What a year 2011 has been. There has been some incredible highs and lows. So many, that I really don’t want to dwell on it. It was a year. And ultimately, when you see past the low parts, there was a lot of good too.

Cate and I kicked off the new year by launching Eat. Live. Be. For a Better 2011 — and boy, did we ever have a great group of bloggers join us. The support and kindness that was passed between the bloggers was nothing short of inspiring. (By the way – Eat. Live. Be. is back!)

Yesterday, I highlighted the most popular recipes of 2011 on Sarah’s Cucina Bella. It was a really fun list that included some of my personal favorites. Now that we’re at the end, I wanted to see what you thought of Sarah’s Cucina Bella in 2011.

First, thank you so much for reading Sarah’s Cucina Bella. I’ve been blown away by the great comments and insights shared by my readers this year. Your emails have been so touching too. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now, I am dying to hear what you thought of the blog this year — good and bad. So, if you would, please take my end of year survey. The results will be used to shape the content for Sarah’s Cucina Bella in 2012. It’s only 10 questions.

Have a wonderful last day of 2011 tomorrow, and a fantastic New Year’s Day. I’ll see you in 2012!

PS. That above? Prosciutto with Figs and Balsamic Drizzle — Delish.

Chocolate Peppermint Cake in a Jar

This fun recipe is a delicious chocolate cake with a layer of peppermint patty and topped with a rich chocolate ganache and bits of candy cane. It’s as pretty as it is tasty.

Fool-Proof Herbed Turkey Gravy

Making gravy was always a challenge for me until I discovered that turning it into a roux-based gravy makes it a breeze — and foolproof. The herbs add a lot to this too.

Iced Pumpkin Bundt Cake

This is the perfect fall dessert. A moist pumpkin bundt cake with a sweet icing drizzle. Don’t you just love a bundt? Read the rest of this entry…

Reading is one of my favorite activities when I want to relax (don’t we all need a little relaxation sometimes?). There’s nothing like curling up with a good book and a delicious snack to really make a weekend afternoon special. Oh, and my favorite fuzzy green blanket. It’s so comfy.

Recently, I read Jeffrey Zaslow’s' The Magic Room as part of the BlogHer Book Club. The book is about a family-owned wedding dress shop in Fowler, Michigan, called Becker’s Bridal. One of their key features of the shop is the so-called Magic Room — a former bank vault turned special viewing room where women who’ve found the dress can view themselves. Zaslow describes the room as a hallowed place where stepping in there just seems to take people’s breath away and quiets voices. It is truly magical.

Yes, Becker’s is a real place. And yes, this is a true story about the women who’ve bought dresses there and the family that has owned the store for generations.

What I enjoyed about the book was that it followed several people — both brides and the family that owns the store — bringing their stories full circle. You weren’t left with burning questions about what happened to the women who you were introduced to in the early part of the book. That’s a really good thing. Also, this wasn’t a bunch of stories of perfect brides and perfect grooms, but real things — like the feelings of being an older bride and what happens when something terrible happens before the wedding (don’t worry, that wedding does happen). Read the rest of this entry…

Christmas this weekend was magical. Our family had such a wonderful day filled with presents, family, play and good food. Just as it should be. One of my favorite moments was finding my kids huddled in the second floor hallway of my parents house, playing with their new toys. It was just so adorable — they were intent on the toys, enjoying them so much, and had found the perfect spot where my mom’s very sweet but mischievous dog couldn’t get to them.

I hope your holidays were magical too.

It’s Wednesday, and that means that it’s time for Eat. Live. Be. Reboot. This week’s theme is TV, which ended up being a pretty challenging one for me. I don’t watch a ton of television — and very little of what I watch really relates to Eat. Live. Be. Reboot. That said, sometimes inspiration is less about being in-your-face health and more about being a subtle nudge. This one is totally a subtle nudge. Read the rest of this entry…

If I had to choose just two things to make in the slow cooker ever, it would be brisket and pulled pork. I’m a huge fan of these BBQ favorites and though I don’t have a smoker at home to make authentic versions, slow cooker variations are pretty good themselves. Especially now that I have fallen in love with liquid smoke.

Let me tell you, getting me to use liquid smoke has taken years of psyching myself up. Chalk it up to a bad experience as a child (Note: you should never use a whole bottle at once. Just don’t.) But I am totally in love with it now and not afraid to use it. Liquid smoke adds a lovely smokiness to dishes without the smoker.

Now, about this brisket. It’s got a nice sweet-smokiness to it, courtesy of the whisk-and-go sauce on it. It’s just six ingredients (plus water) whisked together. But since it’s homemade, you can totally control the flavor — if you want it sweeter or more molasses-y, go ahead! Just taste and add until you have the sauce you want. Super simple.

As for the brisket, you just season it with salt all over and then it’s ready for the slow cooker. Put it in, pour on the sauce and cook.

This sweet-smoky beef brisket is great on sandwiches (add a little cheddar!), nachos and wraps. But it’s also fab with BBQ classics like sweet potato fries and macaroni and cheese. Don’t forget the cornbread too.

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With the risk of sounding like a broken record, this holiday season arrived so fast and has scurried along with unbelievable speed. I keep talking about it because it’s so true — the sprint from Thanksgiving to Christmas happened so incredibly fast. And I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. Other moms and I have chatted about this while volunteering at school, waiting in the grocery store checkout line and more.

I’m really not sure I am ready for it to be Christmas yet. Last night we finally decorated our Christmas tree, bought earlier this week. Today I will finally start wrapping presents, which I am excited to do. While I’m not really ready, Christmas is practically here. Good thing I devoted some time to baking treats last weekend — we were able to gift some to friends, family, teachers and other important folks.

I really like giving a homemade component with gifts and am glad that I could even with our hectic and frantic schedule this year. Homemade gifts are something from the heart – something we’ve personally made with love and care. I hope others receive it as such.

While some treats take patience and time to make, not all do. And that’s a good thing. This treat — Peppermint Bark Popcorn — falls into that ridiculously easy category that I love. In just a few really easy and simple steps, you transform plain popped popcorn into a surprising and a little unusual sweet treat. It takes about 10 minutes active time, including popping the corn. That’s it. With hardening time, it’s about an hour or so (especially if your house is chilly like mine). Read the rest of this entry…

It shouldn’t be a big surprise that improving eating and living habits is really challenging during the holidays. I mean it’s almost crazy that I thought for one second I could trim down while baking like a madwoman. Seriously, did anyone expect me not to indulge? Besides me, of course. Because I did think that if I started, it would just happen.

It hasn’t yet. The whole eating better, exercising more thing? It’s coming. But it’s slow. And it’s punctuated by Chess Bars, Cocoa Peppermint Thumbprints and the like.

But this week’s topic is about print inspiration. I’m going to take a bit of liberty with that and talk about a super inspiring Forbes.com piece a friend sent me that actually has to do with writing — not food or health (though I think these things are all interrelated). Read the rest of this entry…

The place you come from can be a special thing. For some, it’s that one house in that one town where you lived everyday until you moved away for college. For others, it’s that area that you called home during the most loved moments of your childhood. For me, home is New York where I grew up and went to college. No matter how long I live elsewhere, my heart belongs to New York.

But if I am going to be honest with myself, I am a New Englander too. I’ve now lived in Connecticut for a little more than a decade and I also spent summers here as a child. It might not have my heart, but New England is home.

What I am not is a Southern girl, which is a whole other breed of woman. Honestly, I am a little jealous of the Southern pride that’s led to the proliferation of Southern cooking shows, books and magazines. The Southern cuisine is so different than what I grew up with, and is pretty special.

But so is the cuisine of New England. You don’t hear about it much, but New England has a delicious and distinctive way of cooking that’s pure comfort to a Northern girl like me. That’s why I’m going to be writing more about the food of New England in the new year. Between vintage cookbooks and my family’s own private recipes, I have a lot to share and can’t wait to turn you onto New England’s cuisine — if you aren’t already into it. Don’t worry — it won’t be every day. Just bits of New England food here and there.

But for now, I have a vintage Southern recipe to share. Hey, Southern cooking is rather good too.

A few weeks back, I bookmarked (like literal, physical bookmark) a recipe in a vintage cooking pamphlet for something called Chess Bars. Honestly, I’ve never had a Chess Bar before — and if not for being asked if I could make a Chess Pie last year (I had to decline, since I had no idea what that was), I’ve never really heard of it before either. But this recipe in the Occident/King Midas 117 Bar Cookie Recipes No. 2 Recipe Book just spoke to me. I had to try it.

These are super easy to make. You start by making an egg-free cookie crust that reminds me of shortbread. I just whipped that together in the food processor.

Then you press it into a pan and bake partially bake it.

Next, you mix together the topping and pour it on. Then you bake it again until it’s set. Basically, the topping shouldn’t jiggle when you jostle the pan.

Let it cool fully, then cut it into squares and enjoy.

These make a great dessert and are perfect for a last minute holiday treat since you probably have all the ingredients in the pantry. Enjoy!

P.S. Check back later for a special bonus Eat. Live. Be. Reboot post. I had to postpone it last night, but I am not skipping out on my commitment.

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Right now, I am sitting in a Starbucks, sipping a Venti Nonfat Peppermint White Mocha and praying I can finish this blog post and hit publish in the next six minutes — before I have to dash out of here and head back to get my daughter from ballet so we can head to my son’s school for his winter concert. It’ll be the second winter concert we’ve attended today, the first being my daughter’s this morning, and the third time I’ve been to the school today.

It’s that kind of day. And let me tell you, these biscotti — they are not for making on a day like today. While they aren’t hard to make, they do take some time and a little patience. And a dash of ends-justifies-the-means. Save this one for later this week, when you have a little time to spare — it’s totally worth making.

This biscotti is filled with chocolate (my favorite kind!) and has a light hint of coconut — it’s really subtle. These bake up perfectly crisp and are fabulous dipped in a cup of fresh, strong coffee.

You start by mixing up all the dry ingredients. Just stir them all together in a bowl. It’s really that simple.

Then you whisk together the wet ingredients and add them to the dry ones. Don’t be fussy about it — just pour it all in.

When you stir it together, it will look all crumbly — like it couldn’t possibly form a dough, let alone make those fabulous slices of crisp biscotti. Don’t worry. It will. This is the point where you turn the dough out on a floured board and knead it like crazy for two minutes or so.

Once it’s all kneaded, you form a log. I did it on the cutting board this time, but generally, it’s easier to do this directly on the baking sheet. Which ever way you do it, the next step is to pat it into a 1-inch-thick log that’s sort of rectangular shaped.

Then you bake it. This is what it looks like after the first bake. After this, you cut it into 1/2-inch slices and rebake it. Twice (once for each side of the slice.). Then it’s done. Well, once it’s cooled it is. You know what I mean.

These are perfect for packing up with a coffee gift card for teacher’s gifts. It’s what all of Paige and Will’s teacher’s got this holiday.

Or you could just eat them yourself with a cup of coffee. It’s a fabulous breakfast.

Now, I am off and running.

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Back in November, I told myself that this would be the holiday season where I went back to my old ways of baking a ton of deliciousness and giving it to family and friends. Then I woke up one day and it was ten days until Christmas … well, not really, but it sure felt that way.

I had a choice: I could do a little baking (I’ve been doing a little baking all along, but not much) and just forget about it. Or, I could get off my tush (yes, I said tush) and do something about it. I opted for the latter. So this past weekend, I whipped up dozens of confections and packed them up for gifting. It was a blur of mixers, baking sheets and lots of butter. And you know what? It was so, so worth it.

I love baking for others, especially around the holidays.

This week is all about the holiday treats here at Sarah’s Cucina Bella. And to kick it all off, I just had to share this recipe from Food Network Magazine’s December 2011 issue.

I made just a few changes — first, I used a medium cookie scoop to scoop out the dough, ensuring that I got a perfect 1 1/2 tablespoon ball every time. The recipe called for a scant tablespoon, but I really liked the slightly larger size. I also didn’t add the center — the Candy Cane Hershey Kiss — until after the cookies were baked. I wanted it to maintain it’s shape without any melting or browning. Oh, and adding that Candy Cane Hershey Kiss? Totally my idea.

These cookies are a rich, dense, chocolatey confection, almost brownie-like. The sugary coating gives them this fabulous coolness that almost mimics the minty center. I can’t tell you how many compliments I got on these. This recipe is a definite keeper.

Making these is pretty simple — though it does have a chill step. You start by sifting the dry ingredients and then mixing in the wet ones. The dough will be crumbly and seem like it will never come together. That’s when (and this is a step I added), you mix it by hand until it’s smooth and in a ball. Then the dough is chilled for 30 minutes.

Next, you scoop out 1 1/2 tablespoon balls of dough (with a cookie scoop, of course) and lightly roll them in your hands. Then you dip them first into granulated sugar then into confectioners’ sugar.

Arrange the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then you press each one down at the center with your thumb. Then they bake.

Finally, you press a Candy Cane Hershey’s Kiss into the center and let them cool completely. Oh, the deliciousness.

What’s the best thing you’ve made this holiday season?

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