Recipe Monday is Here- Sausage,Peppers & Onions

This is a great recipe for summer time. If you could get to a great butcher who carries the italian cheese and parsley sausage that is what i recommend. But the recipe will work with any italian sausage.

3 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch rings
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch rings
1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices
4 Italian cheese and parsley sausage
2 individual hero, hoagie, or grinder rolls (each about 7 inches long by 3 inches wide)

Prepare gill.
In a small bowl drizzle 3 tablespoons oil over pepper ring and onions tossing to coat well. Grill peppers and onions in disposable metal tray on the grill until all are tender . Prick sausages with a fork and grill, turning them, until golden and just cooked through (about 160° F. on a instant-read thermometer), 10 to 15 minutes.
Halve sausages lengthwise and rolls horizontally and grill, cut sides down, 1 minute, or until sausages are cooked through but still juicy and rolls are toasted lightly.
Divide peppers and onions between rolls and top with sausages.

July 4th Celebration

Well, another july 4th has passed and what a great time was had by all! July 4th brings a lot of memories for me as do all holidays. The July 4th memories of being in my grandparents yard grilling sausage, peppers and onions. Fresh Iced Tea and homemade pickles. Climbing the apricot trees and picking bushels of apricots. And lots of really loud people (Italians tend to speak very loud) Really it was a much simpler time for us. My grandparents were very proud to be Americans. My Grandmother was fortunate to have learned the english language before arriving here and my grandfather learned immediatley after arriving. My grandfather worked in the steel mills long before the time of labor movements, and he and his brother made bread and sold it out of the side window of there home on the weekends! My grandfather said people would line up at 6am for the first loaves to come out of the oven. By the time I came along many years later many things had changed for my grandparents. They no longer sold bread out of the side window anymore they had a bakery. They were able to build a home with a yard for a large garden and many apricot trees. They really lived the American Dream! They really worked very very hard. I think sometimes that Americans may have lost sight of what generations before us went through to reach their goals. Here is something to think about. My grandparents never owned a color TV, a clothes dryer, my grandmother never drove a car, my grandmother made all (and i mean all) of her own clothes. My grandfather grew all of their vegtables. They canned fruit, made homemade sauce from the tomatoes in their garden. And this was when they could have afforded to have a lot of ammenities that others could not have. I once asked my grandmother, after my grandfather passed, why they never had all of those nice things, why had they continued to live so modestly even after they didn't have to and she said to me that it would have been a sin to live in such a way. It would have been embarrasing to live with all of those things while your neighbor or friends went with out! I was young then and it didn't mean much to me then but now when i look around and I see how people live (even me) big cars, and homes and trips.I think about what my grandmother said. Maybe if people lived more like my grandparents more modestly with thought for the next gerneration this country would be in better shape! I don't know if that is the case but it sure makes me think!

Recipe Monday's

Every Monday I will be adding a new Italian Style recipe to my blog for everyone to enjoy!

Today is Stuffed Artichokes and please don't be intimidated by the artichoke it is fairly easy and the outcome is so great. Also, don't think your kids won't like these because I loved them as a kid and I never had a problem feeding them to mine or anyone elses children either. Also, most supermarkets carry artichokes now and Italian import markets (the ones that carry fruits & vegatables) will also have a great selection

Stuffed Artichoke Recipe

1 cup bread crumbs

½ cup grated Pecorino-Romano Cheese

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

¼ teaspoon garlic powdersalt & freshly ground pepper to taste

6 tablespoons olive oil

4 artichokes

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

1. Combine bread crumbs, Pecorino-Romano Cheese, parsley, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium bowl. Mix together well.

2. Cut stems off artichokes, flush with bottom. Cut pointy leaves off the top of the artichokes. Spread leaves of each artichoke out and push stuffing in between them.

3. In a pot just large enough to fit the artichokes, add the sliced garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the artichokes. In that order! Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top of the artichokes.

4. Turn heat on to medium and cook until sizzling about 1-2 minutes. Add water to reach half way up the sides of the artichokes.

5. Cover and cook until the artichokes are tender and a leaf is easily pulled out, about 45 minutes. If liquid is evaporating too quickly add a little more water.

6. Transfer to a serving platter, drizzle a little of the liquid from the pot over the artichokes and serve.

Festival Time

Well, July is here and that means it is Festival time not only here but all over Italy. However, unlike here in the states where the majority of our festivals fall around are wonderful patriotic holidays in Italy every festival is dedicated to an adorned Saint. You would be hard pressed to find a festival that isn't but i am aware of a festival for Mt Vesuvious that is had to honor the volcanic mountain so that it won't erupt. Anyhow, the streets are filled with people, young and old alike tasting the wares of all of the italian vendors, very popular is the fresh italian pork sausage. The sweets are not far behind Cannoli & Sfingi (a very popular sweet these are little balls of dough mixed with fresh ricotta deep fried and dipped in honey and sprinkled with powdered sugar.) YUM YUM!!! Gelato the italian version of ice cream is so fab it is nothing like ice cream the vanilla is like no other vanilla I have ever tasted. Here in Buffalo NY we are the home to one of the Largest Italian Heritage Festivals in the country. Many years ago when i was a child my family always had a fried dough stand and a cannoli stand at the festival always very popular. Every year the local Italian Fest has grown and grown but 1 thing still remains, the majority of the attendees are generations and generations of proud Italian families all coming out for the same thing. To celebrate their heritage, to be proud of who they are, hear stories of the old country and to listen to live Italian Music.

So, If you ever have a chance to visit an Italian Festival do so you won't be disappointed!!

All things Italian

Hello Everyone

Welcome to my blog. It has been a very busy first month on-line for us. I have learned a lot about the computer over the last month and i must say i am getting very good at it.

In the Past Month

I have

--Joined,sold and bought on Etsy

--had almost 50 sales

--met a great bunch of people

--joined the beagle street team

Fathers Day sales kept us very busy including locally I had 16 dozen cookies to make for a wedding.

Now that i have learned how to blog i am hoping to spend time on this site talking about italian food,customs,traditions and well pretty much everything!

Talk Soon

AnnaMaria