I couldn’t pass up mentioning Carnevale again since it is coming soon and is a festa filled with colors and children and confetti and special sweets and parties and costumes and more….
Having a party may be the last thing on your mind, as everyone is just trying to make ends meet.  Everyone is thinking of ways to save money on everything out of necessity. You can save money on costumes to have your own Carnevale or Mardi Gras  party also, how about free online coupons and even free shipping coupons and you can save money on other things as well; foods, jewelry, diamonds and more. So go ahead ,splurge with those discount coupons and shipping coupons.
In addition to your costume you will be able to afford your jewelry for that Mardi Gras event..jewelry to go with your costume. So you can have it all great costumes great jewelry and at a huge discount. Now that’s reason enough to celebrate!!
Here is an excerpt from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-Holidays and Special Occasions, copyright 2009, Maria Liberati-to be released in late 2009
Did you know that Carnevale originated in Rome?
It began in ancient Rome, the term comes from the Latin word “carnem levare”. This referred to the period of fasting from meat. The feast lasts for about 10 days But the ancient Romans celebrated it for about 180 days of the year. It was their way of celebrating their victories. After the fall of the Roman empire, Carnevale was still celebrated by the Roman people. It always included a period of fasting and joy
Carnevale is made up of some any colors- from the beautiful fireworks displays to the costumes to the colored papers and streamers used during this Holiday. To stay in the Carnevale spirit, keep your foods, tableware colorful and festive.
In the spirit of the decadent Romans a masked ball with decadent desserts is the perfect way to celebrate.
Dolce Cioccolata
6 eggs
½ cup sugar
16 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate (at least 60% cocoa)
2- 1/2 cups whipped cream
¼ cup Cointreau
Fresh raspberries for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a pie pan and coat with baking paper. Dip finger tips in olive oil and oil baking paper.
With electric mixer, beat eggs with sugar of 5 minutes – until creamy and well blended. Melt chocolate in glass dish in microwave (approx 2 minutes depending on settings). With rubber spatula, fold melted chocolate into egg mixture. In separate bowl whip cream, fold in Cointreau. Gently fold this into egg/chocolate mixture until well blended.
Place pie pan coated with baking paper in a glass or ceramic baking dish. Place water in baking dish to reach half height of pie plate.
Bake for 30 minutes this way in oven. Take out. Place sheet of baking paper on top and bake for another 30 minutes this way. Remove from oven, Uncover and let cool. When cool, refrigerate overnight. Serve garnished with fresh raspberries and dust with powdered cocoa.