You know those stories you've heard so many times that they become a memory, even though you weren't even there (or born yet)? One of my favorite non-memories is the one my mom would always tell us about Christmas Eve at her house in San Francisco, when my grandpa Albino would make cioppino.

I pictured her as a child in California, still learning her English, watching as my grandfather hummed away in the kitchen--scrubbing mussels and peeling giant shrimp as white wine, onions, tomatoes, and rich fish stock bubbled away together on the stove.

"We'd always have seafood on Christmas Eve," my mother would tell us every year. So we did the same.

Cioppino is an Italian-American dish that originated in San Francisco. How perfect is that? One of the dishes that reminds me most of my Italian grandfather in San Francisco is an Italian recipe that started in the same city he used to make it in.

My brother and I never got to meet our grandfather, but we both feel really strong ties to him, especially in the kitchen. The magic of family and food was not lost on me earlier this week when I made a batch of cioppino in my own kitchen in the San Francisco Bay Area, feeling my family so very far away on the other side of the country. But as I pulled out all the ingredients and poured a glass of La Crema Pinot Gris, it was almost as if any of them could have been there with me, scrubbing mussels and peeling giant shrimp as white wine, onions, tomatoes, and rich fish stock bubbled away together on the stove.

Just a quick note about bread: it really matters. Don't serve this without a crusty loaf of sourdough! It's so good. I like to toast slices of it in the oven and then load the toast with butter before dipping it into the broth. (Did you know that some gluten sensitivities are kind of okay with sourdough? It has something to do with the culture and bacteria involved to make the sourdough, well, sour. Don't take my word for it, just know that I ate three pieces with my cioppino for...breakfast yesterday. And a few sips of wine. Talk about a good start.)

This post is brought to you in partnership with La Crema. Check out my post on their blog today for my (and my abuelo's) cioppino recipe.

Happy Friday! I got such good feedback on last week's stocking stuffer gift guide that I decided to put together another one, this time for the Megan in your life (i.e. homebodies and the hygge obsessed). Everything in this gift guide is soft, relatively neutral in color and style, and perfect for cozying up with a hot beverage to watch Love Actually.

I'm also giving away some Rewined Candles this week--if you haven't heard of Rewined, they are a company that's local to Charleston and they make some of the most incredible candles--I first discovered them this summer when I was walking around the City Market with Rob. They were kind enough to supply us with candles for our La Crema event last month, and now they're offering up a candle to three lucky Freckled Italian readers! (Scroll all the way down to enter.)

But first, the gift guide (you can click the images to go to the product page, but I talk a bit about each one below, as well):

• I love the look of these blankets! We have a big faux fur comforter on our bed and I'm obsessed with it. So is Ender--he goes upstairs every night way before bed time and naps on it by himself. We call it his "alone time."
• I would wear these slippers around the house every single day. 
• How great does this scarf look? I'm a big fan of plaid accessories on an otherwise neutral outfit, and I love a blanket scarf.
• Just some good old-fashioned thick socks. It's a cliché Christmas gift for a reason!
• Really feeling this poncho sweater, and for $40? Not bad at all.
• Okay, I know $100 is a lot for a hat, but look at this one! It's cashmere and I bet it doesn't itch your forehead at all. I wear hats so frequently that I know I'd definitely get my money's worth.

That's all for now! And, as promised, the giveaway--there are quite a few ways to enter, so pick one or go for them all! I'm so excited to send three of you one of my very favorite (cozy!) candles soon. Thank you, Rewined!

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Candle photo credit: Olivia Rae Photography

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I always get super excited about holiday baking. In the fall, before Thanksgiving, I want pumpkin everything, and then as December approaches I almost always go in the direction of salted caramel. This year, though, I've really been feeling the combination of peppermint and chocolate.

Last month, Bob's Red Mill sent me some of their flours and asked me to bake something holiday-inspired, so I dusted off the ol' donut pan and got to work. I love their almond flour and use it all the time in my kitchen--I love that it's naturally gluten-free and low in carbs, which is especially great when you plan to dip your finished product in chocolate and then dust everything with crushed candy canes. Balance, right?

It's kind of great, though--I always associate almond flour with strictly Paleo recipes, but it works just as well when you're using conventional baking ingredients like sugar and white chocolate. So, I suppose now is a good time for this disclaimer: the following donuts are definitely grain-free, but they are in no way Paleo-friendly. Because sugar. Hey, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

Grain-Free Chocolate Peppermint Baked Donuts (adapted from this Bob's Red Mill Almond Cake recipe)

Ingredients: 

For the donuts:

• 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour (grab a coupon here)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour (I used Bob's Red Mill for this, too)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 3/4 cup softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk (I kept it dairy-free with the coconut creamer I sometimes put in my coffee)
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract

For the white chocolate glaze and toppings:

• 12 ounces white chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 6-8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1-2 candy canes, crushed
• Red and/or green sprinkles (optional)

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each until it's combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, and salt together. 
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones. Mix until incorporated. Add the cocoa powder and peppermint extract.
5. Pipe batter into a donut pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until you can poke one of the donuts with a knife and it comes out clean. (If you don't have a piping bag you can easily use a plastic freezer bag. To keep the batter from getting all over my hands, I like to put the bag in a big glass, then fold the edges over the side of glass before spooning the batter into the bag. Remove the bag, twist the top to secure the batter, and use a pair of scissors to cut the corner off the bag and voila! A homemade piping bag.)
6. When the donuts are done baking, remove from oven and allow to cool. Sometimes they pop right out of the donut pan, other times they need to cool completely, then you can transfer them to a cooling rack.
7. To make the white chocolate glaze, melt the white chocolate chips on low in a small saucepan. Add peppermint extract and continually stir until liquid. While that's going, you can melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave. Remove the white chocolate from heat and working quickly, dip one side of each donut in the melted white chocolate. Drizzle semi-sweet chocolate, if desired, and top with crushed candy canes and/or sprinkles.

Happy holidays, and happy baking!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.