Chocolate Pumpkin Cream Macarons

Like chocolate? Like pumpkin? Like cookies? ....then this just might be your favorite fall friend.  A soft crunch on the outside with a creamy filling in the middle, this cookie combines my recipe for Nutella French Macarons with a pillowy pumpkin cream filling.  Give these simple French macarons a go...Bon appetit fall!

A Canvas for your “Palate”: Ricotta Gnocchi (with Turkey Meatballs)

A soft, light texture combines with a savory, sweet heartiness to make this the perfect contrast of taste and texture.  Serve it all year round – as a pillowy summer pasta drizzled with fresh basil pesto or a hearty winter comfort topped with your favorite ragout.    Ricotta gnocchi, a year-round canvas for your palette of sauces.

Apple Rum Raisin Bread Pudding with Cinnamon-Streusel Topping

What’s a classic, comforting dessert to you?  For some, it’s warm apple pie that grandma used to make; for others it’s a classic cookie or family Irish soda bread recipe (shout out to my fam); and for many it’s warm, rich bread pudding.  For me, bread pudding was never on the table.  It wasn’t a staple in my Irish mother’s recipe box, so I’ve grown up brushing aside what I thought was a sweet, mushy mix of stale bread.  However, when the next work food throw-down was excitedly announced as bread pudding, I decided to see what all the fuss was about.  My approach was to take the classic, comfort dessert flavors that I love, and turn them into a bread pudding.  Thus, I took plump raisins from my Mom’s soda bread, apples from my favorite apple pie, alcohol from my Irish side, and cinnamon streusel from my German side.  And what did I create…a first place Apple Rum Raisin Bread Pudding with Cinnamon-Streusel Topping.  Bread pudding, NOW a classic and a comfort for me too!