Halloween Treats!

I had some things that I needed to do this morning but had planned that after lunch I was going to make some fun treats to give to the handful of children on our street this evening. There are 8 small kids on the street and they and their parents all know me well. Otherwise, I would never consider baking something for them.

Last year I made them witch cupcakes. This year I had something else that I thought would be fun to give to them when they came trick-or-treating with their parents.

But, to my dismay none of them came. Over the past few years so many of the homes that had kids either moved, grew up or have senior citizens in them that don't open the doors when the kids ring the bell on Halloween. As a result, those families with young children go into subdivisions that have HUGE numbers of children.

So I made these really cute treats that I'd love to share with you. Sadly, the only kids that came to my door were strangers to me, so I couldn't offer them a homemade treat that was unwrapped.

BOO HOO! That's how I felt. Although my halloween snack wasn't difficult to make I was so looking forward to sharing them with my little friends. I guess I'll have to give them to family and friends tomorrow, otherwise my husband and I will end up eating all of them.

Anyway, these little cakes that I made are Halloween Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecakes. You can see in the photo at the top one of the cakes is sliced in half. Inside is an orange halloween oreo that's then covered with a pumpkin cheesecake filling and baked. YUM!

You could do something similar for the holidays with the red icing filled oreos and maybe a peppermint cheesecake or regular cheese cake decorated with a snowman on top, Christmas Tree or other holiday decoration. For today though I did a spider web in celebration of Halloween.

Here's the recipe. They're really quite good.

Halloween Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecakes
Serves 12

Ingredients:

•12 whole Halloween Oreos
•8 ounce pkg. Cream Cheese, softened
•½ cup Granulated Sugar
•½ teaspoon Pure Vanilla
•½ cup Pureed Pumpkin
•1 whole Egg
•¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
•⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg
•2 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
•1 pinch Salt
•½ cups Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F). Spray a 12 muffin tin with non-stick spray. I used the butter variety. Place 1 Oreo in the bottom of each muffin tin. Set aside.

In large bowl, whip cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Stir in vanilla, pumpkin, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and salt until combined. Scrape sides of bowl and whip mixture until completely smooth. Spoon mixture evenly over Oreos.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until cheesecakes have set. Remove from oven to cool.

Once cheesecakes are cool enough to handle, remove from muffin tin. Microwave chocolate chips approximately 1 1/2 minutes stirring after 1 minute, then for another 30 seconds until smooth and completely melted. Spoon chocolate into a piping bag with a small round tip.

Pipe melted chocolate in concentric circles on top of cheesecakes. Drag the end of a toothpick through the chocolate to create the look of a spider web, starting in the center and dragging outward. Repeat with remaining cheesecakes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Simple to make and fun to eat!

Halloween Breakfast Pancakes

This year Halloween falls on a Sunday. Yippee! The perfect day to whip up some dressed up pumpkin pancakes for breakfast or of course you could just go to IHOP.

However if you'd rather spend a quiet morning at home, IHOP has decided to share these tips for making the perfect pumpkin pancakes.

•The batter - Start with your favorite pancake batter recipe and simply add canned pumpkin pie mix.

•Water temperature - When preparing dry pancake mix, it is essential that the water is chilled to less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Use ice to bring the temperature of the water down.

•Lumps are good - Do not over mix the pancake batter. Small lumps of flour are what make pancakes tall and fluffy.

•Grill temperature - Use a 350-degree grill and make sure there are no hot or cold spots that can affect cooking time.

•Cook time - The appearance is how you judge when a pancake is ready. When dropping the pancake batter, watch for bubbles to form and for the batter to have a dull appearance. This takes approximately 2.5 minutes. After flipping, cook approximately 2 minutes.

•Pancake topping - Top pumpkin pancakes with whipped cream.

IHOP will be serving Pumpkin pancakes through out the month of October.










However, if you're looking for a specific recipe for creating your own spectacular Halloween pancakes here's a recipe you can follow:

Pumpkin Pancakes with Hot Cider Syrup or Spooky Black Cinnamon Syrup
Makes 12 pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions:

1.In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.

2.Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the edges look dry. Turn over and cook until golden brown. Serve immediately with syrup of your choice.

Hot Cider Syrup

1 1/2 c. apple cider
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. corn syrup
2 oz. butter
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Grated rind from 1 lemon
2 apples, peeled, cored & thinly sliced

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine apple cider, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon rind. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Add apples. Heat for several minutes more. Serve over pancakes.



Black Cinnamon Syrup

1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup water
Black food coloring

In a saucepan combine white sugar, brown sugar, all-purpose flour and cinnamon. Stir dry ingredients together. Add vanilla extract and water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until thickened. Add food coloring until you get to the desired shade. Remove from heat until you are ready to use and place in a squirt bottle to decorate.

Decorating ideas with Black Syrup: spider web, spider, witch, bat, cat, pumpkin face, etc.

Note: If you'd like to decorate your pancakes for Halloween with something other than the syrup try IHOPs design. Using some whipped cream decorate a smile for the mouth and add candy corn on top for the teeth.

Use a strawberry for the nose and whipped cream circles for the eyes with a mini oreo set onto each whipped circle. Now who wouldn't love that?

Looking for more fun? Check out these Halloween Pancake Molds.



Have fun!

French Fridays with Dorie

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book, "Around My French Table". The members of this group, me included, are going to cook our way through AMFT one recipe at a time. It is going to be a very tasty adventure. Please feel free to join in!

I've never done a cooking club like this before but a foodie friend of mine Amy cooked her way through "Tuesdays with Dorie" the baking group blog and loved it. Plus I loved reading about the recipes she tried each week.

So when Amy told me about Dorie's new book I thought I'd join in the group. There's no committment, in fact once a week there's a recipe that Dorie assigns based upon what the members vote on. Then on Fridays we post our photo and share our thoughts about the recipe. Of course I can't share the recipe with you but if you want you can order it on Amazon.

Since I just joined the group I've missed a few of the Friday posts that have been baked and tested. This weeks was Marie-Helene's Apple Cake on page 432 in "Around My French Table". The aroma in my house while baking was heavenly and the taste of this cake was decadent and so smooth.

I have to admit that I didn't use apples. We had just received a box of pears from Harry & David so I decided it would be the perfect dish to use them in, and it was. I can only imagine how wonderful it will be when I make it with apples.



The recipe also called for an 8" springform pan. I had a 7", 9", 9.5" and 10". So I decided to use the 7". I was concerned if I used the 9" that the cake would be too thin. The 7" worked out perfectly. However, instead of cooking it for the 50-60 minutes that it stated, I had to cook it for 90 minutes to insure that the center was cooked properly. At around the 75th minute I placed a piece of tin foil over the top of the cake to make sure it didn't brown too much. As you can see it looks perfect.



I also decided that I'd plate it up with a scoop of ice cream and then drizzle it with a balsamic reduction that I made earlier. YUM! That's all I can tell you.



This recipe was so simple and the results were outstanding! If you enjoy this type of group then please join the club, the more the merrier! But, if that's not your cup of tea then you should definitely consider purchasing Dorie's book "Around My French Table". It's beautiful and the recipes all look sensational. I can't wait to try next weeks recipe.

Here's to my first cooking club adventure with French Fridays with Dorie.

Bon Appetit!

Comfort Food for my Hubby!

There aren't too many foods that put a smile on my husbands face. But, one dish that I know he'll always love is my meatloaf. So when he walked in the house today after work and asked what we were having for dinner I said, "Meatloaf." An immediate smile came over his face. I love when that happens.

I've never really been a fan of meatloaf but I've acquired a taste for it since he loves it so much. In fact, it's really a great dish to prepare when the weather is getting cooler or for a casual dinner or quite frankly I think it would be a great dish to serve on Halloween night.

We've always either made chili for a crowd or ordered out pizza. Why not do meatloaf? It's a burger with lots of flavor but cooks all at once. It's simple to prepare and tasty. Of course, we won't be having it this Sunday for Halloween since we're having it today. However, you can, and to go with it make some sweet potato fries, my favorite, and a side salad. What could be easier than that?

Here's my recipe for meatloaf. As always, my photo isn't that great but the dish is quite tasty.

Meatloaf with Sweet Sauce
serves 4-6

2 1/2 pounds ground beef, (I use ground sirloin)
1 cup milk, (skim)
1/4 cup dried minced onion
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Sauce:

1/2 cup chili sauce (Heinz)
1/2 tsp. Kitchen Bouquet
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except sauce in a bowl. Put into a loaf pan that's been sprayed with a non-stick spray. This may be done the day before or early in the day.

Bake at 350F degree oven for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile mix together sauce ingredients. After 45 minutes, remove from the oven, drain grease and add the sauce on the top of the meatloaf. Cook 45 minutes longer, drain grease and serve.

Note: I always place heavy duty foil on the sheet pan that I'm cooking the meatloaf on to catch any spills that may occur during cooking.

Then after removing the meatloaf to drain for the first time I wrap more foil around the pan letting it extend over the sides of the meatloaf pan. This eleviates any splattering from the sauce.

I like to make some additional sauce in a pan while the meatloaf is cooking. Then if desired drizzle over the sides of each individual slice when served.

Enjoy!

How To Carve A Pumpkin?

With just 5 days left to Halloween many of you will begin carving your pumpkins to place out on the doorstep. There are so many fun designs but none that you ever felt you could recreate. Well guess again! Now you can make one look just like the ones you see in the magazines?

I happened across this video and just knew I had to share it with you. This video demonstrates great tips on carving a fun, creative pumpkin that everyone will be talking about.

Best of all, make pumpkin carving a family affair and years from now the kids will be talking about what great memories they had of that day. Memories are priceless and can never be lost.

Just be careful for the carving though. Don't let the kids do it without parental supervision or you might find yourself in the ER.

I hope you enjoy this video:



How to carve a pumpkin

Pizza Pie - Cast Your Vote!

Of all the foods there are to eat, I have to admit, pizza is my all-time favorite. I could eat it everyday but I don't think my body would be too happy about that anymore. Maybe when I was in my teens but not now.

So when I happened to be walking by the magazine rack at the grocery store yesterday and saw a magazine titled "PIZZA" I decided I had to pick it up. It's by the famous husband and wife team Jane and Michael Stern who go across country eating Roadfood and talking about it.

The magazine has numerous recipes of varying types of pizza plus everything you ever wanted to know about pizza. It's quite entertaining plus informative and the photos make me salivate.

A question that I found interesting and in my case true was, "Where is the best pizza in America?" Their study showed that it's in the town where you grew up. Even sophisticated gastronomes who have eaten the most masterful pizzas from Naples to New Haven to the San Francisco Bay tend to maintain a soft spot in their hearts for the pizza pie they used to have with their friends, that they shared with their family and their sweetheart, and to which they return whenever they come home.

I know my favorite pizza is from Imo's here in St Louis. I grew up with this delightful thin crusted pizza made with provel cheese and to this day it's still my number 1 pizza of choice. When my sister comes home from California to visit, the first thing she does is order a bacon and hamburger pizza and a cheese pizza from Imo's plus some toasted ravioli. My mom of course always asks for an anchovy on hers. Just one, right in the middle. I could never figure that one out but that's how she likes hers.

Where is your favorite pizza from and what town is it in? Is it where you live now or where you grew up? That's the key according to the Stern's.

What are your favorite toppings? Mine are bacon and hamburger, and just plain cheese. I also like the veggie pizza, from California Pizza Kitchen.









In addition the Stern's talk about "Who Likes What Crust?" Thin, thick, chewy, crisp, or charred. Nobody is neutral on this issue. In the summer of 2010 though a poll was conducted of Roadfood.com members to determine their preference, and guess what? Thin crust pizza, my favorite, won!

What's your favorite type of crust? I'd love to do our own poll so please send a post and let me know. I'd be curious to see which crust wins?

After reading the article I had to check out the Roadfood.com site.

Roadfood means great regional meals along highways, in small towns and in city neighborhoods.

It is non-franchised, sleeves-up food made by cooks, bakers, pitmasters, and sandwich-makers who are America’s culinary folk artists.

Roadfood is almost always informal and inexpensive; and the best Roadfood restaurants are colorful places enjoyed by locals (and savvy travelers) for their character as well as their menu.

They claim that it's their intention that Roadfood.com will lead the way to:
great local color
the best regional specialties
unforgettable diners, celestial barbecue, and four-star pig-outs galore!

It's a fun site to browse with recipes, forums, merchandise, maps, and more. So check it out and please cast your vote.

Which crust is your favorite?
Thin, Thick, Chewy, Crisp or Charred? If none of these then what kind?

I'll be looking forward to your post.

Fun Halloween Cocktail!

Halloween parties aren’t just for kids. Invite friends, decorate the house, throw on your best spooky costume, then serve some special drinks for a memorable evening.

Here's a fun HOWLOWEEN Cocktail your friends won't forget.

Check this out:













Bloody Eyeball Martini

This cocktail, creates a radish and olive “eyeball,” which is frozen into an ice cube.

Ingredients Per Cocktail

2 ounces of gin or vodka
½ ounce of dry vermouth
1 small pimento-stuffed green olive
1 large radish (the olive must be insertable into the radish)

The “eyeballs” should be prepared a day before you plan to use them.

Preparation Of “Eyeballs”

1. Peel radish, leaving thin streaks of red skin on to represent blood vessels.

2. Using the tip of the vegetable peeler or a small knife, carefully scoop out a small hole at the top of the radish, roughly the size of an olive.

3. Stuff a green olive, pimiento side out, in each hole.

4. Place 1 radish eyeball in each section of an empty ice cube tray. Pare the radishes down a bit to fit, if necessary. Fill the tray with water and freeze overnight.

5. Place gin and vermouth in a cocktail shaker with ice.

6. Gently shake and pour, straining the ice, into a martini glass.

7. Garnish with an olive eyeball.








Begin with a radish.








Steps 1 & 2: Peel radish, leaving thin streaks of red skin. Scoop out a small hole at the top, the size of an olive.








Steps 3 & 4: Stuff an olive into the hole and freeze radishes in ice cubes.

How fun is that?

Caesar Salad with Wok Seared Tuna

I was in the mood for some fresh tuna and a salad this evening so I decided to combine the two together. I made a light Caesar Salad - asian inspired, with wok seared tuna.

As I've mentioned before my photos never do my dishes any justice but both my husband and I thought this was delicious!

I had most of the ingredients on hand but I think I would have liked to have added some fresh corn from the cob for a little added crunch and maybe even some almonds. Even still it was great just the way it was.

Caesar Salad with Wok Seared Tuna
serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. canola oil

1 pound fresh tuna, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces about 1 inch long
2 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tbsp. dark sesame oil
1 tsp Asian Chile Sauce (Sriracha)
1 tbsp. finely minced ginger (use a microplane)

Fresh Romaine Lettuce
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
3 ounces enoki mushrooms
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Caesar Salad Dressing:

1/3 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce (low sodium)
1 tbsp. mayonnaise ( I used Kewpie - Japanese mayo)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. Asian chile sauce (Sriracha)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic, finely minced

In a zip lock baggie add the soy, sesame oil, chile sauce and ginger and combine. Then add the tuna slices and mix well to combine. Place in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes but no longer than 8 hours.

Combine all dressing ingredients together and whisk well until combined and a smooth consistency. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Combine all salad ingredients and set aside in a bowl.

Place 2 tbsp. canola oil in a wok that has already been heated. When you see a wisp of smoke from the pan add the marinated tuna. Stir and toss the tuna just until it loses its raw exterior color.

Immediately transfer the tuna onto the salad greens. Drizzle the salad dressing in the amount that you like over the tuna and greens, and toss to combine all ingredients. Add Parmesan, salt (if desired) and pepper and toss again. Taste and adjust seasonings. Transfer salad to individual salad plates and serve.

This entree salad is light and very tasty. Don't look at the photo, it doesn't do it any justice.

Enjoy!

Spicy Autumn Soup

Although it wasn't cold out today there was a nice breeze and the sun was shining bright. The temperature was around 70 degrees but, with the breeze and the leaves changing colors it had that fall smell and feel in the air.

When the weather starts changing I'm suddenly ready to start making soups and heartier meals. So I decided I'd make an Autumn Soup. My husband of course said he didn't want soup but preferred hamburgers. So I decided with the soup I'd make Kobe burgers and sweet potato fries.

Don't ask me how I came up with this combination of ingredients for my soup but it was really good! Spicy with a bit of a kick to it, yet delicious.

Spicy Autumn Soup
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

2 tsp. olive oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 medium Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into bite size cubes
1 can white beans, drained
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 jalepeno, roasted, seeded and diced
1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
1 tsp. adobo sauce
4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup apple juice
2-3 cups fresh spinach, chopped

Directions:

In a stock pot add the olive oil, onions and garlic and cook until onions turn translucent.

Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT the spinach and cook until it begins to boil. Then cover and lower heat for about 8-10 minutes. Check to see if the butternut squash is fork tender at this point. If not continue cooking a little longer until the squash is done.

Then add the chopped spinach and stir for about 1-2 minutes.

Serve.

Note: I had actually added some dried figs to the soup thinking it would give it an interesting flavor but I didn't like them in the soup so I've omitted them in this recipe.

I also wanted to use Swiss Chard but when I got to the store it felt like it wasn't fresh so I opted for the spinach instead.

I thought the soup had a wonderful flavor. Initially I only added about 2 cups of broth but it was a bit too spicy for me when I tested it so I added another 2 cups which made it just perfect for me.

Top with a crostini or large crouton and it makes for a delicious main course meal.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Traditions

I read an article today in the November 2010 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine that made me stop and think for a minute. It was about passing down traditions for the Thanksgiving meal.

The person writing the article was a male and talked about how moms pass down their recipes to their daughters not their sons, and that her holiday masterpiece would die out with her, a family heirloom gone missing..

So he asked his mom if she would teach him to make her Thanksgiving meal and although somewhat bewildered, she did happily. That next Thanksgiving he prepared her dinner for their family that she had made for years but had since passed the turkey baster on to her daugther-in-laws.

He recalls the looks on his parents faces when the meal was served and how delighted they were. Then while cleaning the old roasting pan that had been in the family for generations he asked his mom if she would leave it to him someday. Very pleased and proud that he would want to continue this tradition she said "All right, if you'd like."

So it made me think. I already have the identical roasting pan that my mom uses. Afterall her turkeys were always delicious so why make any changes now. My mom to this day, at 88 years old, makes a challah stuffing for the turkey. We have all loved her stuffing for as long as I remember and now my kids love it too. In fact, my son looks forward to the upcoming Thanksgiving meal right after we have one because of my moms stuffing. He loves what I make too but there's just something about her stuffing.

So years ago I asked my mom for the recipe which I have filed away safely. I desperately want to make it to insure I have it just right but, I don't dare take that glory away from her on Thanksgiving. I'm superstitiuous and if I made it while she was still here on earth I'm afraid I would jinx her. I'd never forgive myself.

So I'll just keep it tucked away and know that someday it will be my turn to prepare it along with all the other fixins. I hope that my kids will also want the recipe to pass down to their children along with ones that they've grown to cherish that were mine.

What recipe or recipes do you have each and every year that you'd like to be sure you get, so that you can pass down to your family for generations to come? Please share it with me and don't forget to ask for it this year. Unfortunately you never know when it will be too late.

The Perfect Wine Saver and Holiday Gift!

The holidays are just around the corner. Did you ever wonder what to do with all those half used opened bottles of wine after your holiday party?

Here's the perfect kitchen gadget to save your wine and pocketbook.













Vacuvin

This Wine Saver is a vacuum pump, which extracts the air from the opened bottle and re-seals it with a re-usable rubber stopper. Place the re-usable stopper in the bottle and extract the air from the bottle using the Wine Saver pump. A "click" sound tells you when you have reached the optimum vacuum level. The vacuum slows down the oxidation process which makes it possible to enjoy your wine again at a later date.

The question "how often do I have to pump?" is a thing of the past. The unique and patented vacuum indicator will emit a "click" sound when the correct vacuum is reached.

•Vacuum indicator
•Patented ''click''
•Slows down the oxidation process
•Not for sparkling wines

I think it's the perfect gadget to have in your home however, if you're looking for a unique holiday gift for the person who has everything, why not consider purchasing the Vacuvin Wine Saver? With a variety of models to choose from all under $20 you can even bring it to that holiday party as a hostess gift. Who wouldn't like one?

Cooking like Mom!

My daughter called me the other day to say that she and her roommates were having some friends over to their apartment for dinner. My daughter who is a junior in college has suddenly found an interest in cooking, well it makes sense.

Now out on their own getting fast food and eating out all the time has lost its appeal. They've found that if they can cook, not only will they be able to prepare the food how they like it, but also save money and have fun while preparing their dishes.

She's been cooking with me in the kitchen since she was a little girl, but it wasn't until this year that cooking took on a whole new meaning to her. Anyway, she asked me for my recipe for the Salmon Roulade. For those of you that have been following my blog for a while know that I prepared that recipe on Great Day St. Louis for an Easter and Passover dish.

The recipe is so light and delicious and although it looks complicated is really quite simple.

So I forwarded her the link to where I had it posted on my blog and told her to watch the video, then read the recipe several times over before attempting to make it. I even mentioned to her that the fishmonger at the store could butterfly the salmon so they didn't have to. However, her roommates boyfriend use to work in a market and knew how to do that.



After completing the recipe she took this photo for me and told me how much they all loved it. In fact she's never been too fond of fish but really enjoyed this dish and thought the salsa was incredibly delicious. Plus she said it was so much fun to make and everyone that came to dinner all pitched in to help with some part of the meal.

I thought their Salmon Roulade turned out fantastic! It just goes to show, that if you take the time to read a recipe in full prior to preparing a dish, whether you're
21, 50 or 70 the results will be just what you'd hoped for.

I'm very proud of my daughter and her friends and elated that a part of me has rubbed off on her. I'm certain that years from now she'll be a much better cook than I am. Before you know it she'll be doing the entire Thanksgiving dinner!

Holiday Dessert Fun!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to Boston to visit my daughter who attends one of the Universities there. We had a wonderful time shopping, going to nice restaurants and just hanging out together, the kind of things that moms and their daughters do.

While there my daughter suggested we go to Mike's Pastry a place she had heard had incredible baked goods. Mike's Pastry is in the North End of Boston, where all the great Italian Restaurants are, similar to The Hill here in St Louis only much bigger and busier.

It was Saturday night and the entire block was packed with people standing outside of restaurants waiting to be seated. We had already had dinner at a nearby restaurant but had reservations so got seated immediately. Anyway, we walked down the street to Mike's Pastry and literally there was a line at least a 1/2 mile long waiting to get into the shop.

We managed to eventually get inside to view cases of homemade fresh pastries. They had Cannoli's of various types, fillings and coatings, all of which they are famous for. Plus many more desserts, each one looking more luscious than the next.

We decided to order and bring back home a chocolate dipped Cannoli stuffed with a Ricotta filling, Boston Cream Pie and Boston Cream Puff. We were debating on the Lobster Claw that everyone said was so wonderful but we opted for the first three.

To say the least they all tasted amazing. I honestly couldn't pick which one was my favorite. Each one had their own special quality that was decadent.

If you've never had a Cannoli you may be wondering what they are. Here's the description Mike's Pastry shares about this wonderful italian dessert.

Later back at my hotel, I decided to get online to see if I could order some of these heavenly treats to have shipped and learned that they have Cannoli kits, which I think would be a fun treat to have or gift to give for the holidays.

I enjoyed their pastries so much that I thought I'd share this information with you. This holiday, along with all my other treats, I'm going to be ordering a Cannoli kit from Mike's Pastry. Just one more thing to add to the festivities of the season.