inspiration for october
here are a few ideas for the devil-theme dinner...

literal:

Cajun Deviled Eggs
No Yolk Deviled Eggs
Devil's Black Bean Salsa
Red Pepper Deviled Eggs
Devil's Food Cupcakes
Joe's Red Devil Chicken
Deviled Potato Salad


figurative:

Ladies' Fingers
Scary Pear Heads


hot, spicy and/or red:

Spicy Tomato Soup
Spicy Enchiladas in Pumpkin Sauce

September 17. 2006
Theme: Badda-bing & Bocce (everything Italian)

Who was there: what he/she brought

Stamatis: "leave the gun, take the cannoli"
Amy: polenta, failed gnocchi, prosciutto, cheeses, italian sodas
Julie: Giada deLuarentis' stuffed mushroom caps
Jay & Kelly: Aliquippian meatballs
Michael: antipasti on fancy silver tray
Rick & Mike: the PIE, and pumpkin bars
Shawn & Kaylie: stuffed artichokes & spicy springy pasta

Here's who's making what for Sept...as far as I know...

Stamatis: Cannoli, meats & cheeses plates
Amy: Homemade gnocchi, italian sodas, chianti, maybe more meats & cheeses plates
Rick: Ricotta pie (this thing is fantabulous)
Julie: Giada DeLaurentis' stuffed mushroom caps OR something with pesto

Looking Ahead to October

Theme: El Diablo

Here are a few sites meant to get your spooky juices flowing.

Food Network Halloween
Food Network Dia de los Muertos very exciting!
Martha Halloween she loves Halloween
All Recipes Halloween not spooky at all, boo.

Of course we're hoping you'll bring your favorite and/or famous family favorites to this month's BaddaBing & Bocce dinner, but just in case you need some inspiration...

With so many celebrity chefs specializing in Italian foods, finding great recipes for this month's dinner is a snap!

Here are FIFTY-NINE recipes from Mario Batalli on FoodandWine.com. Here's an especially interesting-looking one with butternut squash, and I think I may try this one.

AllRecipes.com has an entire Italian section of their site. I challenge you to find some unexpected Northern Italian recipes there.

Then there's Giada DeLaurentis. I seriously did NOT like her, until I saw her bio on Food Network. She seems to be much more genuine than I'd previously thought, and she's got a bevy of Italian recipes to offer, from her grandma and other family in Italy.

I personally can't stand Michael Chiarello (sorry)...he's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me...BUT his recipes are great, and very Italian.