Checchio Italian Bakery

So everyone knows how much I love to cook - especially baking cookies and such. I've been in Utah for 48 hours and so far my mom and I have made Caramel Apple Bread (mix from Williams-Sonoma), pizzelle, and chilete.

I actually brought my new pizzelle maker that I bought in Italy last summer. Unfortunately, the converter I had purchased was not strong enough - small bit of smoke, oops! The guy at Radio Shack was awesome though, and totally refunded my $. Now I have to find this uber converter box thingy. Oh well, we just used the iron my parents had and the cookies are delicious!

My mom and I made the chilete this morning. Just a small batch though - the original recipe called for 20 eggs! My mom remembers the first time she made them, it took all day! These cookies are very special. They are the traditional wedding cookie from the Abruzze region of Italy - from whence the Checchio's came. I was lucky enough to get to eat one last summer when I was in Italy because there were a few left over from an anniversary party. It requires an immense amount of time to make this cookies start to finish. The filling itself takes hours. We've streamlied this a bit and make a huge batch at the holidays, jar it, and keep it in the fridge to make them throughout the year. They are totally worth the effort!