They look great!

Thank you. I did get to spend two afternoons in the kitchen with my oldest Granddaughter, who has been cooking with me and posting here since she was sitting on the counter in her footie pajamas. What better way to spend time than that?

I was really just kind of wondering if there was a recipe that people thought was wonderful. I've only had the commercially purchased cannoli shells before so I have nothing to compare them with. Is it one of those things that just mostly act as a vehicle for the filling, and so is supposed to be somewhat bland and not compete with other flavors?

Nearly everything that I make is homemade, and it's nearly always better than anything I have found available commercially. Not always, but a vast majority of the time.

Annie

Great photo of The Princess, and yummy photo of the cannoli and the other goodies!

I have 100% Italian genes, on both sides of the family, and I make my own cannoli shells and yes, they're wonderful!!! They are much better than the ones you can buy (which are quite pricey in this neck of the woods!). We would always use a spoon to fill them & they were filled just before serving.

My mom would always volunteer me to make the cannoli for our big family Christmas dinner. I was not happy about that because I was always working a full time job and 1 or 2 part time jobs, and wanted to sleep and rest in my off hours. She'd make the filling (easy peasy) and I'd have to do the shells. To this day, I resent her volunteering me without asking me first. The recipe I use is from my mom's BFF, who was my Godmother, and whose family hailed from Sicily. It seems if you look online, everyone has a different variation. I can't put my hands on the recipe right now or I'd post it.

Smiles,

Sooz

I had a set of those metal tubes that you use to wrap them around to fry them. I had them for years.

After a couple of runs around the block with them, I decided that it was not worth all of that and all of that frying. What a messy chore!

I am of the opinion that the shell is so insignificant that is makes sense to just buy some shells.

They all came out different thickness and different degrees of browned, just as yours did.

Besides, I just dont take well to deep frying and dont do it for anything else, so why do it for this?

How many cannolis can anyone eat? To make it worthwhile, I would have had to make quite a few shells and I dont wish to allot freezer space to them.

I tried, but found it not to be worthwhile, for me.

I would rather have a cannoli as a very occasional treat when I find myself in a good bakery, which is not very often. I can live with that.

Oh yum! I never met a cannoli I didn’t like 😋. I used to shop in an Italian deli (long since closed 😕) and I swear I could hear the cannoli calling my name 😂

"...so I thought I should take advantage of cooking with her while I still can!"

And she'll remember it all her whole life! Such great photos! DH would kill for a cannoli, and I'll take one of those pavlovas. :-)

I want Sooz's recipe too! I've only made them once, and it was like tamarind paste, or climbing Mt. Fuji. Once makes you wise. Twice proves your'e a fool. I'm not a big fan of the genre—they have to be really good for me to like them. We can buy really good shells here, like anything else. The kind where you'd swear someone’s little old nonna was in the back making them, though it's probably the musclebound Mexican guy you saw taking a break by the back door. Thing is, by the time you’ve sourced the good stuff, you might as well buy them filled and finished. :)

Many, many moons ago I helped an old family friend as she made cannoli shells. She used a new broomstick cut up into about 7” sections to use as the mold for deep frying. They were delicious, especially with crushed pistachios at each end.

You can make krumkake and call them pizzelles and fill them with sweetened ricotta. Make them in a krumkake iron and roll while they are warm.

Lindac, that is a good idea! .

I'll just wait and have a treat if the opportunity presents itself.

One thing I have seen recently is to make the shells but cut them as if they were tortilla chips and serve the ricotta as a dip, pre virus. It seems easier to do all around.

The platter of finished treats that Annie posted looks absolutely lovely, though. There is pride to be taken there!

Oh, Wednesday morning, that's a good idea, and it could be less messy than trying to eat a filled cannoli too.

LindaC, I don't have a krumkake iron, but I do have one of those devices that makes waffle cones for ice cream, maybe that would work. Hmm.....

Bluebird, you mean I wasted all that money on those forms, and I could have just used a broom? (grin) I remember my Grandmother also used to prop a broom between two kitchen chairs and hang noodles over it to dry, I guess brooms were definitely a "multi use" device!

Chloe, I know that she's going to grow up and go away, have her own life. I'm hoping that she'll come back to cook with me, and if/when she has a family she'll bring more kids, the more the merrier! I can usually lure her in with homemade pasta or Nutella filled crepes, LOL.

Colleen, I preferred your Lemon Butter to the cannoli. I never use any other recipe, just that super easy microwave version you gave me. My girls will eat that stuff with a spoon, like it's pudding. I've never had it fail and I can make it in less than 10 minutes, it's perfect and made a really nice filling for those pavlovas.

Plllog, the problem is that here in Northern Michigan, you can't buy them filled and finished without going to a "big city". My son in law's family is from Detroit, so whenever they visit family there they go to a place called Tringali's and buy several dozen cannoli. Since it's a 3 hour drive one way, I'm not going there. That's why the Princess wanted to make them, her great grandmother is 93 this year and they always have cannoli at Easter. She didn't want to disappoint "Grandma Delores", so we stocked up on ricotta and jumped right in!

Sooz, if/when you find that recipe, I'd love to have it.

Annie

I’m so glad you like the lemon butter recipe, Annie. It’s always been a success for me as well, and so easy. I can’t believe it’s been 17 years since I sent the baby blanket for the Princess!

Plllog and Annie, if I find it, I'll post it for ya! It's around here somewhere, or maybe on a backup pin drive.

Smiles,

Sooz

Annie, I truly do understand! Just expressing the difference! That while it is possible to buy good shells, it's more likely to miss the making all together, and what fun whould that be? Would it be a memory? When I lived in a similarly remote area in my youth, with even less variety, and desperate for “Mexican” food, I made tostadas for visiting friends by frying flatbread that another friend's friend had taught her to make, substituted cabbage for lettuce, and other local produce for whatever inc. salsa, made refried beans without a recipe, and with oil rather solid fat. Nothing like the (California style) real thing, but after all that work, close enough to feel like a bit of home. And the memory stays better than anything else from that day. Your/Princess's cannoli, whatever small flaws, are gorgeous, and I'm sure welcome by any progenitor. And what a lovely spirit your granddaughter has for embarking on such a project to bring a little bit of all's rightness and delight to her g-grandmother.

If Colleen's lemon butter is anything like lemon curd and doesn't involve stirring forever over hot water I think I need that recipe.

Plllog, The Princess is a sweetheart, she takes care of us "old" people, LOL.

LindaC, it is exactly like lemon curd and involves no boiling water or any stovetop cooking at all. I sometimes make it with Meyer lemon and I've also made a lime version, it all came out just fine. I just plain sugar, I never have superfine. I just whisk the eggs by hand, and leave out the zest, because the girls like it "smooth". And, in spite of Colleen's instructions about what to do if the stuff separates, I've never had a curdled batch. The "sneaky notes" are Colleen's, not mine.

Lemon Butter (Colleen)

4oz butter (NOT margarine)

3/4 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons' worth)

all the rind from the lemons, grated

1 cup sugar (I use superfine)

4-5 eggs, thoroughly beaten

Put butter, sugar, lemon juice and lemon rind into a micro-safe bowl. Cook on high about 3 minutes, stirring halfway through. Butter should be melted and sugar dissolved. Beat in eggs and microwave in 30-second bursts until it thickens, about 2 minutes. Whisk after each burst. Store in refrigerator to prolong the shelf life, which is short.

Makes about 3 cups, maybe less.

Sneaky notes:

If you are making a LOT of this, for gifts, etc, I peel the rind off with a peeler and drop it into the blender. Then cut off the white pith with a paring knife. Making sure there are no seeds, drop lemon flesh into blender. Whizz it up until the rind is pulverised. You should end up with about 1 cup of juice/rind mix per batch, to account for the rind and aeration. You can double or triple the recipe, just use a bigger bowl and adjust the times.

I also use the blender to whizz the eggs. If they are not totally beaten, you can get little white strings from the egg white which don't look great.

If you overcook it and it separates, beat up an extra egg. Gradually mix separated (sounds much better than curdled, doesn't it?) mixture into egg. Repeat if necessary.

Annie

LindaC and Annie and anyone interested in lemon curd, but not interested in stove top, here's a recipe I've posted before using the microwave. It's from allrecipes, submitted by Catseo.

Lemon Curd in Microwave

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs (whole eggs)

1 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

OPT: 3 lemons, zested

In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth.

Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and butter.

Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.

Remove from the microwave.

Pass the mixture through a fine sieve to remove the bits of cooked egg.

Pour into small sterile jars.

Store for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.