Family Meal Plan: Holy Cannoli Mini Mug CUPcake + Rich Ricotta Frosting + Chocolate Milk Shakerato

Holy Cannoli Mini Mug CUPcake + Rich Ricotta Frosting

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• crack :

  to break open or apart a food to get what's inside, like an egg or a coconut.

• dip :

  to briefly put a solid food, such as chips, fries, battered fried fish, hot sandwich (French dip), or veggie slices, into a liquid, like beef broth or a thicker sauce, like ketchup, dressing, or a dip to impart moisture and extra flavor to the solid food.

• juice :

  to extract or squeeze out the juice of a fruit or vegetable, like a lemon, orange, or carrot, often cutting open or peeling the fruit or veggie first to access its flesh.

• measure :

  to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).

• microwave :

  to heat or cook food or liquid quickly in a microwave oven, which uses high-frequency electromagnetic waves to generate heat in the food's water molecules.

• mix :

  to thoroughly combine two or more ingredients until uniform in texture.

• pour :

  to cause liquid, granules, or powder to stream from one container into another.

• shake :

  to rapidly and vigorously move a covered container filled with food up and down and side to side to combine ingredients and create a different consistency, such as shaking whipped cream to make butter.

• slice :

  to cut into thin pieces using a sawing motion with your knife.

• sprinkle :

  to scatter small drops or particles of an ingredient evenly or randomly over food. 

• stir :

  to mix together two or more ingredients with a spoon or spatula, usually in a circle pattern, or figure eight, or in whatever direction you like!

• taste :

  to put a bit of food or drink in your mouth to determine whether more of an ingredient is needed to improve the flavor.

• tear :

  to pull or rip apart a food, like basil leaves, into pieces instead of cutting with a knife; cutting breaks cell walls more, so herbs can discolor faster.

• whisk :

  to beat or stir ingredients vigorously with a fork or whisk to mix, blend, or incorporate air.

History of Cannoli!

• Cannoli is a dessert that some food historians believe came from the Palermo and Messina regions of Sicily, Italy, where they were made for Carnivale. Others claim that cannoli originated in Caltanissetta, a commune in Sicily. 
• The word "cannoli" means "little tube" in Sicilian Italian. It comes from the Italian "canna," meaning "cane" or "reed."
• Traditional cannoli consist of a tube-shaped fried pastry dough with a sweet ricotta filling. They are a staple of Sicilian cuisine.  
• When Italians immigrated to America in the 1900s, they had difficulty finding sheep's milk ricotta cheese and modified their cannoli using mascarpone, an Italian cream cheese. Today, fillings might also include cow's milk ricotta, custard, pastry cream, or whipped cream.
• In addition to the ricotta filling, various toppings can be added to both ends of the cannoli, including chopped nuts, chocolate chips, and candied fruit!

Let's Learn About Italy!

• Italy became a unified country in 1861, only 150 years ago. It is sometimes called "bel paese" or "beautiful country."  
• Italians invented the piano and the thermometer! 
• In ancient Roman mythology, two twin brothers named Romulus and Remus founded Rome, Italy's capital city. The myth says the twins were abandoned and then discovered by a she-wolf before being found and raised by a shepherd and his wife. Eventually (and after many exciting adventures), they found themselves at the location of Palatine Hill, where Romulus built "Roma." The Italian wolf became Italy's unofficial national animal. 
• In the 1930s and 40s, Mussolini, Italy's prime minister, and dictator tried to eliminate all foreign words from the Italian language. How did he do that? He just changed them! For example, in soccer, "goal" became "meta." Disney character names changed, too: Donald Duck became "Paperino;" Mickey Mouse became "Topolino;" and Goofy became "Pippo." Although they're not banned anymore, these words and names have stuck. So now if you go to the Italian Disneyland, called Gardaland Park, you will see Topolino and Pippo! 
• About 60 million people call Italy home, and it is 116,350 square miles, slightly larger than the US state of Arizona. If you compare that to the United Kingdom, 67 million people live there, and it is about 94,350 square miles. So, the UK is smaller than Italy but has a bigger population! 
• The Italian flag is green, white, and red. These colors represent hope, faith, and charity.
• The average Italian eats close to 55 pounds of pasta annually. If you think about how light pasta is, that is a considerable amount! There are more than 500 different types of pasta eaten in Italy today. 

What's It Like to Be a Kid in Italy?

• Kids begin school at 6 years old. They grow up speaking Italian, but they learn English in school, so many become bilingual in Italian and English.
• The most popular sport for kids is football (soccer). The Italian word for soccer is "calcio," the same word they use for "kick." A favorite of younger kids is "Rody, the bouncing horse," a plastic horse that a small child can hop onto and bounce around the room. Rody was invented in Italy in 1984.  
• The family ("la famiglia") is a central characteristic of Italian life. Children have great respect for their older relatives. It is traditional to name the first male child after the grandfather and the first female child after the grandmother.
• If kids live close to school, they can go home and have lunch with their families! Lunch at school might be pasta, meat with vegetables, a sandwich, or a salad with lots of ingredients. Families typically eat dinner later (7 to 8 pm), so kids end up staying up later, too!
• Between lunch and dinner, kids often enjoy "merenda," which is an afternoon snack that translates to "something that is deserved." It is really a mini-meal that can include both savory and sweet foods. Examples of savory foods are a salami or mortadella sandwich, a slice of rustic bread rubbed with a cut, raw tomato, or "pizza bianca" (white pizza without tomato sauce). Types of sweet foods eaten during merenda are "gelato" (a lower-fat type of ice cream), any kind of cake, or biscotti dipped in warm milk.