copyright 2011 Art of Living,PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

“Take pleasure in your dreams, relish your principles and drape your purest feelings on the heart of a precious lover”

Giotto

A beautiful quote from a man who was also known for creating beautiful things. However, he,apparently had a sense of humor as well. In a fresco he was commissioned to paint in the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi , a faint figure of the devil was recently found in the middle of the clouds..possibly his way of getting back at one of the Popes who commissioned that painting…

Known for creating things of beauty, however his children were known to be very plain looking. When asked by  the famous writer Bocaccio, how  he could create such beautiful paintings but such plain children..Giotto responded “ I made them(my children) in the dark”.

Torta Alla Zucca (Pumpkin Cake)

(photo credits  www.tortaalcioccolata.com)

( recipe excerpted from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style

16 ounces(500gr) pumpkin mashed

2 lbs (250 gr) peeled, shelled almonds

1 ½ cups(300 gr) flour

1 cup (200 gr) sugar

4 eggs

4 juicing oranges

1 tblsp honey

Chop almonds. Place almonds, pumpkin in bowl, add in honey, juice of oranges, egg yolks and sifted flour Blend. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites till firm and fold into pumpkin mixture. Place in buttered 12” pie pan. Bake in oven preheated to 375F (180C) degrees for 30 minutes/

If you are interested in  finding  culinary arts classes, look into online schooling

**Join me in Italy on May 3,2012 for an all inclusive 10 day luxury cruise to Italy and the Mediterranean.  Only a few more spots left, call Julie at Rosenbluth Vacations at 1-800-257-8279

copyright 2011 art of living.PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

When it is cold outside, it’s time to enjoy the inner warmth of your home..sitting by the fireplace..or by the light of a beaming candle and rediscover the simple things you have right there..reading that novel you have been wanting to finish, write..if nothing creative comes to mind..keep a daily journal or diary, or sit and enjoy a hot cup of tea..simple but all beautiful things to be savored in the warmth of your own home…oh I guess it is the beautiful  simplicity of a country house here in the mountains of Italy that has taught me the beauty of simplicity..

A piece of cheesecake makes a perfect accompaniment to that hot cup of tea…

Ricotta Amaretto Cheesecake

*4 eggs

* 10 ounces of crushed amaretti cookies

*7 graham crackers crushed

*8 ounces cream cheese

*1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup whipping cream

*3/4 cup sugar

*1/2 cup unsalted butter

*1 tsp vanilla

Let cream cheese sit a t room temperature for 20 minutes. Crush amaretti and graham crakers. Melt butter in pan. add in crushed cookies to butter. Blend until a smooth paste. Cover 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper and arrange crumb mixture on botom and sides of pan as crust. Set aside

In a bowl blend cream cheese ,ricotta, sugar and vanilla, until well blended. Separate the eggs. Place egg yolks cream  into cream cheese mixture, blend in by hand with spatula.  In a separate bowl whip egg whites till peaks form,then blend into cheese mixture. When unifrmly blended, place int ocrust and let cook in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 1 hour. remove from oven and let cool for approximately 4 hours. Serve with a glass of Prosecco

For more great recipes, get your copy of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

copyright 2010, art of living, PrimaMedia,Inc

by Maria Liberati

Eat like you Love with passion…make recipes that are easy but provide pleasure for cooking and eating…..one of my favorite and fuss free recipes is ‘chocolate salami’ -an uncomplicated but fun to make and eat dessert.

No it is not a meat dish… but it is a dessert and is meat free! And best of all quick and simple to prepare..but the secret is to use only the best ingredients..even in a simple dish like a chocolate salami.

Take 3 ounces of bitter cocoa powder-use a good brand one that is at least 70% cocoa…place cocoa powder in a bowl and add in 2 whole eggs,4 tablespoons of sugar,1 ounce of unsalted butter-melted.Stir with a wooden spoon till well blended. As you are blending you will, be hypnotized by the fragrance of the cocoa and butter being melded together..mmm..enjoy the aroma and now crush an ounce of amaretti cookies and 2 ounces of biscotti into the chocolate mixture. Blend crushed cookies into the chocolate mixture with your hands…now place a little sample of yoru creation into your mouth, close yoru eyes and concentrate on the pure,intense taste..but what could be missing..some crushed nuts, perhaps a liqueur??brandy or a coffee liqueur?? Now add in and mix..

Place the mix onto a piece of parchment paper.Roll up into the shape of a salami. Massage it into form so that it forms a perfect compact salami shape.Cover with parchment paper, place in freezer for a few hours. Remove from freezer,remove parchment paper and slice..

All in all the chocolate salami should take no more than 30 minutes to make ..but will provide so  many hours of eating pleasure,..

Get more recipes in the award winning.. The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions

Visit me at OpenSky

May 25th 11 AM-Re-release book signing at Book Expo America, Jacob Javits Convention Center in NYC. First 100 visitors to the booth gets a free mini pre-release copy of the book.. Hope to see you there..

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking kitchen here in Italy was busy with many recipes today, although still hot,hot, hot and no desire to use an oven or a stove but preparing for some end of summer picnics to take advantage of the summerl iek weather that will be ending soon (I think).

Of all the recipe swe worked on my favorite is a sort of cheesecake made with fresh ricotta..my faovrote part of making the cheesecake was taking a walk to the local place in town where they produce the fresh ricotta.. Here it is ..

Ricotta Raisin Cheesecake

1 1/4 lbs (fresh, if possible) ricotta

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

6 eggs

1/4 cup raisins

peel and juice of one fresh lemon

1 tsp of orange flower water

a pinch of salt

1 tsp baking powder

Place raisins in a small bowl of warm water for 15 minutes. Place ricotta in a bowl with sugar, blend with wooden spoon until you it is a smooth creamy mixture, add in egg yolks. Sift 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder and add into ricotta cream. Blend, then  and add in orange flower water and juice and peel of lemon. Blend

Beat egg whites till firm  with pinch of salt. Add t oricotta mixture blending in with wooden spoon. Drain raisins, dry with paper towel and dust with remaining flour. Add into ricotta cream. Blend in with wooden spoon.

Line a pie pan with baking paper. Place in battter, eve nout batter with wooden spoon. Cook in ove npreheated to 360 degrees for 55 minutes or unti ltop is golden in color.

Get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:Holidays & Special Occasions before the holidays with 140+ recipes, menus, Holiday stories and more!

Mangia Bene, Viv Bene,

Maria

http://twitter.com/Marialiberati

                          copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

Dessert for yesterday’s August 15th Holiday picnic was delicious and is as easy to make as it is to eat. Had the picnic at home in the mountains of Abruzzo. But the dessert- Ciambellone Classico- is very similar to a pound cake,and very flavorful using fresh lemons for flavor. Serve alone or with gelato.

Ciambellone Classico

 2 cups all purpose flour or cake flour sifted

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

½ cup melted butter

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

peel of 1 lemon

extra flour and butter for  pan

Work together the sugar and eggs. Blend in flour and melted butter. Work the dough till it is asmooth blended dough and add in the baking powder and salt and lemon peel. Butter and flour a cake pan or tube pan or bundt cake  pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Should be golden on top. Remove from oven and cool. You can decorate the top with a dusting of powdered sugar or shaved dark chocolate.

*If you will be in Umbria or Abruzzo in August or first week in September join one of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm cooking programs for just a day or more if you would like. Email us at events@marialiberati.com

*Christmas In Italy weekend -November 5 and 6th in Lancaster, Pa. Celebrate Christmas in Italy for weekend of coking classes ,shopping for fresh produce, wine pairings with me and recieps from my new book:

 The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-Holidays & Special Occasions.  Event will  be at Harvest Moon B& B in Lancaster, Pa. Reservations required, places limited. Email: events@marialiberati.com for more info

For a great Holiday gift get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-Holidays & Special Occasions online before it reaches retail stores. Filled with 140+ recipes for the Holidays, menus ,wine pairing tips and stories of Holidays spent in Italy.

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

http://twitter.com/Marialiberati

 Holy Cannoli!

Editor: Kate Hollinger 

Copyright, 2009, Maria Liberati

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm

http://www.marialiberati.com/blog2

A cannoli, which is Sicilian for “little tube”, is an ever- popular pastry dessert found sprinkled throughout cafes and restaurants in Italy. We thank the Sicilian region of Italy for these rich desserts that are found today throughout the United States as well, thanks to the immigrants who brought the recipes over in the early 20^th century. Cannoli originally came from the Palermo region of Sicily as early as the first century A.D., served as a treat and given to friends in dozens during the season of Carnevale, a festive European celebration held right before Lent. It is said that cannoli was most likely a symbol of fertility during this pre-Easter celebration similar in some ways to Mardi Gras.

An original cannolo (the singular form of cannoli) consists of fried, rolled up and open-ended pastry dough (the thinner the better) filled with a sweet, rich filling of ricotta or mascarpone cheese blended with flavorings such as vanilla, chocolate, or pistachio flavors. Occasionally additional ingredients are added, such as chocolate chips, citron, or candied cherries. The filling inside the cannolo are most commonly flavored with Marsala wine, vanilla extract, or rosewater. The size of cannoli ranges from small finger-sized bits referred to as cannulicchi to portions five times the size.

Nowadays we see different Italian American variations of this Sicilian treat. Many bakeries in the United States may fill the pastries with sugar, milk, and cornstarch custard instead of any kind of cheese. When looking for the best possible version of this Italian delicacy, search for the cannoli that has not been sitting for a long time with the cheese filling already inside. The longer a cannoli is left sitting, the soggier the pastry tube gets as a result of its contact with the filling. After about a day of sitting together, it is a soggy pastry not worth of being called a cannoli Bakers who make a lot of cannoli at a time fill the inside of the cannoli with chocolate that hardens and can then handle touching the creamy filling for longer than 24 hours.

For a cannoli recipe and lower calorie  cannoli recipe

Find more info  on cannoli

Hope to see you on Thursday, March 12th at the Harleysville Book Shop, 674 Main St Harleysville, Pa at 6-8 PM. I will be doing a book signing and cooking demo of recipes from the book, Free and open to the public. For more book signing,cooking demos, keynote speaker events coming up on foods, Italian culture and more go to

http://www.marialiberati.com/appearances.php

Join me for The Basic Art of Italian Cooking School  in Italy on Sept 23- Oct 6th for 7 days of hands on cooking classes, wine tastings, vineyard tours, artisan food producers, excursions, nature walks in the hills of Umbria all while staying at the villa that houses the cooking school. Register by May 1st and receive $200 off entire program. Go to

 http://www.marialiberati.com/blog2/?page_id=542

for more recipes and articles go to http://www.marialiberati.com/blog2/?page_id=400

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

I have been blogging about it  for a few weeks in anticipation of  this beautiful ,colorful event. If you can’t be there in Venice, you can watch..take a look at what you missed

(taken from my twitter.com blog)

 Latest: Carnevale in Venice  http://tinyurl.com/demsvw

 sweet treats for Carnevale in Venice http://tinyurl.com/d4fgm6

Bring some flavors of Carnevale into your kitchen.

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm Cooking School is on the road and we will be at

Feb 18-Whole Foods, Marlton, NJ- 6 PM for a book signing and cooking class-Pasta & Sauces
Feb 19th- Whole Foods in Philadelphia, Pa at 6 PM for a book signing and Cooking Class.

Cooking on a Budget from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking will include a 4 course authentic Italian meal

For more info or to register, email events@marialiberati.com or call Sue at 215-660-5045

Join me Sept 23-Oct 6th and The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm cooking school in Italy at the villa in the hills of Umbria. Spend 6 nights ,7 days in the villa, join em for cooking classes, local winery tours and tastings, local olive oil mills,sightessing and La Dolce Vita relaxing at the villa by poolside or in the courtyard enjoying a meal from the  wood burning oven. All meals included and transport to and from the Rome Fiumicino airport.  Email events@marialiberati.com for more info. Only 12 spots are available. Hope to see you at the villa!!

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

http://marialiberati.blogster.com

http://vinovidivici.today.com

Maria

 copyright, 2009, Maria Liberati, The Basic Art of Italian Cooking

Our short trip to Venice was enough inspiration for many delicious Venetian treats. Carnevale is in the air and many are anxiously awaiting it’s arrival.  The brightly colored masks are beautiful and some of  the costumes are so authentic to the time of Casanova..But besides the beauty of the masks and the costumes there is a meaning behind the tradition of wearing the costumes & the masks. When a mask and costume were worn no one knew your true identity..in so much as no one knew if you were rich or poor of nobility or not. And for this, the tradition of wearing of the mask and costumes grew ever so popular.  

Carnevale brings to mind the beauty of the masks and the tradition behind wearing of the masks as well as the sweets and traditional foods that Venice has to offer..You knew I had to somehow tie in food with this..but in Italy everythig nis somehow related to food..

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking kitchen here in Italy will be working on some of the recipes we were inspired by in Venice. Sweets to first courses to appetizers.  Our recipes this week will be:
Baicoli..a traditonal sweet biscuit made with Marsala wine

Risi e Bisi..a traditional dish from Venice but famous all over Italy (it means rice and peas)

Cicchetti..traditional appetizers served at happy hour at coffee bars in Venice. Cicchetti is realy a word that comes from Venice and means appetizers or snacks which are sometimes known in the rest of  Italy as ‘stuzzichini’

These traditional recipes will give you a chance to experience Venice from your own kitchen, wherever that is. But if you do get a chance to visit Venice, here are some sightseeign tips we came up with:

http://www.trifter.com/Europe/Italy/Sightseeing-Tips-for-Your-Venice-Trip.275877

For more great recipes get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

copyright, 2009, Maria Liberati, The Basic Art of Italian Cooking  

Today, (here in the mountains of Abruzzo, Italy) while I was enjoying my colazione (breakfast )with radio station centocinque (105) and listening to Betty give her gossip and advice I began to plan out the recipe for today..sacher torte…

While  the conversation on today’s radio program was about the new website in Japan that talks about places around the world that have memorable aromas (good and bad)  I began thinking of the great perfume of chocolate that will soon be filling The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Kitchen here (in Italy).

Yes that’s right..the famous Austrian  Sacher Torte.. I learned this scrumptious dessert while studying a bit of Austrian delights in Austria a few years back and have been promising to make this for Alfonso’s birthday for a few too many years.

 Now that The Basic Art of Italian Cooking kitchen is here in Italy also and I have some extra hands to assemble everything ..well I decided to begin this experience.. This morning we made and baked the cake, and tomorrow we willassembled the cake.. The smell from the ovens were heavenly…. if you love the odor of melted butter and rich dark chocolate. I am guessing that many people do since we had some locals come by and ask what was ‘in the oven’ today?

Sacher Torte was ‘born’ in Vienna, Austria but is loved all throughout Europe and why not.. it is just as beautiful as it is delicious a dessert and made primarily with dark European chocolate ,butter ,eggs and apricot marmelade and of  course some sugar and flour. No preservatives, chemicals just real ingredients..

It has been awhile since I had my culinary classes in Austria and have not made a Sacher Torte for awhile and almost forgot how laborious a dessert this is..but well worth it.

First to locate ‘farina di frumento’ the flour that will give the cake some substance. Not an easy flour to find, but after a trip to the local shop for professional baker’s in town…I found it..

 Next the measuring out of all ingredients with our scale, then the melting of the dark chocolate on the ‘bain-marie’ (double boiler). Then the creaming of the butter and melted chocolate, then half the sugar. Then beating the egg whites till peaks form.. gently folding in the egg whites and flour and …almost there…..butter and flour the spring form pans, place in batter and cook for about 1 hour at 180 degrees centigrade or 360 degrees fahrenheit.. Well in our oven here they took less than an hour to bake. But the whole process took up all morning into afternoon..

This more than filled our day and by 2 PM we were ready to sit down and eat ‘pranzo’ (lunch). Stay tuned for tomorrow and the assembling of the Sacher Tortes. … and my recipe for the Sacher Torte

For more great recipes get your copy of my best sellling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Kitchen has been busy working on many a recipe.  Although you may be tired of dessserts from the Holidays..if you have any leftover amaretti cookies here is a great way to turn them into a quick, elegant dessert or tea cookie…

Filled Amaretti Cookies

*24 soft amaretti cookies

*1/2 cup of  cold espresso coffee with 2 tsps of sugar added

*1 tblsp hazelnut liqueur

*1/4 cup of nutella

*1/4 cup of pinoli nuts

*1 tblsp of colored ‘jimmies’ or confetti

Place the liqueur in a soup dish, then add in the coffee. Immerge (for about 2 seconds) the amaretti cookies in teh liquid one by one, just enough to get them wet but not too wet. Place on a grate. Chop the pinoli nuts. Cut amaretti cookies in half and spread about 1 tsp of nutell on bottom half. Place on top half.

Take 2 small squares of parchment paper. Sprinkle one wiht chopped pinoli nuts. Sprinkle the other with colored ‘jimmies’. Roll 12 of the amaretti cookies in pinoli nuts and place in small mini cupcake cups. roll the other 12 amaretti in ‘colored jimmies’ and place in mini cupcake cups.  Dust with confectioner’s sugar.  Place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

I will be travelling throughout Umbria Thursday through Monday for culinary programs and special events. Meeting with Borgo Fontanile in right outside of Orvieto  to make final plans for The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Boot Camp/ summer culinary program and tour in September. Borgo Fontanile has an organic farm right at the resort so it is always fun to be able to pick the organic ingredients right before we cook with them. This year we are planning to do the event right around grape harvest time so that all those that attend can be part of the wine making process as well.

I am also going to do an interview at  La Veranda right outside of the Medieval city of Todi..

So Stay tuned for some great recipes and videos upon my return….

For more great recipes get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria