Rachael Ray, Yay!

I was so honored and excited to be included in the Italian issue of Rachael Ray Magazine which featured not only 3 of my recipes, but also a photo spread of me cooking with my daughter Sistilia!

The magazine chose three of my dishes for the feature, which was very exciting! My nonna's lemony chicken and my Nutella stuffed pancakes got rave reviews, but the Polenta Fingers, which are pretty epic, stole the show!

I had a wonderful interview with their writer, Tara Cox. Her passion for our shared Italian-American culture really made the phone call feel more like a chat with an old friend then a Q&A. It is always so amazing to me how similar Italian-American families are. We may be from different towns, our recipes may vary, our names might even end in different vowels, but the core of family and food is always the common denominator (well, and also everyone talking really loud and at once).

We shot the story in one day with the photography team Paola & Murray and photo editor Mary Cahill. We kicked off the morning by meeting up at one of my favorite shopping spots in Brooklyn, Landi's, where we gathered our supplies. When we arrived at Landi's I was so nervous! There was a major wild-card in the mix, Sistilia. Sistilia and I go shopping and cook together regularly. It's just not always photo-shoot worthy, some days it's actually a little bit more like an evening news crew would report it. Like that time we wrestled over pepperoni in the deli section or when she poured an entire bowl of lentils into our pancake mix, or when she poured the entire bowl of pancake mix on herself! She's a toddler, things happen. So I prayed, my mother lit candles and I packed my pockets with lollipops, because I am not above bribery.

I'm happy to report, Sis rocked it! She kept her cool all day, helping in the kitchen and even giving some serious super model poses. From pressing polenta to chomping on a drumstick, girlfriend is a pro! The day concluded with a true family dinner as we dined on the recipes for the magazine. And If you didn't manage to grab a copy, you can read the full article here!

Or skip right to the recipes below

Nonna's Lemony Roast Chicken with butternut squash

Fried Polenta Fingers with Pizza Sauce

Nutella Stuffed Pancakes