Italian Gluten-free Pignoli (Pinoli) Holiday Cookies

Gluten-free Pignoli (Pinoli) Holiday Cookies

Amaretti con Pignoli for Easter or Christmas

Gluten-free - Salt-free 

Italian pignoli (pinoli) cookies are enjoyed at Christmas and Easter time. They can be made anytime of year and make wonderful homemade gifts. Pignoli cookies are quick and easy to bake. The cookies feature pignoli nuts, which are nutritious and also known as pine nuts. 

Pine nut Nutrition: 3 Tablespoons contain: 0g trans fat, 10g polyunsaturated fat, 5g monounsaturated fat, 1g dietary fiber, 4g protein, 1.5 mg (8% DV) iron, 170 mg (4% DV) potassium, and several other micro-nutrients including zinc and manganese.

For this recipe, I first looked online since these cookies are a very popular Italian cookie and baked by millions of people around the world. My mother never mentioned her mother or grandmother making these cookies. Mom's family was from Sicily; these cookies originated there. My first online choice for the recipe inspiration came from a beloved and excellent Italian chef, Chef Lidia Bastianich. 

I met Chef Lidia a very long time ago at a culinary event preview in New York before The Borgada in Atlantic City opened. I was still in culinary school and will forever remember briefly meeting and greeting Chef Lidia in person. Looking back, my cell phone didn't have a camera on it to capture the visit. 

I was especially honored to be among the few students selected by the Academy of Culinary Arts to represent them. We traveled by limo to the "Borgada, the Event" in New York. It was so exciting to be among so many well known chefs like Lidia, Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck. I remember bringing my culinary tool box with me and presenting on stage there. We met other established chefs behind the scenes too in the kitchen for culinary education and demos.

Gluten-free Pignoli Cookie Recipe

• Preheat the oven to 350 deg F
• Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment or foil. Apply light non-stick spray 

Yield will vary depending on your scoop size, your mixing technique, type of sugar used and the amount of egg whites used. Lidia does not use confectioners sugar, but I decided to use it to make the cookies have less spread. I probably over mixed my first batch. Over mixing warms the almond paste dough and the cookies will spread more.

• Sticky dough Yields: 28, 3-inch cookies
• Firmer dough Yields: 3 dozen 2-inch cookies 

Ingredients

• 1 lb (454g) container almond paste (I used California Almonds: Mandelin Premium Almond Paste)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 8 oz (227g) pignoli nuts in a pie plate or large dish (you will have some leftover)

Putting it all together

1. Add the almond paste to your food processor or mixer. If you squeeze around the sides of the container, the paste will easily drop out; no need to scoop it out. I used our KitchenAid and used the whisk; pulse to break up the almond paste. It is sort of like play dough; you may need to stop the mixer and push the dough back in if it starts to work its way to the top. 
2. Gradually add in both sugars, mix and pulse off and on until well blended. At first it will look like clumps of candied ginger. Mix until it looks more like coarse sand.
3. Add the egg whites. Mix until well blended and smooth. 
4. If the dough is too sticky to hold, it can be refrigerated to slightly firm.
• If your dough is too sticky to hold, use a small scoop, spoon dough onto baking sheet; Top with pignoli nuts; gently spread them around on each cookie.
• If your dough is firm enough to hold, pinch off some and form into small 1" ball and roll in pine nuts leaving a spot for the bottom without nuts; place onto baking sheet. 
• For Easter cookies, sprinkle colorful decorator sugar atop the pine nuts - optional.
5. Bake about 17 minutes or until golden
6. Allow to cool before removing from baking sheets
• Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar - optional 

Enjoy! Happy Easter!

Related Links

Lidia's Pine Nut Cookies recipe 

Blog post, recipe and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. 

Harvesting Pine Nuts

 Harvesting Pine Nuts

Using Pignoli nuts, aka Pinoli, Pine Nuts, in recipes such as pesto or Italian cookies got me wondering and asking myself, "Where do pine nuts come from?" Apparently, pine nuts are truly a labor of love. The nutrient dense seeds have fed native Americans, birds and wildlife for centuries. 

Pine nuts actually do come from what you think - pine cones. The pine trees are a special variety that yields large seeds and grow in places like America, China, Korea and Russia, with most pine nut imports coming to the US from Mongolia.(1) Pine nuts have a dark brown outer shell that gets removed to yield the tender, cream color, edible seed.

People can harvest the seeds by hand, one-by-one, which is one reason why pine nuts cost so much. However, the most likely reason they cost so much is the limited supply for the growing demand. The food industry has developed pine nut farming and harvesting techniques that speeds up volume production.

Check out these videos to learn more about pine nut, piñón harvest.

Reference

1) The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). Pine Nuts Shelled in US. Accessed April, 6, 2026. https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/pine-nuts-shelled/reporter/usa 

Related Links

Why Use Locally Sourced Pine Nuts? It's a Matter of a Piñón 

Pine Nut Picking in Nevada! 

Blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

The Flour Required for Gluten-free Easter Bread

Easter Flowers by Diana Wind for Trinity Episcopal Church, Moorestown, NJ 

Happy Easter!

This Easter morning as we celebrate Easter at home without any company, I was going to experiment and try making my favorite Easter Bread in a gluten-free version. However, the King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour 1-1 is for baking YEAST FREE recipes and not recommended for bread. Oh well... so if you want to try making Gluten-free Easter Bread, you would need to order their King Arthur Gluten-Free BREAD Flour. Watch for GardenCuizine's recipe next year. 

Easter Bread Gluten-free Recipe to come in 2027

Ingredients

King Arthur Gluten-free BREAD flour

Putting it all together 

Recipe and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. 

Philadelphia Flower Show Photography Second Place!

 

ROOTED at the Philadelphia Flower Show

Welcome to GardenCuizine's 2026 Philadelphia Flower Show (PHS) post. I'm proud to announce that my Bee Seated photograph tied for a second place ribbon at this years flower show! 

This year's PHS theme celebrated garden history of "Rooted Origins of American Gardening". The many designers and teams put together a stunningly beautiful "magical forest" show entrance and exhibits throughout the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  

 

Harry and I both especially loved Temple University's award winning exhibit, which featured urban landscape architecture celebrating the Delaware Valley's rich botanical and cultural heritage. 

Terracotta pots overflowed with harvests of sweet potatoes and apples that fit in perfectly with the surrounding native landscape, water streams and blooming plants.

The Temple display also showed canning jars in a cleaver way, creating a wall of glass. Some of the jars were used for dried herbs and corn.

See the link at the bottom of this post for more on the story told in their well-designed exhibit, which also featured a basket of oyster shells. We know oysters are a sustainable food. 

Helpful tips were provided on how to repurpose and recycle materials such as plants, lumber and concrete that may be already in your own backyard.

The photography exhibit is another favorite area of ours. The categories were all interesting and well represented. 

The category that I entered was Class 197, "Legacy" that featured pollinators. Several photos included bees, two featured hummingbirds, and another showed a grasshopper! 

The bee seated on the purple aster is my photo! I took it last September in our front yard with my macro lens. I said on the attached card shown, "Native asters beautify our yard year after year, providing a late season food source to visiting pollinators including bees and butterflies." 

 

As in years past, the timing of the show (March) is perfect, especially this year after the winter that we had. I think we are all ready to get our seeds started and to usher in spring with open arms!

Best wishes for a great gardening season! 

Diana Wind 

Related Links

Temple at the Philadelphia Flower Show 

Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. 

Rowan Aquaponics Tour

 Rowan Aquaponics Tour

Happy National Nutrition Month®! Today my nutrition class celebrated NNM by learning more about sustainable agriculture for growing herbs, edible flowers and vegetables, namely hydroponic and aquaponic farming. 

Special thanks to our guest speaker, Stephen Ordog, for speaking to Rowan's Contemporary Issues in Nutrition class! We learned so much! I especially loved the greenhouse tour of Rowan's operation.

  

Aquaponics involves a self-contained system that includes fish. Rowan uses separate tanks for Large Mouth Bass and Koi fish. They have several tanks for various size fish in different stages of development. One tank has small young fish, another tank features medium size Koi, and two other big tanks hold larger sized fish. Steve said that they started with 40 fish in 2024 and now have 800 fish!

 

Automatic time-controlled feeding stations are attached to each fish tank. The fish were super excited when the food shot out from the pipe dispenser positioned over top of their tank. A few splashes of water could be felt from the splashes as the fish bolted towards their food!

This growing method is sustainable because of a scientific Nitrogen cycle. 1) Fish waste produces ammonia. 2) Ammonia gets converted to Nitrite by bacteria (Nitrosomonas) living in the water. Another bacteria turns the Nitrite to a safer Nitrate that fertilizes the plants. 3) The nitrate is absorbed and filtered by the plants before going back into the fish tank resulting in healthy fish and healthy plants.

 

Hydroponics, to quote Steve Ordog, "Is a soil-less cultivation of plants". Hydroponics requires less water than conventional growing methods and does not depend on weather since it is indoors. Steve's focus is to grow plants that can absorb nitrogen well, such as leafy greens and herbs like bok choy, chard, lettuce and basil. He is also growing some edible marigolds and is planning to grow nasturtiums.

 

Below is a video for more information about Rowan's sustainable agriculture program. The produce that grows is harvested, washed and donated to Rowan's food pantry called The Shop.

 

Related links:

Drop the Beet Farms

Why Sustainable Agriculture Matters 

Blogpost, Koi video and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. YouTube video property of Rowan University.

 

Experts divided over new US Dietary Guidelines

Really, back to a Food Pyramid?

 

Really, back to a Food Pyramid?

Yes, apparently that is the case according to the latest news released today by the USDA on the new dietary guidelines for health in America. Flash back in time for Americans and especially for me to when I had my health food store and restaurant in the 80's. 

I find it interesting that Health and Human Services Secretary, RF Kennedy, Jr and the Department of Ag Secretary are back tracking and completely erasing the MyPlate graphic that has been featured in nutrition education for years. It is quite shocking and frankly, insulting to the scientists who provide so much research and study in the development of the DGA, to see the 164 pages of information rolled back to a mere 50-page scientific report and 10-page public guideline. The idea of a very simple guideline for the public is a good one.

The entire Dietary Guidelines for Americans process, public comments and committee (DGAC) were dismissed and replaced with DGA by a new board. The new report states their dislike and therefore dismissal of the former DGAC's use of considerations of health equity in the DGA. 

The new info-graphic is very confusing. For example, having butter appearing equal to grapes. Without all the specific details of the science in the report for the professionals, educators may resort to inaccurate teachings and advice. The DGA were always a strong resource for healthcare professionals and educators who take the detailed and specific information and deliver it to the public.

Personally, I do like teaching about whole foods in the five food groups and encouraging people to eat more fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. The majority of the people in the world are lactose intolerant(1), so Harvard's eating plate(2) is more realistic, omitting dairy all together and showing water instead. Overall, I think it is a good idea to limit processed foods and promote eating "real foods". The food groups in the former MyPlate were all "real foods". 

It is disturbing to see red meat featured at the top of the new guidelines. Eight out of ten on the newly appointed board have ties to the meat and dairy industry.(3,4) It is no surprise then that cheese and milk and a large images of meat and poultry are at the top of this inverted pyramid. Beans are hardly identifiable, illustrated in an unappetizing glob, over rice, near the bottom with peanuts. 

Increasing plant-based foods such as beans and lentils was rejected from the DGAC's science-based recommendation. The environment related to global warming is huge concern for food production. At some point Americans must come to the table on the reality of global warming and that red meat from cattle is not the direction for sustainability of our planet and food resources. More transparency and discussion and education on the topic must be provided to the public and anyone involved in food service and nutrition education.

This will be a very timely topic of discussion in my upcoming Contemporary Issues in Nutrition class at Rowan University. 

Related Links

More info on the new Food Pyramid Policy 

Real food back at the center of health

Health Equity is out  

References

1. Catanzaro R, Sciuto M, Marotta F. Lactose intolerance: An update on its pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment. Nutr Res. 2021;89:23–34. doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2021.02.003

2) Harvard Eating Plate. Accessed Jan. 12, 2026. https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/healthy-eating-plate/  

3) Should USDA and HHS withdraw the new DGA? 

4) HHS, USDA. The Scientific Foundation for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Accessed Jan. 7, 2025. https://cdn.realfood.gov/Scientific%20Report_1.8.26.pdf 

Blog post Copyright Wind. All rights reserved. 

Watch for updates. Updated 1/12/2026 

Diana's 3-cheese, Gluten Free, Sicilian Lasagna

Gluten Free Lasagna

As you may have seen in previous posts, we always make lasagna for Christmas dinner! Mom started this family tradition ever since I can remember. We continue it to this day. RIP mom! The past few years we started making a gluten free (GF) version, which is good enough for company. In my opinion, you can't taste any difference. If you have a friend or family member who needs GF options, this recipe is a winner!

This year we used Barilla, no cook, oven ready, gluten free noodles that are made with corn and brown rice flour. The taste was great. The main recipe differences between my regular lasagna and GF lasagna are that no pre-cooking, oven-ready, GF noodles is necessary, oven-ready GF noodles need sauce on both sides of the noodles, and all exposed noodles need to be covered with sauce.

This recipe is different than what is on the Barilla box and very similar to my regular Sicilian Christmas lasagna recipe. We baked the lasagna at 350 deg. F vs 425 deg. F. as suggested on the Barilla package label. Below is my GardenCuizine recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.
Set aside a 13 x 9 x 2-inch Pyrex baking dish 

Ingredients

• 1 box Barilla, no cook, oven ready, gluten-free lasagne 

Meat blend

• 1 lb lean ground beef  (Mom used to blend with Italian sausage. For vegetarian, use boca crumbles)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• black pepper 
• drizzle olive oil

Ricotta blend 

1, 32 oz whole milk Ricotta

1 1/2 cups shredded low fat mozzarella 

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 

2 large eggs, whisked 

1 Tblsp. chopped fresh parsley 

1/8 tsp. fresh grated or ground nutmeg 

1/8 tsp. salt 

Sauce 

• 1 large jar pasta sauce or your own homemade sauce
• 3-4 bay leaves (not edible! remove before serving)
• 1/2 tsp oregano

Topping

• 1 cup or so shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/8 cup Parmesan cheese
• Chopped fresh parsley (believe it or not we still had some growing in a pot on our front porch!)

Putting it all together

• Warm up the sauce in a pot. Stir in bay leaves and oregano. Keep covered on low heat.
• In a large skillet, add a drizzle of olive oil and saute the onion add garlic; stir; cook until golden; remove from the skillet to a plate or bowl.
• In the same skillet, cook the ground meat, season with black pepper. Remove from heat. Drain any grease. 
• Stir in the cooked aromatics (onion and garlic). 
• In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, whisked eggs, nutmeg, salt, set aside.

1. Prepare your baking dish with a bottom layer of red sauce.
2. Place a layer of noodles on top of the sauce.
3. Add a little more sauce on top of the noodles (both sides must have sauce to soften and cook properly). 
4. Scoop small balls of Ricotta, about 3 scoops per noodle. (We use a 2 oz scoop)
5. Top with a layer of cooked ground meat.  

• Repeat - sauce - noodles - sauce - ricotta - meat 
• sauce - noodles - sauce 
•  Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

Note: if you have leftover ricotta, which we always do, make another small serving to freeze uncooked and cook at a later date. 

Cover with aluminum foil, try not to touch the top of the sauce with the foil. Bake at 350 deg F. about 40 minutes. Remove foil and cook uncovered another 15 min or until top is golden brown. Remove from oven. Let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.

Buon Appetito!

GardenCuizine Blog Post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. 

Diet Changes Gut Microbiota

 

What I liked about this video

This informative video by Dr Pradip Jamnadas showcases the importance of eating wholesome foods vs processed foods to provide our guts with important dietary fiber to fuel the bacteria that impact our health. He made mention of how youth in America are becoming more unhealthy related to poor dietary choices that lead to child obesity, prediabetes and diabetes.

• Good intro to gut microbiome.
• Good explanation of what gut bacteria is for.
• Good to encourage fermented foods.
• Good clarification on best sources of dietary fiber. 
• Good questions and answers at the end. 

What I disliked about this video

• Dr Jamnadas last sentence that he fired his dietitian was cringe-worthy! 

Oh my! That comment was unfortunate as it cast a suggestion that you don't need a dietitian. I am a dietitian who makes a difference in the lives of others. I do not focus on teaching calorie counting, but rather, listen and provide medical nutrition therapy to meet individual needs. 

Nutrition educators, such as dietitians, help to promote healthy habits and eating of wholesome foods. Just like doctors, dietitians all have different personalities and ways to provide information and education to their clients. If his RD wasn't a good fit for his practice, he could have replaced her with a different healthcare professional to better meet his and his practice's needs. 

Registered dietitians are nutrition experts who are instrumental in helping individuals and family's make improvements to their diets and lifestyles. 

 Blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. 

 

Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend recipe

 

Make-your-own

Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend

You may remember the time saving recipe for make-your-own pumpkin pie spice published on Dave's Garden blog many years ago. The pumpkin spice blend I used was inspired by a fellow DG member, Sally. Here it is again for us, in case DG decides to pull it offline as they have done with some of my other articles. I'm glad my pumpkin article has survived the test of time and is still available to readers (see link below).

You will need one empty spice jar.

Putting it all together

Using a small funnel add the following spices directly to your spice jar, cover and shake to mix thoroughly before using.

Pumpkin Spice Recipe

4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon 

2 Tablespoons ground ginger

1 Tablespoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Enjoy this pumpkin spice blend in your favorite pumpkin recipes!

Related links

Diana's Dave's Garden blog post 

GardenCuizine Blog post and photos Copyright(C) Wind. All rights reserved. 

 

Wiggle, Bounce, and Shake! 💥 | Dance Compilation | Danny Go! Songs for Kids

Our October Garden

Our October Garden

Heavenly Blue morning glory's are blooming! Not exactly an heirloom or the color of Fall, but these blues are among my favorite blooms. Note their swirling buds; just beautiful. Other blooming plants in our October NJ garden include: fushia pink phlox along with pink clerodendrum and some yellow native goldenrod blooms, asters and other miscellaneous native plants and weeds. 

Yesterday, I picked a final batch of Chocolate Cherry and Petite Moineau heirloom tomatoes. I sacrificed a few tomatoes to get seeds from to plant next year. I also harvested a few more peppers. 

We also have a batch of hot peppers from Pineland's Produce owner, Ms Diane, who sells at the Burlington County Farmers Market. We froze some. I plan to use a bunch of the hot peppers to make hot pepper jelly tomorrow. 

As for our black-eyed peas, well yours truly did not pick them in time and blew it with the black-eyed peas!! A few weeks ago the seeds all burst out of their dry shells and disappeared into the ground. I was able to salvage a few beans for planting again next year.

Below is a brief video clip of yesterday in the garden. If it does not load, check back, I will post it on YouTube.

 

All the best for Good Health and Happiness!

Diana

Photos and blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.