For the last couple of days I’ve been helping my girlfriend prepare for a baby shower she is giving for her daughter this weekend. This will be her first Grandchild and as you can imagine she is so excited. Being the friend that I am, I had told her about a shower that I went to over the summer that had these cute little Bunnies made out of washcloths and shower puffs, as party favors. What was I thinking???? So we Googled the directions and off to the craft store she went, buying little eyes, ribbon, and everything else she needed. No problem I thought, we only had to make 36, we could pull this off in no time!!! WRONG!!! She arrived at my house at 9:00 pm after I put a big pot of coffee on. How hard could it be? Well, the folding of the washcloth was hard to figure out! It took us almost 2 hrs. to finally master that! Then we had to figure out how to attach the shower puff, and finally, we had to hot glue all the nose and eyes on. She left my house close to 2:00 am!!! But after about 5 hrs…….
These cute little Bunnies were born!! Aren’t they adorable??? I just had to share them with you!!…. Needless to say, I dreamt of Bunnies that night!!….. Now, on to the bakery part.
Her daughter requested ONE thing only if she was to have a shower, she wanted a Cannoli cake!! My friend, not being of Italian decent,knew I would point her in the right direction. So off we went to my favorite Italian bakery to order her cake!When I told the Hubby where we were going, he got so excited and said ” make sure you bring me home something!” So with my camera in tow this time, I thought I’d share some pictures with you.
Crunchy, flaky, and creamy “Sfogliatelle !!!”
Don’t these look good?????
Check out the cookies!!!!!! All butter!!!! We each bought a few to have later with coffee, they never made it home ( ha ha)
Hubby’s favorite, fig cookies, like his Mom use to make!!
And finally, this was his little treat that was waiting for him after dinner! Sfogliatelle, and Cannoli. Oh, and by the way, the Cannoli is to die for!!! made fresh to order, creamy and good with a nice and crunchy shell…. I have to say the Cannoli is my favorite!!!Chicago still has many great Italian bakeries around, but they are getting few and far between. Some of the fantastic ones I remember as a kid are gone, and as the owners are getting up in age it seems the “new generation” of kids aren’t as eager to carry on with the family tradition. Oh, so sad!!! But for now, we’ll savor the “special ones” that are left!!!!
Have a great day!!!!
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
Bunnies are adorable! How true about the Italian Bakeries are becoming far and few between, especially in a city like Chicago. Three bakeries our family went to are “gone”.
May i ask, where the bakery you feature on site is located?
Just love your site.
My family use to have a bakery in Chicago a long time ago! It was called Sarnos Pastry Shop! Owned by Andrew Salera then by my father Jimmy Selvaggio. I still have their bakery formulas and am working on decoding them for http://cook-italian.com ! These images are wonderfull and bring back many fond Italian eating memories! Thank you!
Oh! This post makes me miss home! Sfogliatelle! I want to know how to make them..or maybe not because I will eat them all. My mom used to get so made at me because I would pop the tip off and eat them up. 🙂
Jen Ren, You’re crafty, you’ll have no problem!!
Kevin, I know, I can’t go there that often!
Thanks Jenny, So sad, no Italian bakeries!!!
Rowena, The shower was today and the bunnies were a hit, Thanks!
Is that you Angie?? (anonymous}Ha Ha
Simona, I’m biased too!!
I’m with you Maryann, but I got a soft spot for Cannoli’s too!
Oh I love love love Sfogliatelle! The bunny washclothes are cute, Marie 🙂
Warm sfogliatelle and fresh cannoli: the best pastries there are. I know, I am biased.
Everything looks delicious, but where are the Biscotti?????
I know!!!!!
Images such as those (the pastries ones) never fail to make me go ga-ga, but it’s those cute washcloth bunnies that really made me smile. What a fantastic idea!
Re: your comment about the goodies baking in the oven. Yep they are meant to be filled. Hopefully I’ll get around to putting a post together.
Wow,
All those Italian goodies look to die for! Wish there was a bakery like that in AZ! And those little bunnies are too cute.
An Italian bakery… just look at all of those wonderful goodies.
Hey good idea u deceided to make the boo boo bunnies!!! We need to make some for shannon shower. I quess I’m gonna need to practice
Valli, do you have any authentic Italian bakeries out by you?
Thanks Lor, I can’t believe there’s not even one? Oh well, your MIL could bake any one of these things in her sleep!!!!
Oh Glamah! We need to talk!!!
Oh where is that bakery? Ecerything looks to die for! The only one I’m familiar with in Chicago,( being non Italian)is L’Appetitio(more deli than bakery).
How cute are they??? I’m sure they will be greatly appreciated!! OMG I’m so jealous of that bakery, we don’t even have one Italian bakery in Ireland that I know of:( Swap you a prawn risotto for a cannoli – PLEASEEEEEEE!!!
Mamma Mia!!! Look at all those delicious Italian goodies!!!! The bunnies are very cute as well. Your friend is lucky to have you. When my daughter was young we called these bunnies “Bo Bo” Bunnies. I would find them at craft sales with little plastic ice cubes tucked inside to make cuts and bruises feel better.