Week 29: Nutella Cookies

This week I chose to make Nutella cookies.  I love love love Nutella...my kids do too.  I never ate it growing up, and to be honest I cannot remember when or why I ate it for the first time.  Once I did try it though, I was hooked! One of the reasons that I like it so much now, is that Ryan will eat it too.  Last summer he actually used to request Nutella sandwiches!!  Those of you who know what a ridiculously picky eater he is can appreciate this feat. ☺  We (and when I say we I mean the kids and me...Dan doesn't like Nutella...I know he's nuts!) eat it on graham crackers, on peanut butter sandwiches, and with fruit. I especially love it with strawberries...YUM.  A few summers ago I made "Nutella ravioli"  and it was AMAZING!  Usually I eat Nutella with a spoon right out of the jar.  If you have never tried it, please do yourself a favor and buy a jar immediately...you will not be sorry.  In the rare instance that you don't like the Nutella I will gladly take it off your hands. ☺  I usually purchase Nutella from Costco.  You can get two 26 ounce jars for a very reasonable price...much cheaper than the regular grocery store.  I have a two pack that is due to expire in August, so I searched the internet for recipes starring Nutella and came across this one.  I chose it because it actually calls for an entire 26 ounce jar, and I wasn't sure we could eat 2 jars before it expired.   The resulting cookies are DELICIOUS!  Even Dan, who is not a fan of Nutella, loved the cookies. 
Here is a link to the recipe that I used:  http://www.food.com/recipe/nutella-cookies-405116#ixzz1POx16IGD


The Family at Sahara~June 2009.

I have been thinking a lot about my childhood lately.  We went out to dinner with my Dad on Saturday night, and we went to Sahara...my favorite Lebanese restaurant.  It is in St. Clair Shores on Harper between 8 and 9 mile roads. Here is a link if you are interested: http://www.menuism.com/restaurants/sahara-restaurant-st-clair-shores-387140   If you are ever in that area I highly recommend dining in or carrying out. ☺ It is my favorite Lebanese restaurant because the food  is the most similar to my Sito and Jido's cooking.  I have frequented quite a few Lebanese/Middle Eastern restaurants but Sahara is my absolute favorite.  I even love the smell of the place as you approach the door.  Once inside, the artifacts and artwork on the walls, remind me of my Sito and Jido's house too. They had similar if not the same types of things in their house.  As we sat and waited for our food I was encouraging Victoria to try some new things.  She already loves vegetarian kibbeh, hummus, and spinach pies, but has never tried a few of my very favorite Lebanese dishes...namely mjadra, fattoush, or tabouli.  Dan and I spilt a vegetarian combo and it was nothing short of a feast!  We let Victoria try a few things and I am proud to report that she is now a HUGE fan of fattoush and tabouli...she actually slurped the dressing with a straw!  She did not care for the mjadra, but neither did I at her age, so I'll give it a few years and try again.  ☺


Sito Vicky ♥

As we ate our delicious meal I told the kids stories about growing up, and my Dad and I reminisced about my childhood. We spoke mostly about my Sito Vicky, my Sito Georgia, and my Jido....aka 3 of the greatest cooks EVER!   My Dad and my Mom began dating in high school.  My Dad is of Italian, French, and Irish descent, so until he had dinner at my Mom's house he had never eaten Syrian bread (pita bread) or any of the other mouth watering dishes that I grew up eating.  He remembers loving all the food and raving about it to his family.  We also told the kids about my Sito Vicky's famous homemade Syrian bread.  She had a kitchen on the main floor of the house,  but also had a huge bread oven in the basement.  When she'd bake bread she'd bake in the basement because it was cooler.  When the bread would come out of the oven she'd let it cool on boards on the basement window sills.  Inevitably the neighborhood kids would form a line outside that basement window, and my Sito Vicky would pass them her homemade bread through the window so they could eat it too.  I loved when Sito would bake bread...it was the best.  In truth, I loved it when she cooked almost anything!

Yvonne, Victoria, and me with our cannoli

After dinner we talked about my Grandma Ann (my Dad's mom), another one of the world's greatest cooks.  She was 100% Italian, and my Dad recounted watching her and her mother make homemade cannoli.  He said they used to shape the cannoli shells by using the handle of a broomstick.  This of course got me craving cannoli so we had to go and get some. (see picture on the right)  We went to Harper Bakery... the same bakery we have gone to since I was a kid.  I swear to God the minute I walked in there it was like a time warp.  The same woman has been behind the counter as far back as I can remember.  The smell and look of the place thankfully has not changed since I was a kid, so it was really nostalgic.  I figured out that I hadn't been there since 2004, and I am glad that time has not changed the taste of the sweet treats that I remember loving so much.  In addition to their "made to order" cannoli,  I love love love their cookies.  They have these almond cookies (that I don't even know the name of) that I absolutely adore. My parents always got cannoli and Italian cookies for special occasions from this bakery.  Sometimes my Mom would go get cookies for her customers who came to get their hair done.  I'd always sneak a cookie or 2...delicious.  If you are ever in that area I recommend checking it out.  Here is a link  to some information if you are interested: http://stclairshores.patch.com/listings/harper-bakery  

I have not stopped thinking about my childhood and my family since that dinner on Saturday.  I consider myself very fortunate to have the arsenal of memories that I possess.  It doesn't take much for me to "walk down memory lane."  I cherish all of those memories, and I reflect on them quite often...especially during difficult times.  I have been missing my Mom like crazy, so I have been trying to conjure happy images of us together.  Even with the hundreds of memories and happy instances that I can choose from, I am sad to report that I am stuck...stuck on her absence.  In fact, I am stuck on the absence of all of "my people" that I loved so much..my Grandparents, my Sito Vicky, and especially my Mom.  I know that some days are like that.  I know that this too will pass.  I know that at the end of the day it's going to be okay, but getting there is pretty rough.  I start to feel as if I am making progress, but then a day like today happens, and I am right back in that hospital room in Ann Arbor.  So today as I made my yummy Nutella cookies I thought about "my people."  I thought about all the times that we frequented the places that I mentioned above.  I thought about the fun we had, and the love that we had for one another.  I thought about how often I try to impart that love onto my children with them in mind, and I prayed that it is possible to take all that love with you. ♥




Sito Georgia and Me



Mom, Victoria, Me, and Dad ~ August 2002 at the Grand Hotel



Grandma Ann and Me