A Taste of Italy: Tiramisu

Last year I went to Italy for 2 1/2 weeks. It was a fabulous trip and one of my favorite things that we did was a cooking class in Florence. We made Tagliatelle and Ravioli pasta from scratch as well as a Bolognese sauce, Butter and Sage sauce, and Tiramisu. I quite enjoyed learning how to make pasta from scratch, but I have made the Tiramisu more than the other recipes...maybe because it's so easy. Tiramisu is an Italian dessert that literally means "pick me up" and gets it's name from the small amount of caffeine found in the coffee and cocoa that is in the dessert.

Well, tonight a friend of mine and I broke out my recipe for Tiramisu and I thought I would share it.

Ingredients include 4 eggs (room temperature), 1 lb. Mascarpone cheese (room temperature), 24 small Lady Fingers, 12 spoons of sugar, 6-7 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 cup black coffee.

First, separate the egg yolks and whites into 2 separate bowls. Be sure that none of the yolk mixes with the whites. You can do this by moving the egg yolk from hand to hand and letting the egg white drip into the bowl. 

Combine the sugar with the yolks and mix until creamy. 

Then fold the cheese into the yolk mixture.

Whisk whites until soft peaks form. You may want to use a hand mixer for faster results. The peaks should be formed so that if you turned the bowl upside down, they would not fall or move.

Fold the egg whites into yolk and cheese mixture. 

Dip the cookies into the coffee one at a time.

Spread a layer of cream into chosen serving dish. Layer with cocoa and cookies. Layer again with cream. Keep going until everything is used up ending with cream on top. 

Dust with cocoa powder until covered. Add chocolate chips if desired. Chill 2 hours in the refrigerator. Keeps 1-2 days (no more than 2 days because of the raw eggs). Recipe makes 6 servings.

Bon Appetit!

Pepper Place

This past weekend I was blessed to spend time with two friends enjoying a purely Birmingham experience..Pepper Place Market. It was so fun to sample local produce/treats, enjoy live music, chat with friends, shop at booths from local venues, and observe the people of Birmingham enjoying this scene. It's definitely a fun way to spend a Saturday morning in the Steel City.

We sampled all sorts of yummy treats like goat cheese and spiced pecans.

We also discovered a neat local coffee house called Red Cat that was jumping with business. If I liked coffee, I would hit this place up frequently. The atmosphere is so fun! The worker I spoke with said that he visited the farm where this blend of Dominican Republic coffee came from and they get it direct without the middle man.

The live music at Pepper Place Market was probably my favorite part. I love the banjo!

And there is a plethora of beautiful fruits and veggies everywhere.

Not only am I a sucker for supporting local business, I love all things natural. So, I got a little carried away at this booth...Earth Garden Naturals. I've used their lip balm before and really liked it. But I cannot wait to try their Skeeter Beater bug spray I bought. I'm going to need it in Mexico!

And there was no way we could pass up on a Steel City Pop. This is probably one of my favorite local eats. If you're ever in Birmingham, it's worth a stop!

 We had a great time and I look forward to going again!

The Swan House

Several years ago mom gave me a book called The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser. It's a Christian fiction book set in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1960's, and it's about a young girl who learns about the Truth as she deals with the grief of a tragedy. The book captures many historical aspects of the city of Atlanta and highlights a particular house built in 1928 that still stands in Atlanta today...the Swan House. So, when mom and my sister and I were looking for fun things to do on a recent weekend visit to Atlanta visiting the Swan House was a must. We quite enjoyed our visit of the house and other attractions that the Atlantic History Center had to offer, including the Smith Family Farm and the Margaret Mitchell House.

We ate lunch at the Swan Couch House which is the sweetest little cafe located near the Swan House. The food was delicious and we even ended up going back to eat lunch there a 2nd time on our short trip!

This is a view from the back of the house. The house is referred to as the Swan House because of a little swan located in the iron work of the window above the back door.

The font of the Swan House

Micah quite enjoyed visiting the Smith Family Farm which is still in use today. They grow vegetables and have chickens laying eggs daily.

On Sunday we attended church and enjoyed lunch with one of Micah's friends who is from the Atlanta area.

While Micah was enjoying time with her friend, mom and I decided to tour the Margaret Mitchell House. It is actually an apartment located on the first floor of a house and is the location where Margaret Mitchell lived while she was writing Gone With the Wind. 

And what's a better way to end a girl's weekend than with the Melting Pot and a Pedicure? This was a real treat because it was mom's first time for both!

As much fun as we had touring old homes and spending time just the girls, my favorite part was the opportunity the Lord gave us to share our faith with a homeless lady and her son who approached us one evening. It was a divine appointment, humbling experience, and good reminder of the precious gift of grace the Lord has given me. I'm grateful that the Lord gave us this opportunity to proclaim His name and show me areas where I need to grow. It was good to be reminded of the importance of scripture memory and the need to be "prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Pet. 3:15).  As I prepare to go to Mexico, I pray that the Lord gives me many more opportunities like this one to share with those I meet that He alone is worthy of our praise and obedience and that we are all sinners condemned to death until we trust in Christ who died in our place on the cross and turn away from our sin. I pray that Ever and her son and all that I meet will see their need for Christ and surrender their lives to Him. I'm grateful to the Lord for giving me the privilege of taking His message to the world, and I pray that He continues to show me His character, draw me near to Him, and transform my heart so that I reflect His image.