Spaghetti and Tiramisu Birthday Cake
Another trip around the sun and we are still in pandemic mode. At times it feels like we’ve lost a year (going on two). But in reality—a lot has happened since this all started. Life goes on and we’ve all had to find creative ways to celebrate special events in our lives. My daughter turned 30 earlier this month, which made me reflect on all the birthdays we’ve celebrated. I was the mom who started months in advance with planning a themed birthday party for my kids. My daughter was more into it than my son (go figure). Fast forward to my daughter’s 30th. We were traveling over her birthday, so once we were back to our respective homes, I wanted to properly celebrate with a birthday dinner and cake. She lives three hours away, so the transportation of said cake needed to be considered. I decided to make spaghetti-sauce-to-go and a tiramisu cake that could travel without too much trouble.
Filberts or Hazelnuts? Toss ‘em in your salads!
Depending on where you are from and how old you are, you may call these small round nuts a filbert or a hazelnut. I grew up in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and vividly remember the filbert trees at the end of the street. When all the nuts would fall to the ground, we would stomp on their hard shells to break them open. They were never considered a delicacy and we never thought about actually eating them. Years later when hazelnuts started appearing in cookbooks and on restaurant menus as an Oregon specialty, I pondered, “When did the lowly filbert become a sought-after hazelnut?” Today, hazelnuts provide a fancy addition to chocolate desserts and a sweet, toasted crunch to all kinds of salads. Two recipes where hazelnuts shine are my sister’s veggie pasta salad and a shaved Brussels sprouts and apple salad.