So I know that summer is over in many parts of the world but for those of us that are beginning the long trek through fall and winter, it’s never too early to start planning ahead!

My Magazine Mondays submission for this week is actually a dish that I prepared before I left for vacation in August. It’s a trio of ice creams from the January 2009 issue of Gourmet magazine: Almond, Chocolate, and Pistachio Spumoni.

Spumoni is not a happy word for me because it reminds me of a flavour of ice cream that we’d buy when I was a kid from the local gelateria. It was a mix of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream and had candied fruit thrown into it. It was horrid so when I first saw the word “spumoni”, I was a bit put off but then when I actually saw the flavours and also saw that there was on candied fruit in the recipe, I bookmarked it.

Perhaps one day I will tell you about my hate-on for candied fruit. One day. Just not today.

To get myself in the mood for my vacation to Italy, I whipped up the three flavours of custard, froze them and brought them to work. They were a hit with my personal favourite being the Almond flavour. The hardest part of the recipe was making sure that I started it early enough so that I could freeze all three batches in my ice cream machine (they have to frozen separately, obviously).

Remember, Magazine Mondays, is my weekly round-up of a magazine recipe that I’ve bookmarked but haven’t gotten to yet. You’re free to participate in what I like to call this non-event. Just send me the link to a magazine recipe you’ve posted. And remember, you don’t have to post it on a Monday. It can be any day of the week.

This week, I’m joined by the following MMers who got around to trying some magazine recipes:

Patricia of Brownies for Dinner made a gorgeous Brown Butter Pound Cake from the October 2009 issue of Gourmet magazine.

Our regular contributor Tamy of 3 Sides of Crazy made Franks & Beans Cornbread Casserole.

Tina of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor made Mushroom, Garlic and Gorgonzola Stuffed Bread from the Sept-Oct issue of Tallahassee magazine.

And our most loyal fan, Wandering Coyote of ReTorte, made Onion Bialys from Canadian Living.

Have a fabulous week, everyone!

Ciao!

This is where I’m going for the next three weeks.

I can’t wait. My family, Mamma Cream Puff, the sun, the stars so close you can touch them, the sea and the mountains.

And the food.

I won’t be posting while I’m away so take care of yourselves and enjoy the rest of August!

I leave you with a little something to whet your appetite for when I return …

Ciao!

Oh, people!

Get thee to Food & Wine and print thee a copy of this recipe now! (Don’t forget the Vanilla-Caramel Sauce and the Mocha Fudge Sauce).

This is a winner by every standard that I use to judge recipes. Delicious. Beautiful to look at. Easy.

The only warning I give you is that you should prepare yourselves for arguments and possibly violence, as people will fight over this incredible dessert.

If you can make your own dulce de leche ice cream, great. If not, just buy the best quality ice cream you can find (you can also make this with lots of other ice cream flavours like vanilla or coffee).

While the original recipe yields one pie, I made four individual tartlets, which limited the arguments (to a degree) since we all had our own tartlet. The only problem as that we then founds ourselves coveting our neighbours tartlets.

Ah, the glory of sin!

Here’s a look at who joined me for this week’s edition of Magazine Mondays:

Janie of Panini Girl made Grilled Turkey Burgers with Cheddar and Smoky Aioli from Bon Appétit and “Le Cake” Aux Olives et au Reblochon from Gourmet.

Tamy of The Krazy Kitchen made Chocolate Upside Down Cake.

Wandering Coyote of ReTorte made Herbed Focaccia from Canadian Living.

Margaret of Tea and Scones made Chicken Parmigiana from Taste of Home.

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Ciao!

My submission for this week’s Magazine Mondays is from the July 2005 edition of Food & Wine: Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Pie.

Greeting Cream Puffs in Venice readers,

If you are awake and/or own a computer, you will already know that today is the reveal day for the February 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge. The individual known to you as Cream Puff is unable to post today so she has arranged for the delivery of a text message from her cell phone via this blog and the autmated blog posting team she has set up for just such emergencies. Please see below for the text of her message:

Hi all my BFFs! Can’t post 2day. Workasaurus attacking again. Help! Send George. Or Brad. Or 007. Didn’t make cake. Made cupcakes 4 u. Yum! Was so good & … oh … wait … Workasaurus on prowl. Hav 2 go. No … wait … wasn’t Workasaurus. That was stomach growling becuz was hungry. LOL!!! OK … TMI … BTW … want 2 thank Wendy & Dharm. Cupcakes EZ to make and delish. Ice cream soooooo good! GRATZ on gr8 challenge! OK now really have 2 go. Luv u 4ever! Will b back when Workasaurus gone. Ciao!

Cream Puff has advised our team to inform you that she prepared Chocolate Valentino Cupcakes with Wendy’s version of the ice cream with the addition of coconut and caramel. Cream Puff has further advised us to tell you that she will provide a recipe when she returns to her regularly scheduled blog posts.

Thank you Cream Puffs in Venice readers. This is an automated post. Please do not reply.

Regards,

Cream Puffs in Venice Automated Blog Posting Team

Note: The February 2009 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s Blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. They chose a Chocolate Valentino with ice cream on the side. They provided two versions of a basic ice cream recipe for adaptation. Thank you so muhc to Wendy and Dharm for a fabulous challenge!.

It seems impossible but today is in fact the last day of summer.

As I’ve been telling so many people lately, I feel like I just blink and suddenly two or three months pass me by.

And to tell the truth, I still feel like I’m not fully back home, as though I’m straddling my time in Italy and my time since I’ve been back in Toronto. I feel a bit like I’m neither here nor there.

It’s unusual for me to be so reluctant to say goodbye to summer. It’s not my favourite season and the end of summer signals the beginning of my true seasonal love: the fall.

But these days my mind keeps replaying the three incredible weeks I spent in Italy and I’m just not ready to let go.

On my last night in Rome, I called my mother to go over my arrival time and flight information. I’m sure she sensed my reluctance to leave. Before we ended our conversation, she asked me to go out and have one last ice cream and to make it a lemon gelato, just for her (lemon gelato being her absolute favourite).

I stepped out into the hot Roman night and immediately veered off the beaten tourist path. I passed by countless gelaterias but couldn’t settle on which one to make the last one that I would visit before heading home.

And then quite by chance, I happened upon Il Gelato di San Crispino, a gelateria that I’d hoped to visit during my time in Rome but that had, up until that point, eluded me.

Without hesitating, I walked right in and ordered what is without question the very best lemon ice cream I have ever tasted.

It was so vibrant and so crisp that I felt like I was eating the most refreshing, cold lemon imagineable.

As I ate my gelato, leaning against the side of just another old, fading, beautiful Roman building, I silently thanked my mother for the best Roman goodbye that I could imagine.

Ciao!

Note: If you make it to Rome, you must visit Il Gelato di San Crispino, widely considered to be among Rome’s best gelaterias. The recipe for the lemon gelato that I made (pictured above) is from Olives & Oranges by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox. If you’d like to try making lemon gelato at home, here are some great recipes:

http://nymag.com/restaurants/articles/recipes/lemongelato.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_2058527_make-lemon-gelato.html

http://italianfood.about.com/od/gelatoandsherbet/r/blr0306.htm

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/1620/lemon+gelato