When I was growing up Sundays were traditionally a family gathering day. It revolved around the main meal served around 2pm usually consisting of pasta and meats from the gravy (sauce). Oh the glory days, when life was much simpler and we made time to gather for food and laughter. Much to my sadness, those days of living around the corner from one another and having oodles of time are long gone. And so are the weekly family gatherings. I could go into a long diatribe about that subject but the point here is to try to create new Sunday traditions. With that in mind, JuanCarlos and I usually cherish making pasta on Sundays. We have this funny joke between us where one of us will smilingly state, "Lidia said". We glommed this phrase after watching a cooking show with Lidia Bastianich where she stated that it's ok to eat a little pasta every day. That was all I needed to justify my habit. We couldn't agree more and with her permission we proudly, confidently shout out: "Lidia said", and a tradition was born. We also try to harken back to those olden days and invite people over.

The only unfortunate part is that since we live in the burbs we don't have many friends who can just stop by.
We do, however, have a few that like to venture up from the Big Apple. And so one wintery Sunday we were graced with a visit from two adventurous souls from Manhattan willing to share a Sunday meal with us. They are originally from Florence, Italy. Our friend, Tecla, now lives in NYC but her dad, Paolo, recently returned to Tuscany and was here for a visit. When we were in Italy last April, he welcomed us into his home with all the love and warmth expected from an Italian. So it seemed only fitting that we would return the favor in this small way. (Tecla's husband, Scott was not able to join us.)

Tecla is always smiling and laughing and is a blast to have around.  Paolo is a gentleman and a gem of a man. — Tecla is always smiling and laughing and is a blast to have around. Paolo is a gentleman and a gem of a man.

First things first. Set a simple but inviting table.

It was a Sunday lunch so I wanted to keep it informal yet welcoming. Staying with an all white dish theme and adding cream hued napkins helps to tone down the formality. In order to keep it from feeling too overdone, I opted for no tablecloth instead using a layered placemat approach. First layer is a cream linen placemat with a dark wooden wicker mat placed in the opposite direction so it hung over the table.

Bird's eye view of this simple but chic table setting.

Adding individual salt & pepper shakers to the table avoids each guest having to pass them around. It's especially helpful since some guests might feel intimidated to ask thinking that adding salt/pepper is an insult to the chef.

I left the middle of the table open as the landing spot for the family style platters and moved all the candles and votives to the far end of the table. It's all about the food and company.

Now with the table set, onto the food.

What a treat to share a Sunday meal. I know I rambled on and on about enjoying pasta on Sundays. So I bet you are anticipating a pasta dish. Foiled again. We swerved from that tradition, and instead made risotto and pork loin. The traditional part was served by a big dose of enjoying a meal with people we love, and that was plenty enough tradition for us.

Hosting doesn't mean that you have to go nuts preparing for days. Simple food that tastes good is all you need. And that is exactly what we did. I had made a bean and escarole soup the day before and thought it would be nice to start with a little bowl to warm their souls on that chilly day. Then we moved onto to snacking from a cheese/charcuterie platter followed by roasted eggplant topped with feta gremolata and roasted tomatoes. We enjoyed those treats in our kitchen while we caught up on life, and while I began making the risotto.

Charcuterie & Cheese Platter, chock full of Serrano ham, chorizo, Mahon Curado cheese, grapes, Marie's Gone Crackers

Roasted eggplant with feta gremolata and roasted tomatoes.  Honestly, having a ton of roasted tomatoes in your fridge or freezer is your best secret weapon.  The dishes you can make are endless! — Roasted eggplant with feta gremolata and roasted tomatoes. Honestly, having a ton of roasted tomatoes in your fridge or freezer is your best secret weapon. The dishes you can make are endless!

Italian wine, Certo! Casanova de Neri 2012 Brunello di Montalcino — Italian wine, Certo! Casanova de Neri 2012 Brunello di Montalcino

Our meal was a simple offering of:

Pork Loin
Creamy Risotto
Sautéd Mushrooms
Apple Crisp Salad

Served with an Italian red wine

Cream Puffs served with warm strawberry compote

Pork Loin, simple but tasty and fresh with a squeeze of lemon.

Creamy risotto, replacing pasta this Sunday. Still hearty and satisfying.

Fill your plate.  Fill your heart. — Fill your plate. Fill your heart.

Dessert was a pile of cream puffs served with warm strawberry relish, and continued to keep the wine flowing.

I can't tell you how fortunate we are to have such wonderful friends, and the ability to share delicious food that is super easy to make, and even easier to enjoy.

I hope you have a Sunday tradition that you cherish, or take this cue to create one to enjoy for decades to come.

P.S. Out of pure coincidence and happiness, this post is launching on Tecla's birthday. So happy birthday, dear friend. Here's to many more Sunday lunches and more!

I love hearing from you, so please feel free to leave a comment.

Cream Puffs have been a part of my life for a long, long time. My mom has been making them ever since I can remember. Quite honestly, since she always made them, I never did. That was until a caterer friend of mine hired me to bake for one of her clients. One of the orders was for 100 mini cream puffs. Thus began the start of MY cream puff making.

First, a little culinary lesson for those who may not be familiar with these little, light puffs. The pastry used for cream puffs is called pate a choux. Yup, just like a lot of good pastry, it's French. This is a very specific type of pastry that when baked at a high temperature puffs up with a crispy but tender exterior and hollow interior. This creates the perfect pocket to fill with any type of stuffing you can imagine. The classic fillings are a vanilla pastry cream for the traditional cream puff or ice cream drizzled with chocolate, which are known as profiteroles.

Because experience whether good or bad always serves, here's a bit of valuable info and full disclosure. My first attempt at making cream puffs was a complete disaster. They turned out like portobello mushrooms. And when I say portobello, I mean large, flat and blackish brown. How did that happen, you ask? Ha, I certainly asked myself that same question. So what do you do when you need answers to life questions? Call your mom. Which is what I did. She explained that the choux pastry is very delicate and temperature has a huge effect on it. Well, there you have it, my answer in spades. I had been baking for 9 solid hours to fulfill the catering order and the kitchen was piping hot. Worse possible scenario for this recipe. However, this was a great lesson that yielding an enlightening tip which I am now passing along to you. I recovered that day by turning off the ovens, letting the kitchen cool down and starting from scratch at 10pm so I could fulfill the order. I have been making these tasty little puffs perfectly ever since.

Here is the basic recipe for pate a choux. (Don't let the amount of photos make you think this is hard. It's not. I just loved some the images and also wanted to show some of the steps.)

INGREDIENTS

Yields approx. 44
(2" puffs)

1 c water
1 stick butter
1 c flour
pinch of salt
4 Lg. eggs

Instructions

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt the butter in water then add the salt and flour. Take pot off the heat and stir until the mixture comes together in a ball. Let the mixture cool slightly and add one egg at a time. I use a wooden spoon to combine but you can also use a hand mixer.

When you add the egg the dough will separate. Not to worry. Keep stirring it until it combines, and it will combine. Then add the next egg. Continue until all eggs are incorporated.

Notice how the pastry seems to get gloppy. Just keep stirring.

For quickness, ease and to make the puffs all the same size, I have found that using a piping bag is the best method. Fill the bag and squeeze out the size you desire. My mom makes hers on the larger size. I make mine smaller. If you don't want to use a piping bag, you can use two small spoons to dollop the pastry onto a greased baking sheet.

Spoon into piping bag. You can also use a large plastic bag and cut the corner off.

Traditionally, cream puffs are not fluted like seen here, but this was the piping tip I had so I used it. It makes them pretty so why not.

Two important notes. Try to make them as close to the same size as possible so they will cook evenly, as well as they look nice when you present them for dessert. Consistency in size really ups the level of presentation in anything you serve, especially in baking. Second; swirl the top so as to not create a long tip or tail, since it will burn. If you do get a little tip, wet your finger with some water and dab the tip down.

Bake for 10 minutes at 450, the lower the oven to 400 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Lines of perfectly baked puffs awaiting their filling.

Filling - the Classic

The classic filling is vanilla pastry cream which can be made using this link recipe. But my mom took a short cut which seems to work well and is quick and simple. It may be a cheat to the traditional method but it tastes pretty darn good. Here's what she passed down to me.

Ingredients

1 box Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 c milk
2 c heavy cream
Powdered sugar for decorating

Instructions

Add the milk into the pudding mix and beat until combined. Refrigerator while you whip the heavy cream to soft peak.

Combine the two together to get a light filling.

Once the cream is whipped, fold the pudding into the cream and thoroughly combing. Fill a piping bag.

Clearly, I love using a piping bag. It really does make things so much easier.

Using the tip, gently push a hole into the bottom of the puff and fill 'er up.

Once you have all your puffs filled, stack them on a cake plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

And there you have it. Light and fluffy filled with creamy lusciousness. If that's the definition, then go ahead and call me a Cream Puff! Enjoy with an espresso and don't forget to share the love.

Other fillings: Oh there are so many that this post would go on for pages and pages. Why would I do that when I could use all those good ideas to write another blog post... which I will. You can fill these little delights with whatever your heart desires. I promise to post a handful of savory ideas in the near future.