, because this meal is a real treat!

The recipe was created by my great-grandmother Rosa, a southern Italian from Vico Equense whose family immigrated in the late 1860s on their very own vessel. She married my great-grandfather, Orlando, whose family was from Verni, a small town in northern Italy right outside of Lucca. I was actually fortunate enough to meet this branch of our family a few years ago, where we learned that Orlando was born in the Puccini house. No one knows why, but it's our claim to fame!

This ain't Barilla, baby

No more boxed pasta for you, trooper. This is the real deal, the stuff Kraft workers dream of and only experience in fantasty (fantasy + tasty) worlds. So come on down for some

Homemade Pasta.