Piano Piano si Va Lontano

Today's title goes in line with the new quote, it is all about taking one step at a time. My grandmother, who was 2nd generation italian, used to say "Piano Piano si Va Lontano" which literally means "little, by little, you go far". That is a saying that has stayed in the family throughout the generations.

So the market started with a bang and I had the best sales ever. Then it got slow, and slow and really slow and now it seems to be picking up again. A lot had to do with the weather, which was really weird for the last couple of weeks. So I have to have patience (which is not my forte :-) ), and continue to forge ahead with my action plan, one step at a time.

As promised, I have been introducing a new flavor every week and now we are up to four different ones: Traditional (plain cheese), Roasted Garlic, Jalapeno, and Black Olive, which will debut tomorrow. Jalapeno was a hit and people like the Garlic too. The traditional is kid safe, which is always convenient for the parents.

The most important thing is that I am having the time of my life, the market is great and people are wonderful, customers and colleagues. Here is my friend Annie, who happens to be my back to back neighbor at the market and also cooks at the same kitchen, on the same day. She is great, always in high spirits and her cookies are very yummy too :-)



Oh, and here is what my food looks like when it is baking at the market :-)


Jos has taken up a new project. He wants to make a display package that I can put on the table so people have an idea of what the food looks like without having to waste a real package and without having to keep opening the cooler all the time.

So he bought a "bake-at-home" clay set at a toy store and he is making fake paes de queijo that he will then vacuum pack. Isn't he awesome?

Now switching subjects entirely, imagine that, at this advanced age in my life, I seem to have developed an allergy to gluten. And it manifests itself as a dermatitis that is pretty inconvenient by the way, because it itches like there is no tomorrow. So I am off from gluten, which is in pretty much every processed food, and that means I need to cook more :-)

What a great coincidence that the Pao de Queijo is gluten free... Destiny maybe.

So today I remembered a recipe that my Mother used to cook for us when we were kids, of gluten free mini burgers. Except that shaping them as burgers, I shaped them as meatballs and now I can have gluten free spaghetti with meatballs!!!! Isn't that great?

So I would like to share that recipe with you:

GLUTEN FREE MEAT BALLS

- 1 lb of ground beef (of your choice, I used chuck)

- 1 egg

- 1 medium potato, boiled and passed through a potato ricer

- 1 small onion

- 3 cloves of garlic

- salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Mince the onions and garlic, put a little olive oil and microwave for about 1 minute on high. Let it cool down.

2. Combine the meat, onion and garlic, egg, salt and pepper and run the potato through the ricer over the mixture.

3. Combine it all using your hands. Add spices and herbs, be creative!!!!

Shape them as balls (whatever size you want, I made mine of about 1/2 oz). Place them on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper and bake at 375F for about 30 minutes. They freeze great! My recipe made about 35 units. Enjoy!!!!!