dennis-muoio's Blog
Easter Bread——2026
Joan and I were in Florida for Easter this year. A group of friends who we play Bocce with wanted to have an Easter pot luck. Joan made Chicken Saltambaca from the 'Applehood and Motherpie' cookbook. Joan wanted Easter Bread but I didn't feel it was appropriate for a 3PM dinner.
I decided to make small breads that friends could take home for the next days' breakfast. I made two recipes from the cookbook but I baked them in 3 inch time foil bags. We were at Detwillers Market in Bradenton the days before Easter and I bought a package of Quail eggs. We died them on then baked them on top of the small loaves. I also spread some jelly-beans in the cellophane bags before sealing them closed. We passed them out after Easter dinner and then also to some friends who don't play Bocce. I should have taken a picture of the finished loaves, but any least I have the dyed eggs.The picture is in the gallery. We ended up with 12 loaves.
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December, 2025….Pasta Extruder Demo with brother Jim
My brother Jimmie has expressed an interest in the Philips Pasta Extruder machine that I sometimes use. I use it to make short macaroni shapes like shells,rigatoni or elbows. It is very quick and easy to use. The pasta is thicker than I like, but to make short pasta by hand, like penne, is meticulous and time consuming. I've been experimenting with several pasta extruder machines and have settled on the Philips 7000,
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Spritz---Martha Stewart recipe
Use this instead of any other spritz recipe:
1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks)
1 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
3 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla
sanding sugars
1. Cream butter and sugar
2. Mix in yoiks, flour, slat vanilla
3. Put through cookie press
350 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes
Christmas 2025–Adjustment to ‘Basic Dough’ recipe
I wasn't happy with the first batch of 'Basic Dough' so I made a second one but differently.
In the bowl of the KitchenAid with the paddle
1/2 pound of butter (2 sticks)
6 Tablespoons sugar
Rind and juice of one orange
1/4 cup Milk
2 to 21/4 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
1. Cream butter (not melted) with sugar
2. Add orange juice and rind
3. Reduced milk to 1/4 cup
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Christmas Cookies (and kitchen clean-up) 2025
I sent a message to Gina, Geriann and Maria that we could back Saturday the 20th, but first I needed help doing a complete kitchen take-down and clean-up. Gina and Geriann answered that they couldn't make either event.
Maria showed up on the 18th with Mary. Maria and I took everything apart and did a really good clean-up. The problem was really just a lot of 'dust?' from all the pasta making the previous year. Maria is a real worker. I couldn't have done it without her. The kitchen looks and feels wonderful.
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How to find a previously saved cookbook……HURRAY!!!!!!!
I knew, of course, that I'd created two cookbooks. I had to fool around to them tho after this site went crazy.
Here's what I did:
Sign in
Click on 'searc' at the top
Put in a search word, like your family name that you most likely included in the title of the cookbook
i did that and found both of the previously saved cookbooks.
Thank goodness.
Christmas Baking 2024
Dec 19
Maria and Gerald Anthony came over. She brought a double batch of Cornstarch already mixed..we let it sit out for a while to come to room temperature. She rolled them into fingers, just like Mom used to do. Then she flattened them with a fork. She decided not to ice them to make them travel home easier.
I had already mixed a double batch of ButterBalls. Gerald used a scoop to make them, but the scoop was too big. We didn't get very many.
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Thin Pizzelles for Rainbow Ice Cream Social///3/12/24
I made the thin pizzelle recipe and used the small, 4 cookie iron. I ended up with 14 dozen (168) cookies.
A final note on Thanksgiving 2023
Overall:
7 bags of Caputo Semolina Flour weighing about 2 pounds each
2 and 1/2 dozen eggs
Olive Oil
Salt
We cooked 3 pounds of hand-cut spaghetti for dinner.
The rest of the pasta was packaged in 8 ounce clam-shell containers for families to take home and cook later.
Families with small children were given 8 ounce packages of bow-ties.
Mary, Jimmy and Griffin were given specialty containers as noted in the full Thanksgiving 2023 blog.
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Thanksgiving 2023
After a bit of back and forth, we (I) decided to have pasta as part of Thanksgiving dinner. We'll be going to the community room of Mary's condo. Jered will make the sauce. David has requested that I make a bit extra for him to take home. (Ask me for some homemade pasta. That's right up my alley)!
Joan and I began the week after we got into town after our fall vacation in Florida. I made 3 full batches (3 cups semolina, 4 eggs, 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, 1 teaspoon salt). As always, I let the mixed dough sit for 2 or 3 hours to season.
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