Carbon Cooks: Great, Pizzelles, please
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| Norma Procarione watches intently as she begins to prepare her grandmother's pizzelles. |
Even though Norma Procarione was born in Price, she is Italian through and through. Her Doleatti great-grandparents and Procarione grandparents both came straight from different parts of Italy to settle in this area and she is proud of her heritage.
Norma is the director of the Price City Library and in her spare time likes to paint, knit, sew and, of course, read. She also is a collector: music boxes, kitchen appliances and recently cookbooks are her passions. She has several favorite foods but chocolate tops the list.
"Anything chocolate and I am in heaven!" she said. She also says that the most interesting thing about herself is that she can remember the 'shuffle ball change' from tap dance class.
"I took the class for less than a month when I was eight years old, but I still remember that step!" she said with a laugh as she demonstrated both the right and left versions of the move.
Norma began cooking when she was 12 years old after her mother began working.
"I was the oldest girl, so it was natural that I help out," she said as she mixed up a batch of her grandmother Procarione's pizzelles.
"Pizzelles are a cookie that you can do a lot with," she explained. "You cook them flat on a pizzelle iron, and then they can be molded into a cone or a bowl, or left flat for dipping. You can also use any flat pan or griddle and put a weight on top if you don't have the pizzelle iron."
The finished cookie can be filled with ice cream, fruit, whipped cream or where ever your imagination leads.
"We really like these at our house," exclaimed Norma with a smile.
Grandma Procarione's Special Pizzelles
3 large eggs
� cup granulated sugar
1 � cups all-purpose flour
6 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 � tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Ice cream
Favorite toppings
Whipped cream
Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until thick and lemon colored (2-3 minutes). Reduce speed to medium. Beat, gradually adding sugar until well mixed. Add all remaining ingredients and continue beating until smooth (1-2 minutes).
Heat electric pizzelle iron according to manufacturers directions. Place one tablespoon batter in the center of the pizzelle iron and close the lid. If you are using a griddle, heat to about 200 degrees, and adjust temperature as needed. Place a greased weight on top to flatten the cookie. Watch closely as they cook quickly.
Bake for 1-3 minutes or until brown on each side. Open iron, and lift off the cookie with a thin spatula. Shape into a bowl and cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter. Makes 20 4-inch cookies. When ready to serve, add a scoop of ice cream*, drizzle with chocolate sauce and whipped cream and enjoy.
*If you are strange and do not like ice cream, plain pizzelles are also great with coffee.
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