And baby makes.... people hungry!

My friends had a baby boy last week and now that they're at home changing nappies, drying tears, and trying to get some sleep, I'm sure the last thing they want to be doing in going in search of a meal. So, I've spent the evening making some food for them. Once of the recipes I made tonight is a take on my Mother's recipe for pumpkin muffins.

My Mom used to be a baker at a little restaurant called The Farmhouse, which is no longer in business. While the Farmhouse was around, it was very well known for my Mom's pies, muffins, breads, and other baked delights. One of the seasonal favorites was the Farmhouse Pumpkin Muffins. Mom never shared the recipe outside of the restaurant but I think I've tweaked an old recipe enough to make it comparable.

I like pumpkin pie and muffins to be a little spicier so, my recipe has larger spice amounts than most recipes. This recipe focuses more on ginger and allspice. You can play around with the spice amounts yourself it if you think it's too spicy for your taste.

3 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
3 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. ground ginger

Mix dry ingredients and add:
1/2 c. canola oil
4 eggs
2/3 c. luke warm water
21/2 c. pumpkin

Mix until all dry ingredients are incorporated but don't overmix so it's smooth like cake batter or, you'll have spongy muffins.

Crumble Topping:
1 c brown sugar
1 c flour
1 stick butter
Mix by hand until you get a crumbly consistency.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Prepare muffin tins by lining with cupcake papers.

Fill muffin tins three quarters full and fill the rest of the way with crumble topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until toothpick stuck in center comes out clean.

A Fantastic Night in a Neapolitan Pizzeria

On Saturday night my husband and I attended our first cooking class with Rosetta Costantino of Cooking with Rosetta. Our class titled, "A Night in a Neapolitan Pizzeria" turned out to be a very fun evening. We learned to make traditional pizza dough, discovered new topping combinations, made some new friends, and of course, enjoyed some delicious wine.

During our class we learned to make a simple and flavorful pizza dough from Calabria, where Rosetta was born and raised until age 14.

Rosetta in action, demonstrating how to knead the dough











I first heard about Rosetta's classes from a coworker who has taken many of the classes that are offered at Paulding & Company, an industrial kitchen space and classroom in Emeryville, California. The classes are priced well - about $85 per class, per person, and the materials for cooking and learning are all included in that price.

Some of the delicious pizzas that we made in class












My favorite pizza from the evening was Pizza con Patate, shown in the foreground of the photo above. It is a pizza of sliced, roasted potatoes with rosemary, onions, fontina, and gorgonzola.

Here is the pizzas we made in our class:

Classic Pizza Margherita

(Tomato sauce made from Rosetta's home grown tomatoes, mozzarella, basil)

Pizza ai Funghi
(Wild mushrooms sauted with garlic and parsley, fontina cheese)

Pizza con la Zucca
(Roasted butternut squash, garlic, parsley, mozzarella, asiago)

Pizza con Patate
(Sliced Roasted potatoes with rosemary, onions, fontina, gorgonzola)

Pizza Mediterranea
(Tomato sauce made from Rosetta's home grown tomatoes, grilled eggplants from Rosetta's garden, goat cheese, mozzarella, prosciutto)

Pizza Dolce
(Dessert pizza topped with fresh ricotta cream that Rosetta makes, shaved almonds, and fresh rigs from Rosetta's yard)

Of course, the best part of the class was being able to eat what we created.

Each participant enjoyed a simple salad and a slice of each pizza












I highly recommend taking a class from Rosetta. She offers everything from cooking a full Calabrian menu to specialty classes like soups, Holiday menu's, and the class I absolutely have to take next, Ricotta making. Classes fill very quickly though so don't hesitate to sign up right away.

Housewive Hint: Don't miss Italy in SF
I met a fellow member of the FoodBuzzcommunity named Vanessa DellaPasqua at the class. Vanessa was born and raised in Italy and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2001 to pursue a career as a bridge engineer and like me, she writes and is enthusiastic about cooking. Her blog and Website, Italy in SF contains excellent information about where to purchase authentic Italian products, where to have a good Italian restaurant experience, and Vanessa even has an online store where one can find recommended books about Italian food and culture. Vanessa even offers consultancy for epicurean travels in Italy, if you are so lucky to be planning an adventure. I know that I will be checking out her Website and blog on a regular basis.