Feast on This!!!!!

So on Monday afternoon i got in my car with one of my friends and we started our venture into the city. Our destination was Mulberry street in the center of NYC little Italy. If your a New Yorker you know September in little Italy is the Feast Of San Gennaro!!!!! Ohhhh how i love the feast. ( pssss only go early in the day, evenings are way to crazy)Ok so i go with one thing in mind... ummm FOOD!!!!!! Thats what feasts are about, forget the games and the music its all about the food!!!!! Some people go for the sausage and peppers and some for the zeppole but not me.... no no no i got for the torrone candy!! Oh god, i love this stuff. Torrone is a candy made of egg whites and sugar and its filled with roasted almonds. They make this candy in large bricks. The bricks are then taken to festivals ad sold off in smaller pieces. The way they brake it is with a hammer. Not only is the candy great but i love the "show" or "drama" involved in the whole thing. Some crazy ZIP swinging around a hammer to give you some weird looking candy. FUN. So now that i went to the feast i am still craving more torrone and i am to crazy this week to head back to the city to get some more. So i find myself looking for recipes online. I'm going to make it!!!! i found some cool recipes and will give you updates on it.. any thoughts from you guys?? and have you gone to the feast??? NO??? GO!!!! The Feast Of San Gennaro

Carrot cake like no other!!!!

This is one of the recipes i submitted to The Food Network when i was auditioning for the NFNSS5. I like to pull this recipe out because as it gets cooler and september rolls in there is no other dessert like carrot cake. Ok so maybe apple pie screams fall but so does this great carrot cake. I added my own twis to this recipe and i hope you enjoy it

East Meets West Five Spice Carrot Cake

This is putting an Asian twist on an American classic. Five spice is made up of equal parts cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns. Most carrot cakes have cinnamon as the main flavoring ingredient. The five spice gives this recipe a new crisp and almost spicy twist that you will love. The frosting on this recipe is also a little lighter in sugar then most cheese cake frostings. This helps to complement the fresh flavor of the cake and not mask it with unneeded sweetness.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cake Batter

Whole eggs– 4

Vegetable oil – 1 ¼ cup

White sugar – 2 cups

Vanilla extract – 2 teaspoons

All purpose flour – 2 cups

Baking soda – 2 teaspoons

Baking powder – 2 teaspoons

Five spice powder – 2 teaspoons

Ground cinnamon – ½ teaspoon

Carrots grated – 4 cups

Walnuts chopped – 1 cup

In a bowl beat the eggs, oil, white sugar and vanilla extract. Slowly mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and five spice. Fold in the carrots and nuts until evenly incorporated. Grease and flour a 9 inch round pan. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 20 minutes and then turn out onto a rack. Let cool for 3 hours in the refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Butter softened – 1 cup

Cream cheese – 16 ounces

Confectioner's sugar – 4 cups

Vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon

Combine all the ingredients and beat until creamy. Frost the cake and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

And the end of summer

So summer is at over and i must say i'm happy to be coming upon my favorite time of yea.... FALL Halloween, thanksgiving, my b-day, and the cold crisp air of October. OHHH i can t wait and i have some great recipes to share with you folks. So hang out and check out some new recipes to come your way

MVP

Its almost that TIME

With September creeping in on us and it starting to feel a little cooler this week.... i think of fall. OK OK maybe I'm jumping the gun!! but i don't care. I spent the last two days baking apple pie and blubbery crisp... YUM. I spend my nights dreaming of pumpkins and roast foul. Ohhh the good days of fall. I think working on my new winter/fall menu also gets me in the mode. Don't get me wrong, i'm not pushing summer out the door i would also like a little more summer. If i cant have more summer falls a great place to be. I just wanted to put that out there for you folks. SO HAPPY FALL!!!!!