A Lovin’ Spoonful for You, Little Cousin…

On January 15, 2009 my beautiful cousin, Lanette was sent to live amongst the angels in Heaven. To this day we still don’t have an exact explanation of what happened and why; just that her heart had stopped beating. Lanette was a wonderful mother, wife, daughter, sister, cousin, niece and aunt who always had time to lend an ear or a shoulder and her death has devastated our family profoundly.


Aside from her beautiful family, her biggest passion was cake decorating. She took classes and became quite good at it. Before long her creative juices kicked in and she made gorgeous cakes trimmed with exquisite flowers and delightful characters. Out of inspiration from Lanette, I asked my husband for a complete cake decorating set for Christmas this year… I received it a month ago, I have all of the tips, bags, colors & do-dads in place… locked, loaded & ready to go… I’ve just got to actually “do it”. I think my procrastination comes from a fear of failing however, I know that with a face full of frosting and flour from head to toe, she will be with me, wine in hand; encouraging me, guiding my hand and giggling softly like she always did when we were kids and like her little girls do now. I will do this for her and no matter what the outcome… it will be good.

The loss of a loved one brings such sorrow however, it also stirs up a big batch of memories and sometimes the littlest spoonful of these memories can make us all feel much better; like warm chocolate chip cookies on a cold winter day or the sound of the Ice Cream Truck rounding the corner just before your mom called you in at dusk on a school night. My memories of Lanette make me smile; how her dad called her “Chickie”, her absolutely adorable and gentle lisp, how we used to have sleepovers with her sister, Niecey at their house on Hill Street, the yearly clambakes in the backyard… so many… too many to count. So I decided that I would honor her memory by sharing a recipe with you that she loved for me to make for her, something that I would bring to a family gathering and she would hide from everyone or steal before anyone else would see it was on the table. Every time that I called her out on it, she would seek out our much “bigger” cousin and would shout out, “Julie… Toni Lynn’s pickin’ on me!”… okay, now I’m crying.

Please find below my recipe for Nette’s Baked Brie with Hot Buttered Rum and when you taste it, you’ll know for sure that there truly are beautiful angels watching over us all.

Nette’s Baked Brie with Hot Buttered Rum

½ stick of Butter

1 small “Airplane Bottle” of Spiced Rum

½ cup of Brown Sugar plus more for sprinkling

¾ cup of Chopped Pecans

1 large wheel of Brie Cheese with casing intact

Preheat oven to 350°.


In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over low heat. When the butter is melted, stir in Spiced Rum and brown sugar and heat on a low flame; stirring constantly until mixture just starts to bubble. Remove from heat immediately (we do not want the alcohol to cook off now; do we?!!).


Place the wheel of Brie in the middle of a baking dish or pie plate. Pour the butter & rum mixture over the wheel of brie, top with the chopped nuts and sprinkle with a little more brown sugar.


Place in the oven and heat on 350° for approximately 30-40 minutes. Serve with plain bagel chips or buttery crackers.

Rest in peace, little cousin; I love you and think of you every day…

A thousand times we needed you,

A thousand times we cried.

If love alone could have saved you,

You never would have died.

A heart of gold stopped beating,

Two twinkling eyes closed to rest,

God broke our hearts that day to prove

He only takes the best.

(Author Unknown)

The Perfect Nosh for the Perfect Day!!!

Did you know that any day can be a holiday? Take February 20th for example… it’s “Hoodie-Hoo Day”! This holiday is celebrated in an interesting way… at high noon everyone yells "Hoodie-Hoo" to chase away winter and make way for spring… silly, I know but I'm trying to get a point across here.  January 27th is the anniversary of the death of Thomas Crapper; the man who invented the flush toilet and the day is so dubbed, “Thomas Crapper Day”! (I am not making this up, trust me!).


For me, a holiday is any day that I can gather with friends and family for some good conversation, a couple of laughs and numerous journeys down Memory Lane.  Most holidays, bizarre or not, are associated with certain foods; the feast of the 7 fishes on Christmas Eve, baked ham on Easter Sunday, corned beef & cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, etc., etc., etc.  So, the question is just aching to be asked, “What will I serve on ‘Thomas Crapper Day’; what mouth-watering morsel could possibly be worthy of a man who woke up every day thinking about the derriere of all mankind?” My answer… ANYTHING made with Phyllo dough! What could be more perfect than an ingredient so clearly akin to the ever-so-delicate texture of one of God’s greatest creations; toilet paper!!! I’m on a roll now!!! Sorry… had to throw that in!!!

Normally, my fear of Phyllo dough would prohibit me from taking on a task of such magnitude; the union of a perfect provision with a worldwide holiday is very important and is likely to make the history books; so in this case I’ll have to face my fear head on!!!

I’ve immediately jumped to it and have come up with the perfect fare… Italian-Style Spanikopita! Spanikopita is a classic Greek indulgence made with spinach, feta cheese, eggs and Phyllo dough but my version has that all-so-important injection of Italian influence; Parmesan cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic! Let’s give it a whirl…

Italian-Style Spanikopita

2 - 8 oz. rolls of Phyllo dough (2 come in 1 pkg.)
7 eggs beaten
2 medium onions
3 cloves garlic
2 - 10 oz. pkgs of frozen spinach
1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes coarsely chopped
8 oz. shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 stick (or more) of melted butter
Butter flavored cooking spray


Chop onions & garlic and sauté in approximately 1/4 stick of melted butter until caramelized (yummy, brown and sweet).  Thaw spinach and squeeze all the excess water out of it. Mix spinach, eggs, both cheeses and onions & garlic together to make filling.


Generously spray the bottom of a 12”x17” pan with cooking spray and top with first layer of the Phyllo dough.  Layer 1/2 the sheets of Phyllo dough in the pan, brushing every few layers with melted butter and spraying every few layers lightly with the cooking spray (DO NOT BE AFRAID… THERE IS NO EXACT WAY TO DO THIS AND YOU CAN NOT HURT IT! IF LAYERS ARE TOO LARGE FOR YOUR PAN JUST FOLD THE EDGES OVER AND SPRAY).


Spread the spinach filling over Phyllo and sprinkle with chopped sun-dried tomatoes.  Layer remaining Phyllo over the filling; brushing each layer with butter or coating with cooking spray.  Brush top layer with melted butter.


Using a pizza cutter or a very sharp knife carefully cut into squares then each square into triangles before cooking (without pulling the pieces apart).


Bake at 350° for 30 min or until top is flakey and golden brown.  Let cool slightly then pull the pieces apart for serving.

There are many versions of Spanikopita; some easy, some difficult, some tasty, some... not so much.  My version, however, is easy and tasty and will someday be as historic as Americans and Apple Pie!  Don't you wish that every day was Thomas Crapper Day???