I lived and grew up near the sea, and one of my favorite food memory is with my mother when we go fishing for periwinkles, especially during Spring when the weather is sunny and listening to the seabirds and smell the sea

Fave Memory: Twelve years ago, I took a trip to Switzerland for 10 days. I still remember the absolutely amazing food I got to experience. What's going on with those Swiss dairy cows? All the dairy I tasted was out of this world. I couldn't eat American-made cheese for months after I got back. My very favorite thing was the yogurt. I tried many flavors, and having lemon yogurt with muesli was like eating a creamy lemon pie for breakfast. And the chocolate! The cheese tarts! 10/10 highly recommend a visit.

Fave Memory for the October HandPicked Design Challenge:

This whimsical scene is a tribute to my cat, Jill. Jill is 17 years old, but still incredibly spry and a big food lover. Our family has lots of funny memories of Jill trying to steal bread and desserts from the kitchen. Since she can't have those things in real life, I've created this fantasy scene where she can have a whole buffet of sweets to herself. This illustration was created using watercolor, gouache, ink, and digital media. My mom Shelley created the lettering in ink.

"Fave Memory"-My Mum loved to bake, when I was a child I can remember after tea she would wheel her orange trolley in from the kitchen which was full of cakes she'd made. Just thinking about her Viennese Swirls takes me right back to childhood. The colours are how I remember our house at the time.

Fave Memory
My favorite memories of my childhood are of riding around on scooter and mopeds with my family in India. I was the youngest so I always got to ride standing up between my dad and the steering handle. My most favorite nights were those when my dad would come home from work and my parents would take us to eat street food. There is nothing like eating from a Lari(stall), specially when it comes to Pani Puri. Each puri is stuffed by a man behind the counter, not wearing gloves, and handing it over one by one. Puris are crunchy shells, that are stuffed with spicy black chana and potatoes. The stuffed puri is then dunked into pani, minty water. As you try to fit the whole puri in your mouth, some of the pani inevitably leaks out form your mouth. Eating a pani puri feels like a flavor explosion. It is truly a magical experience and worth taking the risk of eating from a street vendor. 

memories can be sights, sounds, smells or feelings. my greatest food memory of grandmom schiehle is the giant coconut cake that was the centerpiece of a picnic every year. layered yellow cake and vanilla icing smothered with coconut. their backyard swooped down into a huge hill with a massive tree at the bottom. those too loom large in the memory. all were legendary. we’d race down the hill on picnic day. one year i ran right into the branches of that tree. i can still remember sitting in their bathroom having my face cleaned up from the cuts. still remember the smell of the soap. i envisioned this abstract paper sculpture, the cake transitioning into the hill. elegant and quiet. i asked my extended family, but unfortunately no one had preserved the original recipe. it will forever live in our memories though. American Greetings, please click on my name and look at my other paper sculptures too. thanks ! joanne.

"Fave Memory"
Savoring my mom's incredible peach pie beside her amazing garden in the summer months was just heaven!

Fave Memory - by Susan Long - A memory of what I would have considered the dream diet when I was a kid! Pizza, chicken nuggets dipped in honey, ICEE, pop, gumdrops, orange slice candies, caramel cubes, pixie sticks, kid cereal, kool aid, buttery popcorn and soft serve ice cream. I could have lived on this stuff! While it's not my preference these days... the thought of these foods take me back to special treats and celebrations of my childhood!

Fave Memory: The first year I started to love Thanksgiving! The setting: my cousin's house (first year hosting); the dinner: a simple turkey, mash, and sweet potato; the dessert: ALL the pie options, a cake, cookies and ice cream. Now THAT is a Thanksgiving made for a sweet tooth (me)!

Fave memory. I was born near the American Air Base in Aviano and when I went to kindergarten an American soldier, father of one of my schoolmates, dressed as Santa Claus and gave small gifts to all the children. I received a decoration for the Christmas tree and my first candy cane (mint flavor, I will never forget it!). I hadn't seen or tasted one before and it was love at first sight and even now that I'm an adult, candy canes are for me the symbol of Christmas. Thanks again Santa Claus with fake beard and military boots ..

FAVE MEMORY - One of my favourite food memories is eating sushi in a small Japanese restaurant in South West London when I used to live there. They had a best sushi (especially the rainbow rolls and eel nigiri!) and we ended up going there at least once a week to get our sushi fix!
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FAVE MEMORY - Another sushi food memory! The first time I had sushi was when I moved to Singapore from South Africa as a teenager. I remember being mesmerised by the beautiful and intricate sushi rolls placed before me which almost seemed to pretty to eat. To this day I still remember this as one of my favourite meals ever!

FAVE MEMORY
I remember Santa filling my stocking with a tangerine and lots of candy! I ate it at 3 or 4 in the morning when we were full of anticipation and could not wait for daylight. One year our grandparents brought our family a giant candy cane. I believe it was around 6 inches in diameter and about a foot long. Of course I was just a little girl and it may have seemed bigger than it actually was. It was big though, and we had to break pieces off with a hammer! It lasted a long, long time even with our family of 9! Now that I think of it, the candy cane may have been even bigger than 6 inches in diameter. I do not know where they purchased this enormous piece of candy, but I sure enjoyed it and think of it every Christmas!

Went on a family trip of 3 (My husband, myself and our 2 year-old daughter) to Osaka, Japan in September this year. The trip was so much fun and memorable, we called in " Going on a bear hunt". We love the food and scenery there, which I've drawn the trip in a visual journal. This artwork is part of the journal.

My earliest cooking memory was when I was  a child, four or five years old. I am seated on the granite kitchen counter with a plastic plate and a pretend knife and fork, gently holding "Gattu,” a big, yellow soft toy cat. Gattu was also the official food taster and judge of my special recipes.

 My cooking instructor was my father, a funny and friendly physician and also a fantastic (and very messy!) cook. In those days we loved simple homemade recipes, made with fresh ingredients purchased from "Mercato Cetrale" (the central food market in Livorno, a lively sea side city in Tuscany).

My father and I shared a special rule: Never follow recipes. We felt cooking is just a matter of finding the right flavour combinations and ingredients. It's all about taste. When you cook you need to trust yourself, experiment and have fun.

Oh, and to keep the kitchen clean!
My mother reminded us of this often, especially when the kitchen looked like a battlefield straight after one of our "creative" cooking sessions. I can easily recall her crossed face looking at us and pointing at the countertop, at the floor and sink, that overflowed with cooking pots, bowls, utensils and discarded ingredients. How could it happen that not even a pan in the cupboard, or a spoon in the drawer, were clean?! Under some sort of magic spell the sink transformed itself into a ginormous, wonky, metal robot made of pans. The ceramic floor, in an attempt of camouflage, was covered with crumbles, salad leaves, flour, parsley and sometimes even squashed pieces of tomatoes.

Now that I am older, my love for cooking is shared with my children and husband. When my father visits, he still enjoys cooking and making a big mess! My children and Gattu (now my daughter’s favourite toy and taster) listen to his lessons with enthusiasm and help him create our delicious Italian dishes and desserts.

When my dad is away, I’m left to my own devices because I’ve never been good at preparing desserts. In London, where we live, I search for the best dessert shops, but the thing I miss the most, about Italy, especially in summer, is the yummy, full of flavour, creamy ice-cream!  In Livorno, if you go for a walk in the city centre or by the sea, at every corner you can find a gelateria (ice-cream shop). There are the most delicious, mouth-watering ice-cream made with local and fresh ingredients! There are all sorts of flavours, not just the most common vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and pistachio.

Are you ready for a summer challenge? We are going to make home made ice-creams!
I asked my friend Giovanna from Sicily (her ice-cream is superb!) for a nice ice-cream recipe. She gave me a few interesting tips but they looked a bit complicated, so, let’s try an easier one, instead. It’s an ice cream base recipe to make at home, without expensive ice-cream machines, and with just two simple main ingredients. I can already hear your disappointment… "where is the challenge in that, if we are going to make ice cream with just two ingredients?" The challenge is in the flavours! Have fun experimenting! Also invite your family and your friends. Good luck! Buona fortuna!

ICE-CREAM BASE

Ingredients:

500ml heavy whipping cream/double cream, cold
350ml condensed milk, cold

*US conversion table (https://www.metric-conversions.org/volume/milliliters-to-us-ounces.htm)

Method:

Use an hand or stand mixer fitted with a wisk attachment to whip on medium/high speed the cold cream until is not too firm.
Add the cold condensed milk and on high speed whip the mix until it gets firmer then before (just be careful not to over whip or your cream will curdle)
Now that you have your ice-cream base you can add your favourite flavours!
You can transfer your ice-cream to an airtight container and freeze for 4/6 hours before eating it.
You can keep it stored in the freezer for up to 6 weeks if you don't take it out from the freezer.

Some simple flavours ideas

You can divide in half the ice-cream base that we prepared and you can make:

Coffee flavour

Add half mug of coffee (if you like a stronger flavour add 3 extra teaspoons of instant coffee), mix it well with a spoon + add on top ground coffee to decorate it.
Freeze for 4/6 hours before eating it.

STRACCIATELLA FLAVOUR

Add 50g chocolate flakes, mix it well wit a spoon  + add extra chocolate chips to decorate it.
Freeze for 4/6 hours before eating it.

If you prepare another ice-cream base (500ml heavy whipping cream/double cream, cold + 350ml condensed milk, cold) and divide it in half you can make:

Amarena (black cherry) Flavour

Add half mug of sour cherries in their syrup, mix it gently with a spoon, + extra cherries and 1 tablespoon of sour cherries to decorate it.
Freeze for 4/6 hours before eating it.

CHOCOLATE Flavour

Add 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder, mix it well with a spoon + add extra chocolate chips on top to decorate it.
Freeze for 4/6 hours before eating it.