Today we are celebrating my site’s 3rd blogiversary! It feels like yesterday that I started blogging. I still remember how hard it was to choose a name for the blog. I wanted something catchy, but easy to remember… and I wanted something that represented me. That’s how Manu’s Menu came about: I liked the way…
DELIZIA ALL’AMARETTO
If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, chances are you have already seen a picture of this cake. It was so delicious and it looked so pretty, that I couldn’t resist and gave everyone a sneak peek of it. We had if for our New Year lunch and it was very successful. It is…
PROSCIUTTO AND PARMIGIANO REGGIANO GOUGÈRES
I made these Gougères for my daughter’s birthday party and my husband said they were amazing. I really liked them too and I also liked the fact that they can be made in advance and frozen… I am always on the lookout for these kind of recipes when planning parties and get-togethers. I am not very…
MINI CARROT CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
I always make cupcakes for my kids birthday parties as I love how festive they look and kids always devour them! As my youngest daughter’s birthday party was all about Miffy (and bunnies), I thought of making carrot cupcakes in the hope of keeping things on the “healthy side” (well… at least they did have…
PIZZA STICKS
These are addictive! They taste like pizza snacks… I have bought some of the ready made pizza snacks here in Sydney and I must admit that these sticks are even better and, being home-made, you know what you are eating. They are as easy to make as cookies and I am sure that if you…
MIFFY CHOCOLATE COOKIES
I made these cookies for my daughter’s 4th birthday party. If you follow this blog, you will already know that the theme was Miffy, the little bunny. I made some Mini Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, some Miffys/Bunny Marshmallow Pops, a Miffy Cake and these cookies. They were quite successful and they were all gone…
SUN DRIED TOMATO PALMIERS
Palmiers, also known as Elephant Ears, are usually sweet pastries, but I love little savoury treats for parties… they are the ones I usually turn to, since I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. These were no exception: yummy and very easy to make. And they also looked quite pretty, which doesn’t hurt, especially…
MIFFY MARSHMALLOW POPS
I love making marshmallow pops for my girls’ birthday parties. They are very fast to make, fun and versatile: you can make almost anything out of marshmallows (check out my Sea Marshmallow Pops and my Pixie Dust Marshmallow Pops). What I like the most though, is the fact that they are easy and quick to make…
MIFFY CAKE
My little Georgia loves Miffy. She has had a Miffy doll since she ws very little and has never separated from it. She sleeps with it and takes it everywhere she goes… it even came with us to Tahiti! So when I asked her what cake she wanted for her 4th birthday party she had…
GEORGIA’S 4TH BIRTHDAY
On the 1st my youngest daughter turned 4! If you read this blog regularly, you will know that my family has been hit by a bout of flu that put my husband and daughters in bed for a week. We had planned Georgia’s birthday party for the 1st of December. Her nonni were meant to…
ZUCCHINI AND BLUE CHEESE SAVOURY PASTRIES
As I wrote in my previous post about the Pizza flavoured Savoury Pastries, Italian birthday parties always have some sort of savoury pastries in the menu. After taking care of the kids with Pizza, I though I should make something more suited for the adults (even though, let me tell you that many of the…
PARMIGIANO REGGIANO COOKIES
I love savoury cookies and I love cheese! I had been wanting to make these cookies for a very long time and I finally got a chance for my daughter’s party! These taste AMAZING… so much better than the cheese crackers you buy! These are made with Parmigiano Reggiano and anything tastes better with the…
SMOKED SALMON AND PROSCIUTTO CRESPELLE SNAILS
For my daughter’s 6th birthday party, I wanted to make a few savoury items as well. As the theme was fairies and nature, I thought of playing around with shapes. My first thought was to make sandwiches and cut them into cute shapes, but then I changed my mind as I wanted something a bit…
PIXIE DUST MARSHMALLOW POPS
Pops are always a great idea for kids parties. I love cake pops, but they can be quite time consuming to make and as I was already making quite a bit of time consuming food for Victoria’s 6th birthday party, I decided to go for marshmallow pops instead. They were a great hit at her…
BUTTERFLY CUPCAKES
My eldest daughter requested some cupcakes for her Tinkerbell birthday party. I love cupcakes, I think they are the cutest little things, but I was making a cake covered with fondant, serving marshmallows, chocolate and lots of other sugary items already. The thought of making frosted cupcakes too, was not really appealing to me. I…
TINKERBELL CAKE
My eldest daughter Victoria loves Tinkerbell… she has all 4 movies and watches them endlessly together with her little sister. They sit together on the couch, under a blanket and watch these movies with great pleasure. When the time to choose her birthday cake came, she requested a “Tinky Cake”. I immediately decided to make…
VICTORIA’S 6TH BIRTHDAY
On the 16th my eldest daughter turned 6!!! I cannot believe how fast time flies. Before I had kids, a year seemed to last forever… now it’s finished before I even get used to saying “Victoria is 5”!!! She is turning into a precious little girl and she can look so “grown up” at times……
RICOTTA CROSTATA
After showing you how easy it is to make “ricotta” at home, I thought I would also show you an additional way to cook with it. I love ricotta, both in sweet and savoury dishes. Sicilians are famous for their ricotta desserts and I must admit I love sweet ricotta. It is lighter (also in…
2 YEAR BLOGIVERSARY!
Today we are celebrating my site’s 2nd blogiversary! It feels like yesterday that I sat down at my computer and created Manu’s Menu! I still remember all the research I did and all the hard work I put into figuring out all the technicalities that are behind these pages! I have always cooked, but working…
PEPPA PIG CHOCOLATE COOKIES
I made these cookies for my daughter’s 3rd birthday party. If you follow this blog, you will already know that the theme was Peppa Pig. I made some Peppa Pig Chocolate & Vanilla Cupcakes, Pizza flavoured Piggy Buns, Muddy Puddle Cups, a Peppa Pig Cake and these cookies. They were quite successful and they were…
MUDDY PUDDLE CUPS
If you have ever seen an episode of Peppa Pig, you will know that Peppa’s favourite game is “jumping up and down in muddy puddles”. I had seen something similar on Pinterest, but I could not find a recipe for it… so I decided to make up my own version of edible “Muddy Puddles” for…
PIZZA FLAVOURED PIGGY BUNS
I saw these piggy shaped buns on Pinterest and I could not get them out of my mind! They look too cute! As the theme of my youngest daughter’s birthday party was Peppa Pig, I thought it would be a good time for me to try and make them! I had so much fun and…