Sugar & Spice by Celeste

***The March 2009 Daring Bakers challenge is here!!! This month's challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar , Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande . They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge. Every once in a while, a recipe comes along that just knocks your socks off. This is such a recipe! If you've ever made lasagne from scratch, you know it's a labor of love...however, this is SO worth the effort. Plus, you'll get a major arm work-out from all the kneading and rolling...haha. I was so excited when I logged on this month and read the upcoming challenge. I was sitting in our hotel room in Italy, and the challenge was none other than an authentic Italian recipe...I was thrilled. Plus, I had never before made my own pasta. I have to say, that the whole experience of making pasta was pretty rewarding. It takes a lot of muscle (without a pasta machine!), but the results were fabulous....

CROQUE MONSIEUR CROQUE MADAME ***DRUMROLL PLEASE...The Europe photos are officially ready for the web!!!!!!!!! The posting can now begin! Right this minute, they are uploading to our photography website. Just click on the link below to see them all....all 700 of them!!! We had a hard time narrowing it down to 700...we started with over 2,600 photos from the trip! Europe Photos: http://www.pbase.com/bradw1979/europe_2009 In my next post, I'll write all about Day 1 in Paris, but I had to start out with an absolutely scrumptious recipe from our very first day in the beautiful City of Lights in this post. Our first dinner in France was a Croque Madame for Brad and a Croque Monsieur for me. These sandwiches are France's version of a grilled ham and cheese. Sounds simple, right? Don't let that description fool you! This sandwich is anything but a plain ole' grilled cheese. These sandwiches are decadent, comforting, mouth-watering, delicious, fabulous....okay, I could go...

***The Europe photos will be ready in the next few days! Brad is working hard to get them ready for the web. In the meantime, I thought I'd share one of my favorite pasta dishes from the trip. While we were in Italy, this quickly became one of my favorite things to order. It seemed like almost every restaurant had a version of this dish. And I know why...it is DELISH! Of course, any pasta with a cream-based sauce isn't the healthiest thing you can eat, but come on...this is worth it! My love for prosciutto has grown exponentially since the trip...hah. This recipe is one of the reasons. Prosciutto is widely used in Europe...they eat it for breakfast, on sandwiches, in pasta, etc. I LOVE it! I only wish it were easier to find in Alabama! This is my first attempt at re-creating the recipe. It came really close. Not surprisingly, any pasta dish just tastes better when you're sitting in a cozy ristorante in Venice...just steps away from the Grand Canal, perhaps with a musician ...

WOW...have I got a lot to share with you!!! Brad and I just returned from our 2 week journey across Europe. It was absolutely incredible. We did so much and saw so many things, that it just blows my mind. We started in Paris and then went to Germany. Next, we spent a week in Italy traveling from Venice to Florence and then Rome. What a journey! I'm going to share all the details with you right here on my blog. This week, I'll begin making a post for each day that we were there. I'll start with Day 1 in Paris, and share tons of photos and details about the trip. Brad and I took over 4,100 photos!!! Once they are edited and ready for the web, I'll start posting them. We took photos of everything...the entire trip is documented - from the food we ate to the places we saw. And the food...oh, the food!!! I have an entire list of dishes that I can't wait to recreate. Of course, I'll post those recipes along the way too. I look forward to sharing our trip with you!