A quick and easy dessert!

I watch too much Food Network.

Really I do.

Well not as much as I used to; but I still watch a decent amount. So whenever I see the chefs make something that peak my interest, I always make a mental note to either try it later or look the recipe up so I can make it in the future. This particular one comes from one of my favorite FN chefs, the lovely Giada De Laurentiis.

I’ve been watching her and her shows since 2007 and frankly, I never get tired of her. Even if she doesn’t use a lot of different adjectives to describe whatever she’s making, she still somehow manages to make it sound delicious. She’s adorable! From the all the shows she’s done, I’d like to see more of Giada’s Weekend Getaways. I almost feel like I’m on vacation with her whenever I watch.

Anyway, back to the recipe. I made an Affogato! All you really need for this is 2 key. You can just add whatever ingredient you love to have once you build this.

Traditionally, this is made with gelato and a shot of hot espresso. If you’re really into coffee, you’re probably going to have some expensive brand of coffee. That works too, but I only have a regular blend and a vanilla ice cream from the local grocery store.

Giada also made hers with whipped cream. I didn’t have whipped cream, so I didn’t include it. But if you have it and you want that s*** to go straight to your thighs, go on ahead and cream away and want to use it, be my guest .

SO! Make some espresso for yourself (and possibly more if you’re planning on serving more than just yourself). While waiting, prepare your glass/mug and scoop a generous amount of gelato or vanilla ice cream into your dish. You can also start whipping that cream if you’re planning on using it.

When the coffee is ready, simply pour a generous amount into the ice cream! Like so

Look at me being all Messy Jessie!

But that’s it! So easy and simple.

Like I already mentioned, if you want to add something else to jazz it up, feel free to do so. I served 5 of those and I put in something different for each one.

• Chopped walnuts
• Vanilla
• Cinnamon
• Hint of Maple Syrup
• Crushed Oreo Cookies

We all loved it obviously.

As you can see the sky is the limit with these toppings. Here are a few more suggestions:

• Use flavored ice cream if you want to. I’d be careful about using fruit flavored ice cream though. Mango Ice cream might not sit well with espresso.
• Wafer sticks
• Candy Sprinkles
• Caramel drizzle
• Chocolate shavings (will probably melt right away when you drop it, but who cares!)

And whatever else you can think of.

Enjoy! And let me know if you tried a topping that I didn’t include here.

Thanksgiving 2011

It’s Thanksgiving! This means rounds and rounds of turkey, stuffing, gravy, roasted vegetables and pie. Well, that’s the traditional Thanksgiving feast. At my residence, we don’t always sit on the traditional side. And that’s what I love about it; we can pretty much keep whatever we want traditional and have anything else we feel like.

Since I was in charge of cooking dinner, I decided to make just a few instead of a slew of dishes. Plus the kitchen ain’t big enough for 2 cooks. This year, we had Turkey (with Stuffing of course), Mashed Yams with Roasted Garlic, and Rotini with Chicken and Scallops in Tomato and Cream Sauce. For dessert, I decided to make an easy one – Affogato with chopped Walnuts.

Mise for Ratatouille

Cooking the Thanksgiving Pasta dish

First time I’ve made/used Roasted Garlic at home. What took me so long, I’ll never know

My Thanksgiving creation!

Affogato, pre caffeine shot but post sprinkled Walnuts

Apologies for the lack of pictures. I don’t really like taking pictures while I’m working in the kitchen. I’m too focused on what I’m doing to snap images.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!