Savoury Easter Pie

Tags

Easter Savoury Pie, Filled Easter Pizza, Neopolitan Easter Savoury Pie, Pizza Chiena, Pizza Piena, Rustic Pizza

One of my fellow bloggers, John over at from the Bartolini kitchens, began his blogging journey in order to document his family recipes passed down from his mom and grandmothers. What better way to ensure these precious recipes wouldn’t be lost! I had left a comment on a post of his when I first discovered his blog and his reply stuck with me. I had mentioned how I loved his idea of keeping his family’s food traditions alive. He replied that by doing so, a bit of his mom and the rest of the clan lived on.

John’s remark stuck with me, you see, because I too no longer have my parents. My mom passed away when I was eight, which left my dad to raise 3 children. My dad took over as cook in our home, not because he knew how or had a dire passion towards cooking, but because he had no choice. My dad was an AMAZING cook! I’m not just saying that either. My friend Elizabeth still recalls his Stuffed Peppers as being the best! My friend Tonina commented once that his Tripe dish was out of this world (you clearly have to LOVE tripe to make such a statement!), while yet another friend thought his potato salad was the best! During my pregnancy with my first child, at 7 months pregnant, my dad passed away unexpectedly. This post is not about the devastation his death left me in, nor what a blow it was to both my siblings and myself. This post is about keeping the memory of my mom and dad alive. By cooking the foods my mom and dad used to cook and the foods my dad loved!

I seem to get nostalgic around the holidays. Because holidays are about family. And food. And I keep my mom and dad alive for my daughters by making the holiday foods I grew up with. My girls didn’t have the good fortune of knowing my parents, but they do know about our family traditions and the foods that made up those traditions. Pizza Chiena. “Chiena” in Neopolitan dialect, “piena” in Italian. Meaning a filled pie. An Easter savoury pie which is prepared on Good Friday, to be eaten the following day, thus ending the fasting of the 40 days of Lent. In the Middle Ages, Lent meant going without animal products. No meat, no eggs, no cheese, no butter, no dairy.  I guess you’d call that vegan. What better way to break the fast of Lent than with a savoury filled pie of eggs, cheese, and meat!

Just as dialects vary from one region to another, from one tiny village to the next, so do the culinary dishes of Italy. While there are various versions to Pizza Chiena, or Rustic Pizza, this is how it’s made in the tiny village my parents are from. I called my Zia Maria (Aunty Mary) to get some instruction on their version. Quite simple really. Eggs, cheese and prosciutto. Depending on where you’re from, some will add sopressata, a dry, cured sausage, while others will add salami, mozzarella or provolone. My mom used to make this and I can remember waiting very impatiently to have a slice of that eggy, cheesy, salty delicacy in my little hands. Could you imagine a young child looking on as her mom baked a delicious pizza pie but having to wait until the next day to dig in?

We went to my sister’s home to make this, Zia Franca. She had made this before for my dad, whereas this was my first time. My Zia Maria wrote the recipe down for us and after deciphering her written words, we were left with a glass of this, a handful of that, a smidgen of…

Neopolitan Pizza Chiena

For the dough:

4 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 1/4 cups of warm water

4 egg yolks

400 g of all-purpose flour, more or less

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Begin by stirring the yeast and the sugar into the warm water, in a large bowl. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes, until foamy. Add the egg yolks and stir until smooth. Stir in half the flour until smooth, then add the remainder and start working it with your hands. We encountered a bit of a problem here. We contemplated using whole eggs instead of just the yolks. We decided to try just with the yolks. We began with 300 g of flour, as the recipe suggested, but needed to add much more, at least 400 g in the end, maybe a little more. The dough was wet, so we just kept adding flour until we were satisfied with its consistency. Knead gently on a lightly floured surface and cover tightly with plastic wrap, allowing to rise for 1 hour. Once risen, roll out a little more than 1/2 the dough to fit the bottom and sides of your pan. We used one that was about 13 or 15 inches in diameter. You can also use a rectangular pan. Roll out the remaining dough for the top crust.

For the filling:

Caciotta cheese, 2, grated

18 eggs

Prosciutto, a piece of about 300 to 400 g

Caciotta is a mild cheese made of cow’s milk and widely used for the Neopolitan version of this pie. It is not a salty cheese, thus creating the perfect balance with the prosciutto. Here in Montreal, this cheese is made only around Easter time, mainly for this savoury pie. The entire cheese gets grated, crust and all.

Italian grocers will keep the ends of the prosciutto, the butt, which is what you want for this pie. They are also great in Pasta e Fagioli (pasta & beans). Cut off the skin and some of the fat, and chop into bite-size pieces.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl and beat with a whisk. Add the prosciutto and stir. Now for the cheese. Begin by adding half and stir together. You’re looking for a consistency that is not too liquid nor too thick (my Zia Maria’s words). So we added half of what remained and the consistency was just perfect. No need to add salt, but you can add some pepper if you like. Pour into the prepared pie crust and cover the top with the second crust. Brush the top crust with egg wash.

Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven for about 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 and 1/2 hours. Give it a look after the first hour and keep checking every 10 minutes. If you see the crust is browning too quickly, just add a piece of foil paper over the top. We didn’t have to, but every oven is different. Turn off the oven and leave it in there for about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool in the pan.

And now, the confession. We didn’t wait until the next day. We didn’t wait until it cooled in the pan. We removed it, piping hot as it was, sliced into it, releasing all the steamy heat, and bit into it. Mmmmm! All of those childhood memories came flashing before my eyes! And what bitter-sweet memories they were! Happy Easter to you and yours!

Charlotte’s Ultimate Soup: Broccoli Cheddar

Tags

broccoli, Broccoli Cheddar Chowder, Broccoli Cheddar Soup, broccoli soup, cheddar, kid friendly soups, Vegetarian

Although in theory Spring arrived last Wednesday, March 20th, Mother Nature played a wicked trick on us here in Montreal. We were hit with a blizzard on Tuesday, with a record-breaking 36 cm/15 in of snow falling upon our city. And while some people thought it looked very pretty outside, all white and picturesque, I’d like to remind them that we are in the third week of March and NOT December! The ONLY good thing about the snowfall was that for a brief couple of days, the pot-hole-laden streets of Montreal were actually pleasant to drive on. Instead of feeling like I was driving through the Australian Outback, I actually felt like I was driving through the streets of a developed, industrialized country. Don’t get me wrong. I have driven through the Australian outback in a 4 x 4 and LOVED it! But I am in a city with supposedly paved streets, and my Mojita is not built for the Outback. In case you’re wondering, Mojita is my car and she is named after my favourite Summer cocktail, the Mojito. Only it’s Mojita because my baby is a she.

The other good thing about it still being Winter? Broccoli Cheddar Soup. Although it’s more of a chowder, really. Just last Monday, Charlotte mentioned that I had not made her ultimate favourite soup since last Winter. So last night, with the weather screaming for soup, I made this for her. For all of us. So yummy, I wonder how I got by this Winter without making it! And as I sit here writing this post, I’m staring out the window and watching pretty little snowflakes fall upon our city once again! Oh joy!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

4 tablespoons of butter

1 large Vidalia, Spanish or sweet onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup of flour

6 cups of chicken stock, or vegetable stock for a vegetarian version

4 potatoes, peeled and cubed, about a 1/2 inch size

2 bay leaves

3 cups of milk, I use 1%

2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets, about 6 cups

3 cups of grated Cheddar cheese, I use strong or aged

Salt & Papper, to taste

You can use regular onions if that’s what you have, I like to use the sweeter onions because of their milder flavour. Same thing with the milk. I use low-fat because that’s what we have in our home, but feel free to use whatever milk is in your fridge.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and stir. Add your stock, the potatoes and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, stirring often. You need to stir often otherwise the flour will settle on the bottom of the pan and the potatoes will stick to it. Trust me on this one! Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the broccoli and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

Stir in the milk and cheese and just give it another 3 minutes or so to get hot. Do not let it come to a boil or it may curdle.

Turn off the heat and remove the bay leaves. Give it a taste and season with salt and pepper. Some cheese may be saltier than others so you really need to give it a taste and adjust to your liking. Ladle soup, or chowder, into bowls and serve with some nice crusty bread. Mmmm, perfect on a cold winter’s night!

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

Tags

baked zeppole, custard, easter, Easter pastries, zeppole, zeppole di San Giuseppe

San Giuseppe is Italian for Saint Joseph and March 19 is the Festa di San Giuseppe (Feast of Saint Joseph) in Italy. And we know how much Italians love and pay homage to their Saints. They love to celebrate and with all the saints out there, you can be sure that there’s a Saint being celebrated somewhere in Italy probably every day of the year!

Although the Festa di San Giuseppe was first celebrated in Sicily, it has now spread throughout all of Italy. Legend has it that Sicily suffered a terrible drought and famine during the Middle Ages. It destroyed most of their crops and many people died of starvation. The people of Sicily began praying to Saint Joseph, begging for his help, and in return they would celebrate his name day with religious feasts and an abundance of food. An abundance of food is quite clearly at the centre of everything for Italians, isn’t it?  Well, their prayers were answered at midnight on March 19 and the incessant rain that followed turned the dry and barren lands of Sicily into a lush, green, fertile Island!

Zeppole is, basically, deep-fried dough and sprinkled with sugar, much like a sugared doughnut. Zeppole di San Giuseppe, made specifically on Saint Joseph’s Day, can be either fried or baked and are then stuffed with either a custard or a ricotta cheese filling. They are everywhere in Italy on March 19, which incidentally also happens to be Father’s Day in Italy. Here in Montreal, these specialty zeppole can be found in Italian bakeries just before the 19th of March and right up until Easter. Come Easter Monday, and they vanish!. Just like the Easter Bunny!

So to pay homage to my father and to keep my girls rooted with our Italian traditions, I made some for my family. They love these things! The girls were super excited! Peter was questioning why I was baking them instead of going the deep-fry method. Can you guess his preference? I wanted something not so heavy and oily on this day of homage. Besides, I wanted to be able to have two and not feel guilty!

Pastry Dough for Zeppole  makes 8

4 eggs

80 g of butter

200 ml of water

120 g of flour

1 teaspoon of sugar

Pinch of salt

Using your fingers, break-up the butter into small pieces and put them into a small saucepan. Add the water, salt and sugar. Heat over medium heat until butter has melted. Remove from heat. Add the flour, sifting it into the butter mixture and whisking until smooth.

Return to heat and with a wooden spoon, keep stirring until the dough comes together and forms a ball. Remove from heat once you see a white film on the bottom of your saucepan. Place the dough on a plate to cool.

Place the cooled dough into the bowl of an electric mixer. You could also use a hand-held mixer or do this by hand. Beat in one egg at a time, ensuring that each egg has been incorporated into the dough before the addition of the next egg.

Scoop the batter into a piping bag. I find this easier to do with the bag draped open over a glass.

Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Using a star Wilton tip #20, pipe a circle, about 8 cm in diameter. I made my zeppole 3 circles wide (go around in circles 3 times). I then repeated this procedure with a second layer on top.

Bake in a 375 degree F/190 C oven for 35 minutes, until golden on top. Leave in oven for 10 minutes. Once cooled, cut the zeppole in 1/2 and fill with vanilla custard. You can sprinkle some confectioner’s sugar over the zeppole if you wish. You can also add a little splash of colour with a candied cherry in the centre.

Vanilla Custard

500 ml of whole milk

50 g of flour

6 egg yolks

150 g of sugar

1 vanilla bean

Pour the milk into a small saucepan. Slice open the vanilla bean, scrape the seeds and add both to the milk. Heat over medium-low, until it just begins to simmer. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar. Add to the hot milk mixture. Whisk in the flour and return to heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it begins to boil. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and cool completely.

Guinness Cupcakes

Tags

chocolate Guinness cake, Cupcakes, Guinness cupcakes, Saint Patrick's Day treats

Today is Saint Patrick’s Day. Saint Patrick, patron saint and national apostle of Ireland, is credited for bringing christianity to Ireland. The intended meaning of celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day is for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide. Here in Montreal, Saint Patrick’s Day is about celebrating Irish Culture and everything Irish: anything green, shamrocks, luck and, most importantly, beer! Today, everyone’s Irish! And why not? If there’s a party waiting to happen, you can be sure that Montrealer’s will be there. Hanging out on the streets of downtown Montreal, watching a parade go by, surrounded by thousands of party people, drinking beer, getting a little tipsy (or a lot tipsy!) and enjoying the show of happy drunks all around. This is what Saint Patrick’s Day means in Montreal. Hey, we’ve got to pay tribute to our fellow, beer-drinking Irish friends!

How I pay  tribute on this Irish day of festivities is by cooking or baking with beer. Irish beer! I’ve made Guinness Cake many times before, a recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson’s book Feast. It truly is a delicious cake. Magnificently black and damp, similar in texture to a fudge kind-of cake. You don’t really taste the stout, although there is a little tang to it. The sugar, and there is quite a bit of it, balances out the bitterness of the stout. The cream cheese frosting is meant to resemble the pale head that sits on top of the stout when poured into a glass. We had friends over when I made this last year and I gave the kiddies a small slice of the cake, not sure if they would like it. Before the adults were able to sit down and plunge into our own pieces of cake, all 4 kiddies came running into the kitchen, imploring us to give them more! I also baked one for my girlfriend’s husband, whose surprise birthday party happened to be on Saint Patrick’s Day last year. The cake was for 40 guests and I wanted to add something impressive on the cake. A can of Guinness beer using almond paste. Not bad, no?

This past Friday, I was asked to bake some cupcakes for an occasion and I thought I’d bake some Guinness cupcakes using the same cake recipe. Although the texture of the crumb was completely different, resembling that of a regular cake, it was still yummy. It remained moist, but it didn’t have that dark, damp look and feel to it. Delicious nonetheless. The kiddies just loved them! Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Chocolate Guinness Cake

250 ml of Guinness beer

250 g of unsalted butter

75 g of cocoa

400 g of caster sugar

150 ml of sour cream

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

275 g of flour

2 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F/180 C. If baking a cake, butter and line the bottom of a 23 cm springform pan. If baking cupcakes, line 2 12-muffin tin with paper cases.

Pour the Guinness into a wide saucepan, add the butter and heat over medium-low heat until melted. Whisk in the cocoa and sugar. In a small bowl, beat the sour cream until smooth. This can all be done by hand. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Pour this mixture into the beer mixture and whisk in the baking soda. Pour into your cake or muffin tin. If making a cake, bake for 45 minutes to an hour and let cool completely in the pan as it is a very damp cake. For cupcakes, bake for 18 minutes and let cool.

Icing

300 g of Philadelphia cream cheese

150 g of icing sugar

125 ml of 35% whipping cream

Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth. Add the icing sugar and beat well. Pour in the cream and beat until you get a spreadable consistency. Spread over cake or cupcakes.

Nutella Dream Cookies

Tags

chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookies with Nutella, chocolate chip Nutella cookies, cookies, nutella, Nutella cookies, Nutella Nuggets

Those closest to me know that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Nutella. Always have. I actually have some fond memories of my childhood and Nutella. Like being in Italy and my Grandmother handing me a little jar of it with a spoon! Yes, a spoon! Or going to do groceries in Little Italy on Saturday mornings with my mom and dad and returning home with a big jar of Italian Nutella.

Italian Nutella, made in Italy and exported here. Or Nutella made here in Canada. There really is a difference! Nutella from Italy comes in a glass jar with the label entirely in Italian. Let’s hope the Office québécoise de la langue française doesn’t get wind of this! My fellow Canadians will understand this reference… Nutella made here comes in plastic jars with the label being in English and French. But what it really comes down to is the taste. Is there a difference? Oh, absolutely! The Italian one has a much stronger taste of hazelnuts and is, not surprisingly, less sweet, allowing for a more pronounced chocolatey taste as well. It’s also a little thicker in texture and not as glossy looking. Try it and see for yourself. I, for one, will not be going back. Only Italian Nutella for me!

I don’t know what Santa was thinking when he dropped this 5 kg/11 lb jar of Nutella underneath our Christmas tree! That’s right, 11 lbs of Italian Nutella! I placed a glass next to the jar to show you just how huge this thing is!

You might think me crazy, but when there’s Nutella in my house, it calls out to me. At nighttime, when everyone’s asleep and I’m watching the telly, it calls out to me. “Lidia, Oh Lidia! Where is you, Oh Lidia?” And off I go, in search of that little voice. And I find it, that humungous jar of Nutella, waiting for me. It’s a wonder that thing doesn’t call out to me in Italian! I dip a soup-size spoon into the jar and enjoy it slowly as I sit and watch my show, as I would a candy bar. Only better! You’ll understand why I just have to get that thing out of here! I can’t throw it out, that would be sinful. So I thought I would experiment a little with Nutella in my baked goods. I’ve baked with it before, but never quite to my satisfaction. I’ve made Nutella brownies and cookies, but once the Nutella is interspersed with the batter, that nutty hazelnut flavour is lost completely. What better time to play around with Nutella in my recipes when I’ve got 11 lbs of it?

I thought I would start with cookies. Chocolate chip cookies. My ultimate goal, really, is to bite into a cookie and have that same sensation of biting into just Nutella on a spoon. I decided to drop spoonfuls of it onto a cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer for a couple of hours. Instead of adding the Nutella into the batter, I thought I would wrap the frozen Nutella nuggets with my chocolate chip cookie dough! Nutella Nuggets! Oh, yeah!

You can use your favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe, slightly modified. Instead of pure vanilla extract, replace with 1 tablespoon of Frangelico. And be sure to use dark chocolate. I think milk chocolate would be too similar to the Nutella. I used dark, semi-sweet Callebaut, cut into chunks.

I decided to try out a new chocolate chip cookie recipe for this, adapted from Michael Smith. I was looking for a simple cookie that could be transformed into a sublime one with my Nutella nuggets.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of corn syrup
1 egg
1 tablespoon of Frangelico
1 cup of dark chocolate, cut into chunks

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together with a stand mixer or food processor until smooth. You can also do this by hand. Add the corn syrup, egg and vanilla and continue beating until well combined. Scrape down the bowl and gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chunks. At this point, I put the dough into the fridge for 15 minutes to make it easier to handle and wrap around the Nutella nuggets.

Remove the dough from the fridge and the nuggets from the freezer. Scoop up some of the cookie dough with your hand and flatten it into your palm. Take a Nutella nugget, place it in the centre of the cookie dough and wrap it around the nugget.

If you feel there’s too much cookie dough, just remove some. Work quickly as both the dough and the nuggets will begin to soften. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Don’t press them down, as I did, which will turn them into a slightly flatter cookie. And make sure you allow enough space for the cookies to expand.

I again popped them into the freezer for 15 minutes, wanting to ensure that the Nutella nugget remained a nugget as it went into the oven. Bake in a 375 degrees F (190 C) oven for 15 minutes. Cool on sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Clearly, I did not leave enough room for the cookies to expand. Somehow, they found their way to each other, like lovers, and merged into one! I managed to work around this, ending up with circle shapes and wedges. Who says a cookie has to be round?

Of course Emma and I couldn’t wait until they were completely cooled. We just had to bite into one. Or two. Oh, the gooeyness that spilled out of those cookies! This was chocolate overload!

And most importantly, once the cookies have cooled completely, the Nutella nugget really does remain intact, giving the sensation that you’re biting into one big lump of luscious Nutella!

The satisfaction of biting into a Nutella nugget wrapped within a chocolate chip cookie was almost met. Almost. Although the cookie packed a chocolate punch to the extreme, I needed a little bit more of that Nutella flavour. Perhaps next time I’ll try a little less chocolate chunks and maybe bitter-sweet or unsweetened chocolate. But for now, My Nutella Dream Cookie is a dream come true!

Healthier Breakfasts: Oat Bran & Ricotta Pancakes

Tags

breakfast, kid friendly breakfasts, oat-bran and ricotta pancakes, oat-bran pancakes, pancake breakfast, pancakes, ricotta pancakes

This morning, we were able to enjoy a low-fat protein, a high-fibre carbohydrate and a fruit, all with one pancake! If you’re wondering why this is such a big deal, check out my post on Healthier Breakfasts: Pear, Kefir & Honey Smoothie. I came across this recipe while perusing a Chatelaine magazine in my doctor’s office.

Charlotte made these pancakes one Saturday morning just over a month ago and they were fabulous. I was thinking of renaming them: “Pancakes Charlotte”. You know, so she could be proud and have a hankering to make them every now and then, entirely on her own. When she adamantly refused to make them this morning, claiming she was on Spring Break, I had a change of heart.

Oat-Bran & Ricotta Pancakes

1 cup of whole wheat flour

3/4 cups of oat bran

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs

1 cup of light ricotta cheese

1 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

4 tablespoons of melted butter

Pure Maple Syrup

Fresh raspberries, or your favourite fruit

I like to use light ricotta cheese because it’s thinner and can easily be worked into the other ingredients. You can use oil instead of butter. I prefer using butter in my pancakes and baked goodies rather than oil. I don’t know, it’s a mental thing!

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oat bran, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the ricotta, milk, vanilla and melted butter. Mix well. Add wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until just combined.

Heat a pan over medium-low to low heat. Every stove is different and for these pancakes, I started off at medium-low and had to lower the heat just a tad. The first pancake is always a taste-test for the cook, isn’t it? Pour about 1/3 of a cup into your pan and cook for about 3 minutes per side. When you see the uncooked batter just begin to bubble, it’s time to flip it over.

Keep them in a warm oven as you continue to cook the remainder of the pancakes. Serve with pure maple syrup and fresh raspberries, or your favourite fruit. I cannot stress enough the importance of pure maple syrup, not just for pancakes but for any recipes that call for it. Living in Quebec, who supplies about 80% of the world’s maple syrup, can you blame me?

The recipe makes about 12 pancakes, perfect for 4 people. I was quite satisfied after my second, but just had to have a third. My weakness when it comes to good food is to just keep eating, even if I’m no longer hungry. I must admit, the third pancake left me feeling quite satiated and somewhat lethargic, just wanting to crawl back into bed with a good read. And why not? I’m on Spring Break too!

Here’s To Healthier Breakfasts: Pear, Kefir & Honey Smoothie

Tags

breakfast smoothies, kefir, kefir and honey smoothies, kefir smoothies, pear and kefir smoothie, pear smoothie, pears, smoothies, smoothies for kids

You know how breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day? A well-balanced breakfast should consist of protein, carbohydrates and fibre. I did say should. It seems that I’m breaking all the rules at my breakfast table because my idea of a well-balanced meal first thing in the morning is a caffè-latte, loads of carbs and fat. In lieu of a low-fat protein with a whole-grain carb and fresh fruit, I opt for a bowl of espresso with hot milk, toasted bread, preferably white baguette or rye, slathered with salted butter. And that’s it! Nothing more. After that, I’m really not up to having fresh fruit or low-fat protein. Dipping my toasted baguette into my scalding caffè-latte brings me joy and comfort first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, this is also the ideal breakfast for my girls. Minus the caffè. Although there are times that Emma requests a nice caffè-latte and I oblige. With lots of latte and a few drops of espresso. Just enough to taint the milk. And with the chaos of getting lunches ready in the morning and the girls out the door so they won’t be late for school, quite frankly we don’t have time for anything else. It’s usually toasted bread of some kind or a bowl of cereal.

Happily, Spring Break is here. No more waking up in the dark, rushing through breakfast and scrambling out the door at high speed. We can wake up at our leisure. Lie in bed with a good book. Make time for well-balanced, healthier breakfasts. Just for this week.

We begin the week with a delicious Pear, Kefir and Honey Smoothie. I make this for the girls as an afternoon snack. But today, it served as our breakfast. And a yummy one it was! I usually use Bosc pears but after having been given delicious Anjou pears from my brother, I put them to good use. Any ripe pear in season will do. Also, there is no exact measurements to making a smoothie. I use about 2 pears per person, maybe a 1/2 cup to 3/4 cups of Kefir per person, honey to your liking. We sip our smoothies through a straw so it shouldn’t be too thick. If it is, just add a little more Kefir. Too thin, add another pear. Adjust the honey to your taste. I usually add about 1 tablespoon per person.

Kefir comes from the Turkish word “keif”, which translates to “pleasure” or “good feeling”. I could definitely start my morning with some of that! Kefir is a fermented, probiotic milk product which originated centuries ago in the Caucasus Mountains in Russia. They used to consider it as a gift from the Gods. One might think that Kefir is like a fizzy or sparkling yogurt drink. This is due to its natural carbonation. The taste is mildly sweet and pleasantly tangy. The benefits of Kefir range from positive effects on tummy and bone health, to regulating the immune system. Not only is it good for you, it tastes good too! Give it a try and see for yourself.

Pear, Kefir & Honey Smoothie

Pears, skin on and cored

Kefir

Honey

Flax seeds, optional

Put the pears in a blender. Add Kefir and honey. Sometimes, I will throw in some flax seeds. High in fibre and with many health benefits, the girls don’t even notice them in there. Blend until smooth. Adjust honey to your taste. Serve and enjoy!