I am of Italian descent and enjoy adding an Italian flavor to some basic recipes. One of my favorite recipes for camping or even for a rainy day are Italian S’mores.They helped us survive the pandemic by getting outside and having some fun! If you don’t have the fiori di Sicilia extract, you can substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon orange extract. – ANNA M. STANKIEWICZ, Gorham

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon fiori di Sicilia extract
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup chopped pistachios
¾ cup chocolate chips, any flavor
1 package large marshmallows
½ cup crushed graham crackers, optional

Mainers, what are you cooking?

Restaurants around the state are slowly opening up, but some of us are still cooking at home, not yet feeling comfortable enough to return to dining out. As the seasons change, as your kids go back to school, as you continue to wait out the virus, what are you cooking?

Send us your recipe and a simple snapshot of the dish. Let us know where the recipe came from and why you chose to make it now, in these unusual times. Send recipes and photos, labelled Homefront, to pgrodinsky@pressherald.com for possible publication and the chance to share dinner virtually until we can get back to sharing it actually.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Beat the butter and the sugar together. Add the eggs and the extract. Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter-egg mixture. Stir in the pistachios and chocolate chips. Shape the dough into two 12-inch long rolls.

Bake about 30 minutes until the edges are brown. Let the rolls cool on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes. Cut the rolls into ½-inch slices. Bake the slices for 10 minutes, then flip them on the cookie sheet, as you would biscotti, and bake another 10 minutes. Cool the cookies completely on the cooling rack.

These pack well for camping. When you get to campsite, and the fire is ready, roast your marshmallows to whatever degree of doneness you prefer, then sandwich a roasted marshmallow between two cookies — you can sprinkle the graham crackers over the roasted marshmallow first, if you like. If it is a rainy day, and you need to cheer up, construct the Italian S’mores and then roast for 2 or 3 minutes in a 400 degree F oven.

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