The Lazy Girl Tiramisu

 On our trip we took a class to learn how to make tiramisu.  Joe loves it and that was the carrot to get him to take the class.  We had fun and we got the recipe that we used that night.  Now that recipe used raw eggs.  I wasn't sure I wanted to do that at home so I searched for a recipe that would be easy, taste good, and didn't use raw eggs.  I found this recipes for my first trial run.  It was very easy to make and Joe enjoyed it so I may not search any more.  I think it would be pretty easy to double it and make it bigger for a crowd.  Joe wants me to make it in little cups next time like we did in our class. There's lots of options for the future.

After spending several hours in the fridge. 

I will say the hardest thing to find was the lady fingers. 

Start with 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream.  Place in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Add 1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Start with the mixer lower.

Gradually start going faster.  

You want stiff peaks to form.  You are making whipped cream. 

This is very thick and taste pretty good too.

Now you will add 8 oz room temp mascarpone cheese.  This is like fancy cream cheese.

Add a little at a time. You want to fold it in to keep from breaking down the whipped cream.

Keep adding and folding until all is added.

Pretty much mixed well.  

This is the lady finger.  I know why you dip them in something because they taste a little stale.  Not much flavor at all.

Dip them pretty quickly into a bowl of cooled coffee or espresso. They will bubble a little as they soak up the coffee.

You will use an 8x8 pan.  Line them the best you can in the pan.  Breaking them is fine.

Add about half the whipped cream mixture on top. 

Then dip and line the second layer.

Top with the rest of the cream mixture.

This is my favorite little kitchen gadget.

Fill it with cocoa powder and then start sprinkling the top with the cocoa.  You want a good layer of it.

Now cover and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.  It gets better the longer it stays.

This is after about 4 hours.  The cocoa is still a little dry in some parts but it is still good.

Cut and enjoy.

You can see those layers on the inside.

The Lazy Girl Tiramisu Recipe

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

8 oz room temp mascarpone cheese

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup strong coffee or espresso room temp

1 pkg lady fingers

cocoa powder for top

Traveling with the Grobmyers : Rome Part 3

 So our third day in Rome I cried uncle.  We had an afternoon tour of the Colosseum. This is one of the places Joe was most excited about visiting.  We had the underground behind the scenes tour in the afternoon.  So I told him to go and enjoy himself, stay as long as he wanted to.  I hung out at the hotel.  I needed the rest.  He had a ball and I will have him share some of this thoughts on his time there.

His guide.  He said she was very enthusiastic about her work there.

 

The Colosseum is the largest ancient amphitheatre every built.  The building of the Colosseum started in 72 AD and finished in 80 AD. It could hold about 50,00 to 80,000 spectators for the various events held there. It was used for gladiator contests and animal hunts.  They had battle re-enactments and mythological dramas. 

It was destroyed by earthquakes and robbers through the years.  It is listed as one of the new 7 wonders of the world. 

A little interesting thing.  On Joe's tour he had a couple from Australia.  The husband is Bluey's grandfather. He is the voice of Bluey's grandfather.  So if you have watched Bluey you might be familiar with this guy.

You can tell how massive this is by looking at the tiny humans around the circle.

He enjoyed his time there and being able to spend as much time as he wanted.  I enjoyed my down time as well.

I was waiting for him to come back in the lobby and I saw this green bird flying around.  It landed and I got a picture of him.  He was walking around like he had lost his last friend.  I saw him again the next morning flying around in the trees.  I think he may have been someone's pet at some point in time.

We walked a block from the hotel to find some dinner and we found another pizza place. 

Half pepperoni and half sausage.  It was good but still the pizza close to the Vatican was the best.

Our last full day in Rome and we started with a pastry at the little cafe at the hotel before we get started.

This morning we had a tour of the Pantheon.  I enjoyed our time there.  I found an elephant outside.

Yes that is a hole in the roof.  Whoever came up with that idea was a genius.  It was cool inside and a nice breeze. Of course if it were raining I might not think so. Making that dome roof with the hole was an engineering marvel at the time.

This area is the tomb of King Humbert I and Queen Margherita Savoia.  He was the second king of unified Italy.  Italy will be celebrating their 100th birthday this year of being a unified country.  So we are technically older than they are.  And yes this is the Queen that the margherita pizza is named after.

This is the Tomb of the artist Raphael.  He left it in his will he wanted to be buried here. He commissioned the Madonna and Child statue as well.

The tomb of Victor Emanuel II.  He was the first ruler of unified Italy.  

We left here and started walking to our lunch reservations.

I found my one and only Christmas shop on this trip.

This was our lunch reservations.  Alfredo sauce was invented here in 1914.  He created it for his wife.

Pictures of all the famous people that have eaten there are all over the walls.

We did a tasting menu.  The first course was deep fried meatball with green sauce, and "Giudia" style artichoke.  Both were tasty.  The meatball was not like what we are use to.  It wasn't made with ground meat but like a roast.

This is what we came for, alfredo. They make it tableside using only butter, pasta and Parmigiano Reggiano.  We are going to try this at home. 

It was so good.  The pasta was so tender.  Fresh pasta is a difference maker. 

This was cappellacci.  A caio and pepe homemade stuffed cappellacci with gravy and truffle.  I enjoyed this but Joe did not care for it.  

This was a deep fried lamb chop with chicory.  Now I did not try this.  I can't get past Mary's little lamb. Joe enjoyed both of them and said it was the most perfectly cooked lamb chop he has had.

The final course was ricotta and sour cherry tart.  This was the perfect ending to this meal.  We really enjoyed our meal there.  Next time we might order off the menu but we would defiantly order the fettuccine alfredo.  It was a game changer.

 

It was a perfect ending to our time in Rome.  It was back to the hotel to try and pack and get ready to head home on Friday.  

We had an interesting time getting home.  No problems in Rome getting our flight and flying across the Atlantic but Charlotte had some surprises waiting for us.

Thank you for traveling along with us.  We had a wonderful time away but we were ready to be home.  Now to plan our next adventure.