Crocchette: crispy, cheesy and just plain YUM!

After a whole year of being here, I have no idea why Carlo has not had his mother make Crocchette before.  They are my new favorite things to eat and probably the easiest things I've made so far.  The only way to describe these are by saying they are fried Mashed Potatoes.

I know my mother in law thinks I'm crazy for taking pictures of the whole process and also of my own plate but she doesn't understand that it's my duty to bring this information to you!  How else are you supposed to learn all of my diet tricks... right?!?!?!

So, Here's what you need:

2 lbs of Potatoes
3 eggs
1 ball of fresh Mozzarella
Parmigiano Cheese
Salt
Flour
Bread Crumbs

Peel, Wash and Boil your Potatoes. When ready, place potatoes in a medium size bowl and mash with a fork until smooth.  Add Parmigiano and a pinch of salt to Potatoes.

In a small bowl, add the whites of 2 eggs....

and the yolk of those 2 eggs with the Potatoes and mix well.

also add 1 whole egg to the bowl with egg white and add a pinch of salt and beat eggs.

Place 1 ball of fresh Mozzarella on a plate...

and cute into small pieces...

Assembly Line:

1 large plate with flour

1 large plate with bread crumbs

1 large plate with a paper towel on top

With clean hands (of course) form a ball or small potato-like dumpling.  Place 2 or 3 pieces of Mozzarella in the middle and continue to form dumpling.. covering the mozzarella.

Roll in flour until lightly covered...

Then dip in egg mixture making sure it is completely covered...

then roll in bread crumbs.. making sure it's covered completely... shaking off excess crumbs

Repeat until the mixture is gone....

tip:  make all of the potato dumplings first and place them on the plate with flour.  once you're done, then.. continue with eggs and bread crumbs.  that way you don't have to keep washing your hands before you make another dumpling.

Once you've finished, place on a plate with a paper towel.... fry before serving!!!

In a medium -large skillet fry with oil of your choice.  (we use sunflower oil because it's cheaper)  Make sure to fry all sides until golden brown and remove with spatula.

Place on platter/plate with paper towel and serve immediately......

and Enjoy!!

These little things are addicting and yet very filling.  They are best when eaten right away.  If you do have any left overs you can reheat them.

Reheating instructions:

Preheat oven to 215°C (420°F)  Place Crocchette on a cookie sheet and heat for 10 minutes or until hot (you may see the cheese starting to ooze out)

**After making these, I thought how delicious it would be to add BAKED POTATO ingredients!! Substitute the mozzarella for cheddar, add green onions(chives), & pancetta (bacon)....YUM!

Birthday Shoutout

A year has come and gone and it's always fun to look back at how much everyone changes in a years time.  So this year, I decided that Birthday Shout outs will focus on how much we all have changed.

This is Ali boo boo.. turning 1 year old.

photo taken from Los Frijoles Watkins blog

She really thinks that she's a Big Girl..

And now.. she really is a Big Girl!

.

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY ALI!!

I ♥ Vintage & Hand-me downs

Today is a great day! I finally received a package from my sister with lots of goodies for the baby. I was so excited to open the box and see all of the fun stuff Valentina will get to wear.  When Carlo came home, he was also surprised by all of stuff that fit into a small box.  We can't wait for the next shipment to arrive!

Opening the Box was like Christmas for me! I kept ohh-ing and ahhh-ing at each item.... holding them to my belly and talking to the baby... letting her know that she was going to live up to her Italian fashion roots!

Hand-me downs are the best things ever! I'm so grateful for the 4 nieces that I have that are now passing down clothes to each other and that will eventually come to me!  So far, we've received...

 a changing pad and pacifier

7 pairs of socks

a shirt and a diaper cover (panties)

a Ralph Lauren dress

another dress and denim jumper

a Pooh onesie and a I ♥ NY onesie

her "1 yr Birthday &  Easter" dress

a hooded towel, washcloth and burp cloth

blankets

hats & hair accessories (she's already got more than I do!)

and a shoe collection... just like mommy and daddy....

*the blue booties & white booties were gifts from friends... they were not part of this package.

mine & Carlo's shoes

But that's not all!..I know.. you're thinking.. How could there be more? How big was this box? Well, it was completely stuffed!

She has inherited one yellow sun hat from the Gap that used to belong to Mikaela.  If I remember correctly, I bought this hat for Mika when she was about 6 months old. We (Julie [Mika's mom] and I used to tell her HOW CUTE she looked in the hat... only for her (Mika) to keep pulling it off her head).  When I saw this in the box, I almost cried because it brought back so many fun memories of playing with Mika. I can't wait to see Valentina in this hat!

Vintage items are alway in style.. no matter what anyone says.  I read that for something to be considered Vintage, it has to be at least 20 years old... well these next few things are older than that so, this little meatball will definitely be wearing Vintage fashions!

This next piece WAS NOT IN THE BOX but, I wanted to take a picture of it and put it in this post.  This was my tank top and now.. Vale will be wearing it too.  I just need to find a cute denim skirt for it.

This dress is SPECIAL!  This is my blessing dress. I wore it when I got blessed at church.  I then lent it to Julie and we dressed Mika in it when she was blessed. It was then passed to my niece Isabel who also wore it when she was blessed.  Unfortunately, Gabby & Ali didn't wear it but that's ok... because it's back with me now and Vale will be wearing it when she gets blessed at my ward (Torino 2nd ward) and baptized in Carlo's church.

And last but certainly not least.... ONE OF MY BABY BLANKETS!!!!  When I was living in Provo, Utah, I sent somethings to my sister in Arizona to keep for me.  That was about 11 years ago and that was the last time I saw this blanket.  So, imagine my surprise to find this as the very last thing in the box.  I am very, very, very happy to be able to pass this along to my baby....

along with Ellie and Teddy!

My Elephant was given to me when I was born & I've had my Teddy since I was 5 years old.

Affogato al Cioccolato

Did you know that Torino is the Chocolate capital of Italy?  Well, you know now!  In my opinion, the best time to visit Torino is in the winter because that's when you have the best of the best in production.  Chocolate is an art and because it is so delicate the best chocolate can only be made when the temperature is less than 78 degrees (I read that in another blog).

So, since it's so cold today, Carlo and I decided to take our walk downtown and have a yummy treat.  We went to Venchi on Via Garibaldi and enjoyed an Affogato al Cioccolato.

What is that you ask? The word affogato means drowned.  So..... you have your gelato, pour hot chocolate over it and then we topped ours with panna (whipped cream).  It was the perfect treat and the best way to eat Venchi gelato.  They make wonderful chocolate but so far, we've noticed that their gelato is too hard when served.  This way, the hot chocolate melts the gelato so it's much better to eat.

In a few weeks, we'll go back and try their Hot Chocolate.  I'm sure it will taste as good as it looked!

Venchi

Via Garibaldi, 22

10122, Torino

www.venchi.it

*Venchi is an Italian gourmet chocolate company founded in 1878. Information on Wikipedia.

26 weeks and counting

Today marks the beginning of my 26th week.  Which means that in 2 more weeks, I'll officially be starting the last trimester!  This is pregnancy is going by so fast.  It seems like it was yesterday that I peed on a stick and saw this....

2 weeks later, blood work confirmed what my pee stick said.  So, we started documenting by taking pictures. We started at 8 weeks...

Then moved into 13 weeks and still no weight gain but definitely starting to fill out.....

By week 17, I finally gained 3 lbs!!!  Starting to fill out some more and a tiny hint of a bump is beginning to show......

21 weeks and another pound gained.  I start noticing that even though I'm growing.. I feel like I'm shrinking too.......

NYE 2010, staying home with the bump and eating! 24 weeks and bump is nice and round......

And now... 26 weeks and 8lbs total.  Not too shabby if I say so myself.  In fact, I am wearing a pre-pregnancy shirt to show how much I've lost and yet at 6 months, I can fit in it and button it up.

Valentina's favorite songs

Ok... so maybe they're not her favorite but, she does move when she hears them.  A couple of months ago, Carlo and I started talking to the baby so that she could become familiar with our voices.  I know they can hear when they're in the womb so, I wanted to see if what I heard was true.  I put headphones on my stomach and played different music.

Some days she moves more than others but she definitely moves when certain songs are played.  I tried putting classical music and she moved quite a bit! So then I tried some rock, oldies, pop.... but nothing worked as well as latin!

My little baby knows good music when she hears it!  As of now... these are the songs she moves to the most....

Shakira- Ciega, Sordomuda

and

Paulina Rubio- Causa y Efecto

I can't wait to play these songs for her and watch her actually dancing to them!!

Why I love Italy: Reason #24- FOOD!!

I’ve been meaning to post about this topic for some time now but, with the holidays, I wanted to “research” more before I posted.  I while back, Carlo and I watched a movie that I think EVERYONE needs to watch.  It’s a documentary called Food, Inc.  It’s basically letting the American consumer know where there food is coming from.  It is the most shocking thing I think I’ve seen.  Letting you know how these animals are being fed, raised and slaughtered for your consumption.

It also interviewed a family who was overweight but also battled issues such as diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure.  It was so sad to see this family at the store and trying to buy food with a small budget.  One part was the youngest daughter wanted some fruit.  They weight the fruit to figure out who much they could get per pound.  It was sad when they had to put it back because it costs too much and they could get more food at McDonald’s for the same price.  It was also sad that they spend so little on food and so much on medication for their health issues.

I had no idea that the animals raised on these farms were being fed food that is not good for them... The main ingredient.... CORN.  Now, you’re thinking corn, is a vegatable and it’s good for you.  Well, here’s the problem... Cows eat grass, & Chickens eat grains... but that’s not what they’re eating.. they’re eating CORN.  It’s making them gain weight and essentially growing bigger and faster in a shorter amount of time.  It was really disturbing to see Chicken raised in a dark hen house and being fed a diet that makes them grow much faster than their bodies can handle.  After watching this, I decided that the next time I’m in the States, I would buy Organic and try to avoid meats.... it’s enough to make someone a Vegetarian. 

As I watched all of this I realized why the Italians are so proud of their food.  It’s because it’s fresh and all natural.  Sure Torino has 5 McDonald’s and we’re starting to see obesity problems here but for the most part, everyone eats pretty healthy.  When I say healthy, I don’t just mean salads, I’m talking about fresh produce grown by local farmers, meats that tell you that it’s been grown in a free-range farm in Piemonte and dishes that have ingredients that you can pronounce.

It’s this diet that makes eating in Italy so wonderful.  It’s also the main reason that I’ve been able to eat and eat and still manage to lose or gain very little.  (along with the endless walking)  It’s funny how my shopping habits have changed in the time I’ve been here.  They change even more when Carlo is with me. 

Here’s an example of what I got on a simple trip to the store.  I had a list of 10 items that I needed and here’s what I came back with........

more than 10 items... most of this was NOT on my shopping list

While we were in the produce section, getting pears, Carlo kept getting more than we needed.... like 2 kinds of pears, which led to the basket of kiwi, then he wanted me to make roasted peppers, which led to zucchini, cucumber and avocados.  The tomatoes are (obviously) a regular staple in our fridge along with bags of salad

as well as the hamburger meat, eggs, corn and 3 types of gelato!  Along with 15 boxes of milk, Carlo wanted to get some Walnuts to snack on.  I do like the fact that when I open my fridge it's full of colorful, good-for-me food and I've always got healthy nuts and fruits to snack on........

when I'm not eating gelato of course!!!

Here's the trailer for Food, Inc.

Starting Early

Last month, one of the ladies at the school that I go to gave me a baby gift for Christmas. Once I got home, Carlo and I opened it together.

These booties are so cute! The lady that made them didn't know we were having a girl but that doesn't matter because I think I found the perfect outfit......

photo from MavGear.com

This little girl is already gotten a head start on her shoe collection (just like her parents) and she'll be starting a Mavs Gear collection soon!!