T Stands For Happy 100th Birthday

St. Patrick's Day, 17. March would have been my dad's 100th birthday. We always had a family party for him on his birthday and with this being the 100th birthday, I thought he needed a celebration. I invited The Brother and His Wife, The Nephew and His Wife, and they brought the adorably cute Grand Niece.

Earlier in the week, the female cardinal (Ma) perched in the honeysuckle vine to supervise the party preparations.

Festive decorations.

Just before the Brother and Company arrived, a herd of turkeys crowded around the bird feeder and the seed I had thrown on the ground. Himself said it was all my dad's brothers, sisters, and their husbands, wives coming for the party.  😸

The coffee and tea station was set so guests could help themselves. Keurig pods of Dunkin' Donuts Coffee, and Dunkin' Donuts Vanilla Coffee.

Himself and I mostly prepared a Keto friendly meal. Mixed green salad, eggplant Parmigiana (the eggplant dredged in almond flour, egg and fried by Himself). When I was planning the menu, this just didn't seem to be enough food. I'm Italian so there has to be mass quantities of food on the table. I was very happy when a few weeks  ago, I found a fabulous recipe from Jan at The Low Carb Diabetic. This was a Greek Style Roasted Mushrooms with Red Peppers. Keto friendly and very easy to prepare and to customize. I don't like Feta cheese. I don't like any raw cheese, and I wasn't sure the flavors of mint and lemon would go well with the gravy (tomato sauce). So I marinated the peppers in balsamic vinaigrette and used basil and oregano as the herbs. Himself roasted the mushrooms and put the dish together. This side dish got a rave review. Thank you, Jan. 

Dessert was where Himself and I would go off the Keto reservation. On the table from left to right: the dessert Himself had made me for Valentine's Day, Gluten free Brownies with Strawberries and Chocolate Ganache (not sugar free), Ma's Anise Cookie recipe made gluten free and sugar free.  And the very special

San Giuseppe Zeppole or Sfingi (Sicillian) which is a sort of cream puff. The filling can be a custard cream filling or a Ricotta Cannoli Cream filling which is what I used. Ricotta cheese is Keto and to make it sugar-free, I used the Swerve Powdered Sugar sweetener which is also Keto approved. No need to go totally off the reservation. 

The zeppole is supposed to be crowned with an Amarena cherry (couldn't find), maraschino cherry (didn't have and not Keto), so I used the Keto approved Black Berry.

These zeppoles are made only once a year to celebrate the Feast of Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. The feast is celebrated on 19. March and is Dad's name day. It's also Father's Day in Italy.

I spent all week practicing to get this pasty right. I actually tried to convert it to gluten free the way I had with Ma's cookie recipe and I tried to halve the recipe while practicing. The pastry is a choux pastry and didn't puff. It really needed the gluten and the whole amount of ingredients to work. Fourth time was a charm.

I was so pleased with how the zeppole came out, and I'm sure Dad would have loved them. We also had a wonderful visit with the family. Ma and Dad would have loved that, too.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.