N.T.B. #4 ... Boiling water for pasta...

Apparently, you should add lots of salt to boiling water--but a lot more that you think.  A handful of salt should do the trick, and adding a few sprinkles of garlic powder will also add to your pasta's flavor.  

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.”

—	Federico Fellini, Academy Award-winning Italian film director and script writer

It's never too late to show that you care.

We love you, Seal Beach!

-3Amici

N.T.B. #3... When in the cucina,

ALWAYS read the recipe.  Usually, it will help you avoid mistakes. **ahem!**

[This is for you, Lauren! :) ]

“Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.”

—	Alice May Brock—American author

We are looking for Ricettas...

If you have any Italian recipes to share, we will be excited to make them during our monthly Italian nights!  We love using cookbooks, but to hear recipes from our readers would be awesome!

Let us know if you have any suggestions, and we’ll get cooking! :)

Grazie, 

Danielle, Alexis, and Lauren 

(3Amici)

Cooking Playlist

Ciao everyone! I decided to put up my favorite songs that I alwlays listen to while cooking, because while cooking feeds your body, music feeds your soul. (I just realized how incredibly corny that sounded… but I completely believe it to be true!)

‘O Surdato ‘Nnammurato- Massimo Ranieri

Il Mare Calmo Della Sera- Andrea Bocelli

‘O Sole Mio- Il Volo

Il Mondo- Il Volo

Funiculi Funicula- Luciano Pavarotti

Se La Gente Usasse Il Cuore- Andrea Bocelli

Caruso- Luciano Pavarotti

Un Amore Cosi Grande- Il Volo

Piove(Ciao Ciao Bambina) -Domenico Modugno

La Luna Che Non C’e- Andrea Bocelli

La Nostra Favola- Jimmy Fontana

Avevo Un Cuore Che Ti Amava Tanto- Mino Reitano

Per Te- Il Volo

AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE:

Non Ti Scordar di Me- Andrea Bocelli

Buon appetito!

-Alexis <3

N.T.B. ... When Making Fancy Desserts...

If you’re going to make a fancy dessert recipe (say one that you found on the Internet for tiramisu) that you’ve never used before, always have a Plan B—especially if you have guests coming over for dinner.

Let’s just say that it was a good thing that Alexis had brownie mix, whipping cream, and hot fudge in her kitchen when we tried to impress her family friends with tiramisu last Friday!

**When using cocoa, ALWAYS sift it!  We forgot to sift it, and when we put it on top of the tiramisu, (which already looked disgusting plopped on a silver platter and oozing coffee everywhere) there were clumps of unsweetened cocoa that tastes super bitter!!

Il Volo's "O Sole Mio"

These guys are amazing...  Listening to them while cooking in the cucina makes us feel like we're in Italia! :)

"You may have the universe if I may have Italy."

                       -Giuseppe Verdi, Italian Composer

Ricetta!...Tomato Basil Sauce

This is Dani's recipe...She discovered a similar (but much more difficult) recipe in an old family cookbook, and after cooking it for two years, has created a unique recipe for our monthly Italian nights and for the blog.

Tomato Basil Sauce

This sauce can be made with any pasta you like, but is recommended for Angel Hair, Thin Spaghetti, shells, and other light pastas.  Dani usually doubles the recipe by using two cans so that her family can have seconds and still have leftovers! :)

Ingredients

1 28oz Can Petite Diced Tomatoes (we love Hunts!)

3 cloves garlic (at the VERY LEAST) minced

Salt to taste

Fresh Basil, chopped into small strips

2 tbsp. olive oil

           In a large saucepan, heat olive oil on low heat for two minutes, then add garlic and simmer for a minute, being careful not to burn the garlic.  Add the canned tomatoes and their juices and stir in garlic.  Turn up heat to medium.  Add salt to taste (we like it salty!) and stir, then cover and let simmer for at least ten minutes.  Towards the end of the ten minutes, lower heat to medium low and add basil, stirring in slowly.  Cover and let simmer until ready to serve, at least ten more minutes. 

(You can let the sauce simmer as long as you like...the longer you let it simmer with the basil, the more the flavors mix!)

Finally, pour on top of your favorite pasta and serve.  Enjoy!

**Sauce can be refrigerated in a glass or plastic container for up to a week.

N.T.B. #1...Confectioner's Sugar = Powdered Sugar!

In case you're like Dani and you thought that confectioner's sugar is the same as granulated sugar, *ahem!* it's not!

Dani learned this important lesson last month when we got together to cook and bake for our friend Kim's birthday. (Happy Belated Birthday, Kimmy!)  We made shell pasta with tomato basil sauce, (we'll post that recipe soon) bruschetta, (Alexis'ssecret family recipe) and a cake recipe that we found in a magazine.  All went well until Dani made the frosting--with granulated sugar instead of confectioner's sugar!  Dinner was awesome, but the frosting turned out to be incredibly grainy and all of us got a sugar high!

Ooops. :)

Here's a picture of the cake!  (At least it LOOKS decent!)

"There's two types of people: Italians and people who want to be Italians."

                -Mario Batali, on The Chew 

Nuova Ricetta! [New Recipe]...Pasticcio

We invented this recipe in 5 minutes with the random Italian ingredients that we found in Alexis's refrigerator!  It's quick and simple, and delizioso, if we do say so ourselves... :)

Italiano Pasticcio [Italian Mess]

Ingredients:

2 Roma Tomatoes, diced

1 tsp. Ground Basil (fresh or frozen)

4 eggs

1 dash of milk

3 slices of bacon, crumbled (optional)

1/2 tbsp. butter OR 1 tbsp. olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded or chopped

salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

           In a large saucepan, place butter/olive oil and minced garlic on low heat, being careful not to burn garlic.

           Meanwhile, whisk eggs together with a dash of milk until pale yellow.  Pour into saucepan, add salt, and let cook until scrambled on medium heat.  When eggs are almost finished, add basil and lower heat to medium low.  Toss in tomatoes and cheese, and cook for about a minute.  Finally, toss in bacon bits and turn off heat.

           Serve and add salt and pepper to taste.

We love these guys!

IL VOLO

Ciao!

Hello, People of the Internet.  Whether you happened to stumble upon our blog via the book of faces, your Goooooooooooogle search, our Tumblr, or word of mouth, we hope you stay a while to check out our blog! :)

We may not really be Italian, (well, one of us is 1/4 Italian) but we are lovers of Italy…the culture, the country, and especially the food!  From Il Volo to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, (especially Il Volo) we immerse ourselves in Italian culture (though we are not fluent in the language as of yet).

And that is why we (Lauren, Alexis, and Danielle) get together once a month and cucinare [cook] Italian food and obsessively listen to Italian singers!  We decided that, since we’ll be cooking so much, we should blog about the crazy, ridiculously fun times we have together, the important cooking lessons that we learn, and recipes that we dicover.  Our “N.T.B.’s” or Note To Blogs will be the important lessons to remember when cooking in the cucina!

Buon Appetito!