Cafe Italiano!

I grew up in an Italian kitchen.  I am first generation American. My mom was born in Bascilicata, Italy. That is the city where the movie, "The Passion of the Christ" was filmed.  Mom didn't work outside the home. Everyday after school she would either be preparing dinner or at her sewing machine doing mending or making something.  Most times it was the former.  I learned to cook just by watching my mom all those years. She was a fabulous Italian cook.  I remember walking home from church on a Sunday morning, we could smell her sauce and meatballs down the block. Boy was I lucky!

My beautiful Mom!

When we had company on a Sunday, dinner was extra special. Mom would make lasagna. To this day, I have never had a cheese lasagna better than my mom's. It was so good and so filling! And the meats; meatballs, sausage, bracciole, and pork skin. Yup, pork skin; my dad and I loved it. For dessert, there was always espresso with a zest of lemon. I cannot have my espresso any other way! And let us not forget Stallone's cannoli.  Back then our tummies hurt after a feast of this magnitude. Oh, I didn't even mention the antipasto when there was company.  Thankfully we no longer eat this way. We lightened the load a very long time ago.

                Mom and me in the 1980's                       

Today I make lighter versions of the aforementioned foods. My meatballs are made with ground turkey, and frankly are just as tasty, sorry mom. I buy chicken sausage. I never really cared for sausages so this works for me. When I do make bracciole, I still use beef. And no, I never make pork skin. Although I made lasagna for years the way mom did, and still love it with ricotta, we have lactose sensitive folks in my home.                                                  
My favorite neighborhood and Italian restaurant is La Volpe. I have never had a morsel of bad food there. They are a family owned restaurant run by the Volpe brothers and their mom from Sicily. They serve fresh authentic Italian food. We have had many a special occasion in this wonderful eatery. We had all my old Italian relatives there for a dinner following my mom's funeral in 2008. There was nothing but praise from the group. I always avoided La Volpe's lasagna because it was not mom's. One day, I bit the bullet and ordered it, prepared not to like it. It was a dish made with Béchamel sauce instead of ricotta. When I took my first bite my mouth was filled with delight. Not only did it taste like the most wonderful lasagna ever, it was so much lighter. Franco Volpe told us that Béchamel was the original way lasagna was prepared in Italy. And this is the way I now make it most of the time! Thanks Franco!

La Volpe

La Macchinetta

Now let's get to the coffee. Yes, I did grow up on espresso from an early age. It was  made in a traditional macchinetta. It was served in those oh so small espresso cups, black with sugar and a zest of lemon. Oh, and we never called it espresso, it was always black coffee.  Mom always made 'black coffee' in this pot and she always used Medaglia D'Oro Italian Roast Ground Coffee. 

This brings me to my coffee tasting of the week. One of the many bags of beans my husband brought home on our anniversary was Starbucks Italian Roast. This is, by far, the best coffee I have had from Starbucks. I am not comparing it to the Ethiopian; that was just different. This is a dark roast that is used for espresso, but frankly, I had it as my mug of coffee every morning with a drop of cream. It was strong without being bitter and had a nice roasted flavor. The after taste was strong and intense, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our local Italian store had some wonderful imported gluten free cookies that were just perfect for dunking with this brew. To my gluten free friends out there; I have found that Italian cookies are the best!

Ciao!

Summer Celebrations, BBQ's and Dragons Oh My!

This has been quite the busy summer season, and we are barely two weeks into July! The end of June my husband Marc and I celebrated our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Our sons planned a lovely

Unity Candle

Vow renewal table

vow renewal in our home the weekend before our anniversary. Friends and family gathered together as we relit our unity candle from our wedding, recited our vows and our Pastor prayed over us. It was truly a beautiful ceremony.

Wedding Hall!

My sons and I, and some wine

Afterwards, we all sat down for dinner in the family room that my son transformed into a wedding hall. We prepared the food at home. There was lots of laughter and good conversation. Food and wine flowed in a very relaxed atmosphere. Old friends caught up and new friends were made. 

When dinner was over, we pushed the tables back to move around freely during dessert. About dessert, fabulous dessert! Our cake was made by my friend Yvonne Schultz aka Herbie's Crumb Cake!  The cake was yellow with a raspberry and lemon chiffon filling with white butter cream. It was absolutely amazing. We were eating it for a week and it was still fresh. I did freeze the top layer as there was just so much cake. Everyone loved it. Thank you Yvonne for this wonderful gift of cake!                                

The Cake!

Have I mentioned the coffee at our party? If I haven't it is because  it wasn't worth mentioning. As a practice, I always by whole bean coffee. But for the big urn, I bought ground coffee. I picked up a bag of Columbian ground at BJ's. Apparently, I used too much, it was quite strong; like mud. Not my best coffee making hour! But no one complained. Probably because the cake was that good!!

Patriotic Pie

The following weekend was the 4th of July. We have had a lot of thunderstorms lately so bbq's were very iffy. Although we went ahead and cooked outside, we opted to eat in. In celebration of our nation's birthday, I baked strawberry-blueberry pies. One was gluten free and sugar free.

I loved the blueberry side of the pie but wasn't too keen on the strawberry side. But both pies were devoured in a matter of days so I guess somebody liked them!

Part of my anniversary gift from my husband was lots of coffee. The first one I tried was Starbuck's Komodo Dragon Blend. They describe it as herbal and complex.  It was a bold cup of joe. Definitely good for that first jolt in the morning. Again, it lacked the body that I am seeking in that perfect cup, but it was good nonetheless. I enjoyed it's earthy, herbal tones.

The Dragon 

This past weekend we went to a lovely wedding at The Mansion in West Sayville. The son of our friend Pat was getting married. The theme was completely nautical. From the bridesmaids in navy blue to the message in the bottle on each table. It was quite unique. Each guest wrote a note and placed in a blue glass bottle with a 15 etched in the glass; to be opened on the couples 15th anniversary.  As someone who has just celebrated 25 years of marital bliss,  I wish them nothing but God's abundant blessings
upon their marriage!  Bon Voyage!

"Message in a bottle" behind the coffee

A New Cafe in Town!

I am going to veer away from coffee tasting today to talk about the grand opening of a wonderful little cafe in our neighborhood.  Chris Cohen is the proprietor of The Mustard Seed Farm in Center Moriches. Every Friday during the spring and summer months, Chris has a Farmer's Market where you can purchase her organic produce among a throng of other local vendors.

Yesterday,  on the 4th of July, Chris had the grand opening of the Mustard Seed Cafe & Espresso Bar. My husband and I went there to support her on this grand day.  We each had iced coffee and I had a

Greek yogurt parfait made with her organic blueberries and a touch of jam. So good! We also purchased a gluten free brownie made from black beans. This was probably one of the best brownies I have ever tasted. Our gluten free son definitely put his seal of approval on it!

The cafe offers a wide variety of coffee drinks, smoothies, paninis, soups, salads and sandwiches.  The fresh ingredients all come from the Mustard Seed Farm right behind the cafe! You can also purchase a beautiful bouquet of flowers for just $12.00. I was also delighted to see the best crumb cake in the world on their shelf, Herbies Crumb Cake is another one of our local gems! The baker of Herbie's Crumb Cake, Yvonne Schultz, my dear friend, is also a member of our community.

Center Moriches prides itself with small businesses. We love our coffee and many have hated the idea of a Starbucks ever coming to our town. Now we will never have to worry about that. The Mustard seed Cafe & Espresso Bar is above and beyond what a commercial chain could ever offer. There will be live music in the cafe. Chris has many different ideas that she would like to offer the community.  The charm of the cafe is unparalleled. From the shiny wood plank floors to the white marble that sits atop the mantle that serves as the coffee bar, every detail was meticulously put together to make a place that you will want to go to time and again.

If you live around town, please make this a regular stop, or if you are passing by, traveling east, it is worth the stop. You will not be disappointed. As the sign in the store says, "Live simply, care deeply, love generously."