Mascarpone Cheese

Sometimes I have difficulty fulfilling my promises. Usually I promise my mom or daddy to wash up and then I forget all about it or it includes some king of other housework etc. However, this time I am here to fulfill my promise I gave you a week ago. And that would be about showing you an easy way of making your homemade mascarpone cheese. I promise (the word shows up quite frequently, don't you think?) it'll be easy peasy and the result stunning and delicious :)

Tiramisù

When I was young (not that I am old, a child would be a better expression I guess) I had no idea what sea/ocean's all about. I knew what it was, but it is quite hard to imagine when the biggest area filled with water I've ever seen was our local swimming pool. My parents are die-hard fans of walking, cycling and sometimes roller-blading and in winter they love skiing. So every year we'd go to mountains looking forward to skiing and in summer climbing and walking up and down the hills. I have to say that after six or seven years I hate those activities. You know, my classmates would go to the seaside, laying on the beach whole day, swimming, enjoying the nightlife and me? Walking, walking, walking. Okay, I loved it the first years, but as the time went on and on, I figured out that this was not "my cup of tea (by the way I hate this expression :D)". Three years ago (finally!) I managed to persuade my parents to go to Croatia. Wow! However, this year we've visited Italy and I consider this one to be the best vacation in my whole life!

Biscotti Fiorentini (Florentines)

I'm so happy to invite the spring season finally! The winter one was way too long and I can't wait to see the birds, flowers, sun, green grass and butterflies flying around. I love hot weather, swimming and so on. I know, it's too soon to think about that but spring means it's all coming, getting closer, almost here :) I don't know why, but these cookies remind me spring and summer a lot. Maybe it's because there are cherries, orange peel and they come from Italy - warm, beautiful, hot, sunny Italy. The promised Florentines are here!

The Daring Bakers' Challenge: Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Honey Jelly and Banana Quark Cream

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

I'll be absolutely honest here, I've never made panna cotta before but it's been on my to-do list for a long time. I love whipping cream in any form (I would drink it instead of milk if possible :D) and I was very happy to find out what the challenge was. As for the florentines, I'm gonna show them mine next week :) And now it's time to prepare something full-fat and delicious!

The Daring Bakers' Challenge: Crostata di castagne e cioccolato

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.
 

On the first day of every new month I am very nervous. And do you know why? As it is the day when I find out what the new challenge is and that's always a big surprise and I'm really looking forward to this, because I love this our group where one can fully express himself (or herself) and create something fantastic for the others. As for exaple this month - famous Italien crostata (loosely translated as tart).