Life

Happy Birthday Donatella!

My sweet chihuahua Donatella turns eight today! It's amazing how much joy she brings to us. She's as sassy as they come and ornery to boot. Her cake might not be as pretty as I usually make them but really, she didn't mind. Here is my cake recipe safe for your fur baby.

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1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup shredded carrots

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup peanut butter

I added one mashed banana. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. For the icing I used whipped cream cheese and added honey. She was a big fan. 

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The Perfect Gathering

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As you know my Mom's Birthday was Friday and I really enjoyed getting the family together to celebrate. Lets get right to the food! For canapes I went with Baked Brie bites. They are easy to eat and just a little bit different. Here is the easy, elegant recipe:

  • 2 boxes Mini Fillo Shells
  • 8 oz brie cheese
  • 1/2 cup cranberry sauce
  • 3 tbsp chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 400, cut brie to fit in the middle of the shell, and pop in the oven for about 5 minutes to that the cheese gets warm and all melty. Then, take it out, add a little dab of cranberry and top with pistachios. 

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For one of the sides I went with ham wrapped asparagus topped with parm cheese. It's a simple side but not your typical green beans. 

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For the main course, I wanted something elegant so I decided on lamb. Stuffed with garlic cloves and Rosemary, roasted for four hours, it was absolutely divine. This was my first time making lamb and I'm so glad I went for it. 

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You can't have a party without cake...and champagne of course!

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My fabulous family! It was a wonderful celebration for an absolutely fabulous person who means so much to all of us. 

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Capri Indeed

Our very last stop is here in Capri, Italy. I was so excited to be here and get to experience everything this fabulous place had to offer. Including but not limited to more pizza and Limoncello. Capri is filled to the gills with high end shops and great places to eat.

A little squid and pizza before we started shopping. The squid was the best I have ever had and so amazingly fresh. We were surprised that the third stop in Italy was the first time we saw Cannoli's!  I'm not a dessert person but this was amazing and I'm fairly certain none will ever be quite this good.

As I said there is so much shopping here! I got to cross something HUGE off of my bucket list which was getting to shop at La Perla!! It was a good day and one to be remembered.

This bad boy was mine while MK got another Cannoli.

On our way back, we had to stop in Naples (the birthplace of pizza) and found an adorable pizza joint and met some pretty fabulous new friends (from Philly nonetheless). Perks of traveling indeed.

Thanks for coming along on our European trip! It's has been wonderful to be able to share this with all of you! If you would like to view more photos we have many more we didn't share on here, you can check them out here: http://contemporaryphotography.smugmug.com/Personal/Mediterranean-Cruise/n-sq4P5/