Recipe Corner: Italian Orange Cookies

We have gone through our recipe book and that one looked particularly good at this time of the year.

Give it a try and let us know how it turns out or how long the cookies last on the dessert plates! 

 Photo by Taste of Home Recipe

This recipe yields about 24 dozen cookies and will take about 6 hours if rolling/twisting the cookies, or about 4 hours if cookies are made into balls. 

Ingredients:

½ lb. vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)

1 c. granulated sugar

6 large eggs

2 oranges (for zest)

2/3 c. orange juice

1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

½ c. vegetable oil

½ tsp. salt

2 ½ lbs. flour (approx. 9 cups)

½ c. baking powder

Topping:

1 lb. confectioner’s sugar

½ stick butter, softened

Milk, room temperature

¼ tsp. vanilla extract

Multi colored decors (round shaped sprinkles)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   

Beat together shortening and sugar; 

Add eggs one at a time while beating. 

Grate orange rinds fine and add to mixture. 

Add orange juice, oil, and salt and mix well

Alternate between additions of flour and baking powder, and mix well.

Scoop a teaspoon of dough and roll into a ball or roll long and then twist upwards.   

Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes (don’t let them get brown, only a touch on the bottom). 

Cool completely.

Topping: a loose icing

Mix all ingredients together slowly.  

Dip cookies into topping 

Sprinkle the decors on top while still wet.   

Allow cookies to dry well.

And Enjoy!

Gelato, Forever!

As dessert fads come into cities and towns only to quickly vacate and make room for the latest treat, rest assured that gelato is more than a trend.

Lucianna Polliotti

To pay tribute to the immortal and delectable treat that is this Italian ice-cream comes Carpigiani Gelato Museum. Just outside of Bologna, Italy set to open September 27, 2012 the museum pays tribute to the history, culture, and technology of gelato. Enthusiasts planning a trip to Italy must explore the breadth of thousands of years celebrating the life and tradition of the infamous Italian frozen treat. Exhibits planned by a gelato historian and museum curator, Lucianna Polliotti, encompass more than 20 original machines, 10,000 images and documents, and interactive workshops. Admission to the museum is free, but you will need a reservation, gelatomuseum.org

Photograph: Gelato Museum Carpigiani Archive

To plan the ultimate tasting tour of gelato’s homeland gear up for a few other mandatory stops. For those marveled by the existence of gelato wanting a hands-on approach to complete the venture started, schedule a course on gelato making at Carpigiani Gelato University. Yes, a university dedicated to gelato with a mission on gelatouniversity.com which states, “Carpigiani Gelato University has the objective of sustaining the development of gelato shops everywhere and educating the public regarding the pleasure and flavor of genuine Italian gelato.” Profound craftsmanship is built here, undoubtedly. After developing a thorough knowledge of gelato, it is time to put newfound skills to work via taste test.

Photograph: Gelato Museum Carpigiani Archive

Gelato proves withstanding time through acclaimed gelato shops and festivals. Rome’s famed Giolitti, Via Uffici del Vicario, 40 is the highest regarded gelato in the Vatican City. Coordinate this entire feat with Firenze Gelato Festival in May where attendees purchase a gelato card to taste, and likely skip, their way through the participating piazzas.

Italians are known for their love of decadent food that provides more than impeccable taste, it induces joyous occasion, beholds tradition, and indulges in the excellence of their cuisine gifts to the world.

Awarding gelato and the creative history behind this Italian staple confirms it is much more than the trendy, and typically transient, dessert-of-the-moment boutique.


The celebration of gelato strengthens the party it delivers with this well-deserved honor, The Gelato Museum.

Photograph: Gelato Museum Carpigiani Archive

-Maloof, Ashley for Pino Gelato

Labor Day in Italy

Primo, Happy Labor Day to all our American friends!

Hopefully you are enjoying the Holiday… but if you are working, well so are we!

I’m afraid we are a bit late for celebrating Labor Day with our Italian counterparts since it was on May 1^st.... Better late than never, isn’t it?

May 1^st or “Primo Maggio” is a national holiday in Italy, as well as in most European countries.
The celebration also known as “la Festa dei Lavoratori” originally began when farmers and seasonal workers took the day off, ate, drank, and danced together on the first day of May, forgetting — for a few hours — the long days of summertime hard work that awaited them.

Now, it is a day to celebrate workers, especially all of those who fought for rights like an eight-hour work day and safety regulations. In much of Europe it is synonymous with labor movements and demonstrations: left political parties traditionally hit the streets and protest their various causes. 

In Italy, the celebrations end with the big, free music concert held in Piazza San Giovanni in Rome, where the most important Italian singers and many foreign guest stars perform before a festive audience.
Since May 1 fell on a Thursday this year (2012), Italians made "il ponte" (the bridge) from the holiday to the Sunday for a nice loooooong weekend.

Should you find yourself in Italy for on May 1^st, expect public transport to be limited. Hotels and restaurants usually have less personnel and most museums are closed. So why not  go on an adventure off the beaten path for the day?