A family tradition

It's been tradition in my family for as long as I can remember to serve fish and pasta with our family's sauce recipe on Christmas Eve. The tradition began because my Grandpa B. (aka "Bocker") loved a good white fish (like patrale sole) and would request it be made each year by my Mom when he and my Grandmother would come to stay with us each Christmas. In return, my Grandfather would treat us to gallons of sauce and meatballs he would prepare in advance just for us. It truly was a labor of love for him and in my opinion it was the perfect pairing.

I'm sure the sauce recipe has changed over the years as it's been passed down from family member to family member but, to me, Grandpa's was the best! There has also been changes in our own family as Mom (of non-Italian decent) has put her own busy working mother spin on Grandpa's recipe by making it crock pot friendly (bless her)!

This year my family and Darren started a new tradition-- hosting Christmas Eve at "our" home! I was really nervous about preparing a meal that meant so much for my most beloved loved ones. I wanted everything to be perfect. I planned the menu with care but in the end the best part of the meal was the easiest... the sauce & meatballs!

I'd love to say this is the part of my blog where I give you the Buonomo family "gravy" recipe BUT it's a family recipe so it stays that way. I WILL however give you our meatball recipe! (!!!) One bite and I feel like I'm sitting at the table next to my "Bocker" once again. I can't imagine these meatballs wouldn't be great with ANY sauce you choose.

Enjoy my friends and may you never forget the true meaning of Christmas and stop to cherish the memories being made.
Grandpa B's Famous Meatballs
- 1/4 lb. ground veal*
- 1/4 lb. ground pork*
- 1/2 lb ground roast chuck
- 2 eggs
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed (I cheated at used eith minced or crushed garlic from a jar- totally suitable!)
- Handful of chopped parsley (less if it's dried)
- Handful of grated parmesan (I recommend fresh if you can get it*)
- 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
I mix all the ingredients together except the parmesan and bread crumbs to make sure they are fully incorporated. Then I add the remaining 2 ingredients and it's like magic how they scream "ROLL ME UP BABY! I'M READY TO GET COOKIN!"

After the mixture is fully incorporated put a little olive oil on your hands and form meatballs. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. You are looking for them to brown up. After pulling them out of the oven stick them directly into the pot of boiling sauce. Some opt to add any drippings from the pan into the sauce and other's opt not to-- choice is yours. If you aren't cooking sauce in the crock pot (ie: where they will cook longer) then just be sure they are fully cooked through before serving.
This recipe makes 8-10 medium sized meatballs.
*Purchased at Diablo Foods or found at a gourmet market

Good Girlfriend

D's favorite desserts are peanut butter cookies, snicker doodles and cheesecake. Thus far I have tackled 2 out of 3 of these for him.

My favorite and BEST peanut butter cookie recipe comes from none other than Martha Stewart. My co-worker graciously shared it with me and I'm hooked. In fact, when she handed the recipe to me she said "Good luck not eating them all in one sitting" and it wasn't until after I tried one that I knew she wasn't kidding!

Peanut Butter Cookies:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt (as always I use only a pinch)
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter (1 tried this the first time around with TJ's natural chunky PB and it was great too so you can choose any type).

1) In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2) In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until combined. Add the peanut butter and continue beating on low speed.

3) Add the dry sifted dry ingredients, and beat until just blended. Cover dough with plastic. Chill until firm, about 1 hour. Here is where Martha & I differ- I found the batter very dry after chilling so I recommend baking at this point. You decide!

4) Heat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with a silpat baking mat. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls on baking sheet, spaced 2 inches apart. Press down slightly with the palm of your hand. Using tines of a fork, make a crisscross pattern in the dough.

5) Bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

As for Snickerdoodles I'm still working on a recipe I like! I made one the other evening at D's request but desipte tasting good they looked strange and were rock hard the following morning. I've done further research on this and have a new recipe I'd like to try so stay tuned!

Best chocolate chip cookie in the world?

Still craving a really good (traditional) chocolate chip cookie I did some Internet research. I started by referencing the all-knowing-cooking-guru: Martha Stewart! She happened to have a link about making several types of cookies for the holiday but after taking a closer look at her "chewy" version I determined that the outcome would possibly be the same as the last disappointing cookie. Next, I did what any good baker shouldn't do... I did a yahoo search for "the best chocolate chip cookie". After looking through several blogs I found one that peaked my attention as it was very... uh.. "colorfully" written. It was it's colorful nature that really peaked my interest and so I thought I would give it a try!

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt (I always use less salt in any cookie recipe so I only used a pinch here)
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 t. vanilla extract (I'm always a little more generous with vanilla)
• 3/4 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks (I measured by eye semi-sweet chocolate chips from the bag instead)

1) Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

2) Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugars on low speed until it's smooth and lump free (about 3 mins).

3) Add the vanilla and egg on low speed for 15 seconds, or until fully incorporated. Do not over beat. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.

4) On low speed, add the flour mixture. Beat until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the chocolate chunks and mix until they are just incorporated. If using a hand mixer use a wooden spoon to stir them in.

5) Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour OR pour onto plastic wrap to form a long log which you can freeze (at least 45 mins) for ease of cutting. (I did the frozen wrap method but I think you could bake them immediately after and all would still be fine).

6) Preheat the oven to 350. Adjust racks to the lower and upper thirds of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. Spoon the dough using a cookie scooper 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Makes about 23 3-inch round cookies.
7) Bake for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown around the edged, turning the sheets front to back and switching racks halfway through. (I cooked it in the center of the over for 11 minutes never changing or switching and it was fine)

8) Remove the sheets from the over and carefully slide the parchment or Silpats directly onto a work surface. Wen cookies are set, remove them to a cooking rack. Wait at least 5 minutes before serving or 20 before storing in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temp.

Better than I imagined!

In all the years I've pictured myself in the kitchen making something in my new Kitchenaid mixer I NEVER thought I would be using such a fancy model. The Kitchenaid Professional 600 mixer is AMAZING! Just pulling it out of the box for the first time was a thrill. This thing is a BEAST!

The pieces are HUGE and quickly tell you that this mixer is not for light baking!

(Dough hook)

(Wire whisk)

(Paddle attachment)

For our first mission I chose to try out a chocolate chip cookie recipe I found online. The mixer ran like a dream and the whirling sound was music to my ears. Disappointingly however I made just 6 cookies before I stop baking as the recipe turned out more like a cake than cookies. I was craving a chewy chocolate chip cookie and wasn't liking what I saw. In an attempt to not make the first mission a total loss tried another recipe and was pleasantly surprised!

Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1.5 bundles from box)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cup flaked coconut
• 2 cups (12 oz. package) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (or chopped macadamia nuts!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl combine Graham cracker crumbs, flour and baking powder. Set aside.

Beat sweetened condensed milk and butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add crumb mixture and mix well. STIR in coconut, chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop round tablespoons onto a ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Chef's Review: Very good! Chewy and sweet because of the sweetened condensed milk. I would definitely make this again.

Other Reviews: D doesn't like coconut so I shared the batch with out next door neighbors (who called me for the recipe the following day & told me they were telling their family about it when they called that night) and my co-workers who devoured the cookies in a day and a half.