Easter

Italy being a Catholic country takes the Easter holiday pretty seriously, but not necessarily the day in itself. All schools are closed for Good Friday along with many shops. Then after Easter, on Monday there is what's called Pasquetta- Little Easter which is also a holiday. So if you're lucky you'll get a nice 4 day weekend. 

We had wanted to take a road trip through Switzerland and France but the weather forecasted rain and so we decided to use the time here to work on moving into our new house. 

They aren't big on the Easter Bunny and they don't hide eggs but they do like their chocolate. They have large giant chocolate eggs that have a little gift inside. 

We bought a Kinder Easter egg early and opened it. The gift inside was a donkey bracelet which to be honest was disappointing. After going to church in Bologna and then driving down to Poggibonsi to have lunch with the in-laws we were gifted another giant Easter egg. Some people are lucky and get lots of eggs which I suppose is similar to an Easter basket, however I have no idea how these kids eat so much chocolate! It's hard to finish one egg between 2 people! I snapped this photo from the house of one of my private lessons. There are 9 eggs plus a chocolate bunny.  

This past week Luca also played his last 5 on 5 soccer game. Him and his friends have formed a team and they play once a week. This year they were practically un-defeated and made it to the playoffs. I went to see him play for the first time with this team, but unfortunately they lost in a shoot out. Luca is the goalie so it wasn't so much fun seeing them lose, but it was definitely an improvement from the last season!  

Cakes, Cupcakes, Cheesecakes Oh My!

If you know me, you know I love baking.  

For my first cooking contest I had very difficult time deciding what dessert I wanted to bring. I had finally decided on a brownie mosaic cheesecake. It was my first cheesecake ever. I had never been such a big fan of cheesecakes and so I don't know what inspired to go with that particular recipe. But in any case it was a good choice because I won and it has ever since been  highly requested. I've made that cheesecakes for birthdays, dinner parties, and just because Luca asks for it. 

Unfortunately I don't have picture of the infamous dessert. 

However, over the past year quite a few cakes have been made. Here are just a few photos of my work in the kitchen. And from that very first cheesecake a little over a year ago, I have now attempted to make many more cheesecake recipes! Some are keepers, others not so much. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Valentines Day

Chocolate Galore

It's that time of a year again, the Ciccoshow has come to Bologna. Every year in November usually around the 13- 18th, the main square, Piazza Maggiore, is filled with stands of well known chocolatiers from Italy. 

It attracts a large crowd, everyone carrying bags of truffles, drinking hot chocolate, or enjoy chocolate covered strawberries and waffles. 

The chocolate is good and unique, I enjoyed trying a honey and milk chocolate truffle, coconut, cinnamon, and bronte pistachios along with of course the good ol' dark chocolate and milk chocolate. After about 3 chocolates its enough to make you feel sick, but everything always looks so good!  

If you're lucky you might even get a few free 

samples.