chantilly cake.

last night (with kris's assistance) we made grandma's lasagna for some of our friends. and i tried my hand at chantilly cake - which is my favorite hawaiian delicasy.

me and kris

chantilly cake cream filling

the cake wasn't a complete failure - it looked a little off but tasted great. the trick is to NEVER stop stirring. or else you're scraping off burned sugar from the bottom of the pan...which doesn't taste bad at all, but looks weird. i think next time i won't try to multi-task with lasagna noodles boiling at the same time.

i'm thankful for the conversation and company of new friends. i'm thankful for a grandmother who passed her cooking secrets along to me.

 i'm thankful for the giving spirit and generous example set by a mother and grandmother to share their love of friends via great food and candlelight.

i'm blessed to have my grandmother with me all the time, knowing that she was proud that her recipe was able to be shared amongst people who appreciate the spirit of italy, and the time and effort it takes to make sauce from scratch. i can just hear her now, telling us to not scrape the bottom of the pan because that will make the sauce tasted burnt. and don't worry grandma, i didn't drain the fat from the ground beef. and it made all the difference!