Mom's Birthday Dinner

prosciutto and melon













fusilli with bolognese













spinach sauteed with garlic oil, pan-roasted potatoes, pork braised in milk












I used recipes from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. The bolognese sauce was especially wonderful - it simmers for at least three hours and marries with the pasta perfectly. The spinach was great, except the recipe calls for way too much salt. And I think we could have eaten full plates of the potatoes! The pork was a bit dry, but the pan sauce was luscious.

We ended with my mom's favorite cake - Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Cake. Not Italian, but so good! I actually made two so she can share some with her fellow teachers at school today.

Happy birthday, Mom!

Sweet Corn Pudding

Yum! This is a great summery side dish. I was thinking it would be like sweet corn cake, but with only 2 tablespoons of flour, it was definitely more corn than cake. I did use the cream called for in the recipe, but you could substitute regular evaporated milk, half and half, or whole milk. You could also use egg substitute. But if you make it for a crowd, everyone will only get a few tablespoons, so you might as well make the original recipe. This is great with pork barbecue or burgers. The orginal source is Epicurious.

If you have a food processor, this is really easy. If you don't, use a mini chopper or blender to chop the corn, then mix ingredients with a hand or stand mixer. Fresh corn cut off the cob would be delicous in this recipe. You can make it ahead of time, because it tastes great heated up the next day.

Sweet Corn Pudding

4 cups frozen corn kernels (about 19 ounces), thawed
4 large eggs
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt


Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Blend all ingredients in processor until almost smooth. Pour batter into prepared dish. Bake pudding until brown and center is just set, about 45 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; serve.