As all the i’s get dotted and the t’s get crossed for our upcoming trip to the Amalfi coast, being the food lovers that Barry and I are, we have spent a large amount of time reflecting on the meals we had on our last trip to this paradise along the west coast of Italy. One of Barry’s favorite treats was of course a type of pie, he does have an enormously large sweet tooth. This particular pie was a specialty of the small villages along the coast.

We were introduced to this slice of heaven by one of our dear friends, Giovanni. We had invited him by the villa for dinner one evening and as you know, Italians never arrive empty handed, and this evening was no exception. He brought with him a pie; of course everyone was trying to politely pass on dessert after one of my “light” dinners. After some coaxing by Giovanni and me on the fact that this was a light treat, everyone agreed to try. And of course, no one was disappointed. This was truly a light, fresh dessert, perfect after a heavy meal and during the summer heat.

  (Click here to see Debbie on Daytime TV)

Thanks to my friend Sandi McKenna introducing me to a friend of hers, April Wilson, I had the fantastic opportunity and pleasure of being on Daytime with hosts Lindsay MacDonald, Dave Nemeth and Cyndi Edwards.

I wasn’t sure what to expect meeting these guys that I have spent years watching, what would I say, what would I prepare?  I only had 4 minutes to prepare something delicious and easy. Not to mention, would it be one of those situations you hear about, you know, big stars with big attitudes?

Well, I’m here to tell you that it was one of the most fun atmospheres, not to mention welcoming, that I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing.

After fretting over what I was going to prepare, I finally decided on my mother-in-law’s recipe she handed down to me for manicotti.  In fact, it was one of the first recipes that mom shared with me, the trick is in the making of the crepes.

Well, as this past Friday was getting closer I was still trying to determine how I was going to explain my menu that I had planned to demonstrate for my class that I was teaching at the Rolling Pin. For those of you who know me well, you know it’s a very rare occasion that I am without words, but I was beginning to become somewhat anxious about how I was going to explain the menu and what drove my choices; if I didn’t know why I had chosen the menu how was I going to create excitement with my guests?

I had chosen the dishes months ago in a manic state trying to meet deadlines and then after submitting them, promptly discarded it from memory, so the first thing was to revisit the dishes, if for no other reason but to refresh myself of what I was preparing.

While hosting my second twitter taste live event this past Saturday (reported above by Sandra McKenna for WTSP), I was interviewed by April Wilson, @producergirl, for Daytime on NBC. One of the questions was about what I get out of Twitter. After fumbling with a few statements, I realized what it was about this “twitterverse” that continues to pull me in; it’s a feeling of familiarity and comfort. I am blessed to have experienced a childhood where you didn’t have to worry about who was driving through the neighborhood streets or if you locked the front door as soon as you walked into the house and it’s that feeling that embraces you on twitter. This past Saturday evening I had the privilege to once again take those friendships started on the internet a step further and cement the friendships in person over a wine, beer and food pairing hosted by yours truly and my better half Barry.

This event was created at the tail end of the last tasting event that I hosted with Matt, better known as @mmWine. While reflecting on the evenings success with Matt and Ashley, @TheBeerWench, Ashley mentioned that she had participated in a tasting that had involved pairing a wine and beer with each plate and the guests chose which paired better, the beer or the wine. And voila, our April 4th event was born. I never turn down an opportunity to cook, and well, anyone who knows me knows how much I love to have people over. And then my challenge was to create a menu that would accommodate both wine and beer. So here is the menu I created with the list of the wines and beers that Matt and Ashley paired with each plate: