Olli Salumeria

Dear Bloggers,
 I have brought news from the far away lands of Tennessee to educate you and inform you that there is a fantastic new salami that's making its debut at Costco's around the United States. Olli salami. My father decided to send me a little, let me rephrase that, a huge container of Spicy Calabrese. Yes, I suppose it caught me off guard, because in the package from the far away lands of California, I thought he was going to send me some Columbus secchi, or sopresata, but I got this giant package of salami. So, I've been examining it and eating it to my heart's desire (far too quickly), though I wanted to do some research on this company to understand more about it's origins and how qualified they are to be serving such salami in America. Because we all know that American salami, is quite frankly trash.
         So let me give y'all a slight background on this salami. Frankly, the company that Olli and his family had begun in Italy, moved to the states. One large difference as the quality of meat they used. The ham in Parma, for prosciutto, was absent of quality here in the states. So after Charles proposing to Olli that he could bring him excellent quality of ham, raising only with vegetarian feed, and no growth hormones, Olli went crazy and began creating prosciutto. They presented the prosciutto, after 1 year of it curing in salt, and the family loved it. They started their company in 2010 and in March, released their first coppa. They hit the market in March of 2011.
            So I suggest, if you can appreciate salami, give these guys a try. Their salami is worth a few extra calories in your day! You can find them here: http://www.ollisalumeria.com/
Have a wonderful day and happy cooking!

The Wonders of Life

Dear Bloggers,

     I am back for a few minutes to express how much I miss food blogging. I must just say it simply, I found it quite addicting and quite enjoyable. So, I will be making my surprise arrival home to my parent's house and will be cooking up a storm for yet another week. Therefore, I wanted to pass the time and update you all with some information on how school is going. I am studying Italian, communication, and music theory this semester. I also picked up a job at my school's gym where I have been working 5 days a week. To be honest, I feel like everything is falling into place a lot smoother this semester. My mother recently split up with her fiance and will now be living on her own, so that has been a littler stressful. My father was offered another position for work a few minutes outside of his hometown so that's great. I just wanted to quickly tell y'all that I will be returning and cooking more fabulous recipes fairly soon, but until then Au revois and happy cooking!

The Peaceful Vineyard That Ended This Journey

Dear Bloggers,
       It has been quite an adventure, blogging about my cooking experiences back home. However, the end must always come. I am returning back to Nashville tomorrow afternoon, and this evening, I got turned down for a meal. I offered the idea to have breakfast for dinner- waffles and french toast, however, they denied the offer. So, I must be honest and admit that I ate leftover chilli that I made a few nights ago, and it was delicious. However, I feel that I let down all of my followers-none. I also decided to go on a drive today up to Placerville to relax and get some time to just be alone, with music and nothing standing in my way. On my way up to nowhere, I found this beautiful vineyard and had to take a picture because I was so taken by it's beauty. I stopped and looked out and though everything was dead, it was still so beautiful. I can only image what it looks like flourishing in July. On a side note, I must update y'all about my journey back home. It was an interesting experience, to say the least, with many different outcomes. Overall, I enjoyed seeing my parents and all their "new" changes. Well, I got all of the supplies I needed for school and had an enjoyable Christmas. My New Years wasn't exactly paradise, but it was relaxing, so I guess that's good. Here's to 2012 and all of the new memories we are bound to find. We only have 354 days left, according to the Mayan calendar, so we definitely to live it up. Shouldn't we anyways? Stop taking everything for granted and live in the moment, because Lord only knows when this momentous occasion could be over. Happy cooking and farewell my beautiful bloggers. May all your cooking memories be fond.

Chipotle Chicken Sandwhiches With A Side Of Tarte Tatin

Dear Bloggers, 

         May I just start this entry off with HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE! Man, can you believe this year has already passed by? I feel like I just graduated high school, when I was eager to move my life to Tennessee, and look at me here, back in California, enjoying a little break. It's just crazy, it went by so quickly. I imagine that's how the rest of my life will feel. Well, today, I made Chipotle Chicken sandwiches. Dare I say, this is one of the easiest and fastest recipes that I have created. The sandwiches consist of a base of Pugliesse bread, chicken marinated in ranch dressing, chipotle mayo, and provolone cheese. To make the sauce you need 3 parts mayo, 1 part chipotle sauce, and 5-6 slices of chopped jalapenos. Spread that on the inside of your bread, pop em on a panini press or in a skillet, you are a master sandwicher! For dinner, my family and I went to the world renowned restaurant, "Pizza Rock" which sells the best traditional Neapolitan pizza. My father is from Naples, Italy and knows real pizza, therefore he has taught me very well to have elite expectations when it comes to traditional pizzette. So, he ordered the Margheritta, which I didn't take a picture of, however, I took a picture of the calzone I ordered, and man, I was in heaven for a few minutes. WOW! If you would like to read up more on this restaurant and why it's so famous, visit the website, http://pizzarocksacramento.com/ I promise y'all will be so impressed if you eat here. For desert on this New Year's Eve, I prepared Tarte Tatin, a french pastry. The pastry consisted of the dough made of flour, butter, salt, and water. The inside was simply sliced granny smith apples, coated with sugar and butter. Yes, delicious and so easy to make. I hope y'all have a wonderful New Years Eve and stay safe! Happy cooking and happy New Year!

Keep Me Warm While I'm Chilli

Dear Bloggers,
       Today was a great day and my brother and father were doing work on the house. My dad came to find that his fiance' had tree roots growing into their septic pipes, so my dad and brother were digging around all day today. I went grocery shopping and clothes shopping with my dad's fiance and I thought while I was in the car, "I haven't had chilli in years." So, it was my mission to make an excellent chilli, and an excellent chilli is what I made.The chilli had a unique recipe, because I actually used the leftover ground beef that I had marinated and used for the hamburgers the night before, so I tossed that in a skillet and browned it up then stuck it with the remaining ingredients. For the chilli I used my dad's homemade tomato sauce as a base, red beans, kidney beans, 4 peeled, diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, corn, fresh parsley and seasonings. Although, I must share my secret to an excellently crafted chilli is Louisiana hot sauce and a dash of chipotle sauce. I promise, this  chilli is guaranteed to make you warm during this cold season. It's also a sure bet that the family will be happy. Happy cooking and happy New Year!

The All American Burger

Dear Bloggers,
        Well I arrived at my father's house today and realized that I forgot the charger to my computer and well, that's a problem. Thus, I am going to write this blog and then close down my computer. So, today I decided that I hadn't had a delicious hamburger in quite a while, aside from the In-N-Out burger I ate, however, it didn't do justice to the world of delicious hamburgers, so I thought, let's make hamburgers and french fries for dinner. For the hamburgers I used diced red onion, cooked diced pancetta, parsley, pepper, Louisiana hot sauce, 2 eggs, and salt. I grilled them on the inside grill that was in the kitchen and I fried up the potatoes for around 10 minutes on 325 degrees. Right as the burgers were finishing up, I added cheddar cheese. I used ciabatta bread for a hearty bun and I also made a spicy sauce for the french fries. The sauce consisted of ketchup, mayonnaise, Louisiana hot sauce, and a splash of green Mexican sauce. The meal was an American tradition in the past and for many years to come. Happy cooking and happy New Year!

Good Evening Mexico

Dear Bloggers,
         It was a gloomy day and not much value came out. I went to go see the movie We Bought A Zoo and I just fell in love with it. It really reminded me that although people pass along in life, we must reminisce on the joyous moments we experienced. On a side note, it was a lazy meal tonight. Tacos.. Hmm, well they actually were delicious. For the tacos I made refried beans, but not as complicated. I combined the pinto beans with a few spices, oil, butter, and used flour and water as a thickener, slowly adding water as the beans cooked further. I also added chicken that was marinated in seasonings and chopped it into thin strips. I also added lettuce and I topped off the tacos with a sour cream sauce. For the sauce I used chives, tomatoes, and Tapatio. I also toasted the tacos in the oven for 5 minutes to give them a more authentic feel. It wasn't exactly enough to serve everyone just one taco, because my family was telling me that they all could go for another one. Advice if you will be cooking this for other people, anticipate the consumption will be 2 per person. My best friend also was inspired to make these lovely fortune cookie cupcakes. They turned out wonderfully, but needless to say, they were not as easy as they appeared to make. To find the recipe for these cupcakes and many more adorable cupcakes check out the books, Hello Cupcake & What's New Cupcake? by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. In fact, check out their blog, they have plans to release a new cupcake book this coming January.  Happy cooking and happy New Year!
http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/