Joys of the Season

I have to admit, this has been an odd Christmas season for me. It seemed to creep up and then bam! It was here and I wasn't ready! Cards went out late, I couldn't get my baking mode on, I didn't feel all that satisfied with most of the presents I found (and I still haven't finished shopping for when we celebrate with the kids). It was just odd.

Postcards from the Lake: Dining In

Someone asked me, "What do you guys eat up at the lake? Do you grill out a lot?" And the answer is "Of course!"

It seems the natural thing to do -- cooking out on our little charcoal grill keeps the kitchen from getting too hot on already warm days and besides, compare chicken in the oven to on the grill and it's no contest!

On lovely evenings it's nice to get the charcoal going and just hang out together, maybe with a glass of wine, and just enjoy the quiet in the backyard, where -- if we're lucky and they aren't hanging out too high in the trees -- we can enjoy some of the birds that hang around our cottage.

And it's nice to enjoy a bit of cheese and crackers while we wait. Or if we're in a grazing mode!

Some of the best moments are just sitting quietly, talking, enjoying exactly where we are at that very moment and never wanting it to end.

Rick will often buy a pork roast and cut it into chops. They're thick and delicious!

 If Rick has been baking, you can count on some big ham sandwiches for his lunch!

Or, if we're having burgers, he's quite likely to make the buns. Soon these will be golden brown and wonderful!

Some nights are pasta nights. I finally went through all the bags of pasta sauce I'd made last fall. Now we're waiting for tomato season to come so I can start again for the next batch.

Other times, it may be pizza. He makes a wonderfully zesty sauce!

My favorite new recipe of the summer is a gingery grilled chicken with a marvelous marinade. On this plate you'll also see grilled pineapple slices (yum!) and my homemade potato salad.

We had a great deal at the supermarket -- three pineapples for $5. We went through two of them in a couple of days, between grilling and the never-ending bowl of fruit salad with pineapple and Michigan cherries and blueberries (and non-Michigan banana!).

When the good neighbors were leaving, they gave us a bag of apples they wouldn't be finishing. What do you do with a bag of apples? I made apple crisp!

All nice days come to an end.

It's always nice to peek in and see that someone else is doing this dishes.

Am I lucky? Am I grateful? And I happy? Oh yes, I am.

Making Pasta with Rosie!

I am very fortunate to have wonderful next door neighbors. When I first bought my house, Rosie was first to say hello. Over the years I have lived here, I have reveled in the beauty of her garden, admired her exquisitely crocheted Christmas ornaments, delighted in the joy of her grandchildren during their annual Easter Egg hunt in the garden and enjoyed her authentic Italian cooking.

And when I say authentic, I mean it! For Rosie came to America from Calabria in the southern "boot" of Italy when she married Frank years ago. So, when Rick asked Rosie if he could have a lesson in pasta making, she was only to happy to oblige!

The lesson happened to coincide with the visit of Giorgio Mirto, a classical guitarist from Torino in northern Italy, who was performing concerts in America and staying with Rick while in Michigan. The timing was perfect, because Giorgio could speak a little Italian during his visit -- something he couldn't do with Rick and me!

We gathered around Rosie's table. She has a portable board she uses when making pasta to both give her room for the rolling (no pasta machine here!) and make clean-up easier. All this begins with flour on the board. Maybe a cup. All of her measurements are by eye -- until it feels right! A little salt goes into the pile and then she makes a "well" in the middle, into which she places an egg.

Then it's mixing by hand, adding water a bit at a time as she goes along.

I have to say, this reminded me of making flour paste as a kid. It isn't neat and your hands aren't either!

But eventually, the mixture comes together and she begins to knead it as you would bread, adding flour as necessary. It becomes very dough-like and smooth.

Then comes the rolling. Using a dowel about the size of a broomstick -- no larger -- she rolls the pasta into a very thin layer -- thinner than the thinnest sugar cookie recipe. (Do you get the word "thin" here?!)

When the pasta is smooth and as thin as it can be, Rosie rolled it gently over her "rolling pin," much as you would roll a pie crust over a rolling pin and unroll it on a pie tin.

 

Then she slides the dowel out, so that there is a long, thin "snake" of dough. (If the dough is too wet, it will stick to the dowel and needs more flour and re-rolling.)

Using a sharp knife, she cut very thin strips from the roll.

And voila! Pasta!

Now, you might think that we would simply have pasta for dinner after all that. You would be wrong! Rosie and Frank make their on soprosetta and proscuito and other sausages.

So, we not only had Rosie's homemade pasta with sauce, but a selection of cheese and meats.

This was followed by a mushroom and beef dish, Frank's very good homemade wine, a cherry liqueur, fruit and nuts and a fabulous lemon cake! And Rick's bread!

Did I mention the wine? It was flowing! Giorgio checked it out!

And then was kind enough to share with the rest of us!

It isn't often that I sit down for a dinner and find it hard to leave the table!But this time it was difficult on so many levels. Not only was it a fabulous dinner, prepared in the kitchen by hand and with love...

...but the company was so delightful I didn't want the evening to end. So now I'm wondering -- when will Rick start making his own pasta too?

Soon, I hope!

Linking this post to Share Your Cup, Share Your Style, and Monday Social.

The Busy Season -- Look Ahead to Dinner!

Tori asked me why I hadn't done the cooking part of my Looking Ahead posts for the holidays. The truth is I was running out of time! The other reason is that cooking in December varies widely from culture to culture so my getting ahead may be far away from yours.

For example, my Cleveland family does both Hanukkah and Christmas (and I wish I was down there for the latkes!). I'm not really up on those food traditions, apart from what I read in the same magazines you probably do. One year I did make this Cooking Light cinnamon apple cake, which was in a Hanukkah article and it was delicious!

In an off-blog correspondence with another blogger from England, she mentioned that their traditional Christmas dinner is framed around an incredibly abundant salad. While we might think of English Christmas food as plum or Yorkshire pudding and roast beef or turkey, that isn't always the case!

I suspect the same things happen round the world -- traditional dishes of your country that come out at the holidays even if you never see them at other times of year. (Share some in the comments if you choose! In fact, no matter where you live, share your holiday faves!)



Often times we go to the family tree for our holiday recipes, and in larger gatherings find that there are a collection of those recipes from the various branches of the family tree. In the past, our Christmas Eve dinner has always been that of Rick's grandfather -- roast beef, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and salad.

Christmas morning breakfast is the same, too. My mom's sausage and egg strata recipe, which I make the night before and put in the fridge. It only takes 45 minutes to cook, so while we are doing presents it goes into the oven. We'll serve it with mimosa and maybe fruit salad or coffee cake.

 

And who knows what this year will bring?  We will be celebrating with Kevin and Molly at their home. Will we do the same, add some of Molly's family traditions or new ones they've decided? Stay tuned for that!

I know a number of people who have fish on Christmas Eve as part of the Feast of the Seven Fishes and some for other reasons of faith. I'm all for fish -- a few years ago we introduced friends to Shrimp and Grits on Christmas day. I'm not sure if we'll do that again this year but to be honest, I could eat Bobby Flay's Shrimp and Grits recipe any day of the year!

The year we introduced shrimp and grits as a Christmas favorite!

Cookies are another huge part of the holiday season. We have always spent Christmas Eve frosting cookies. This started out as a "cookies for Santa" thing and developed into one of my favorite traditions. Those and peppermint stick ice cream make Christmas day dessert a snap!

             

(If you are into something that is pretty easy but takes a bit more time, try this peppermint stick ice cream cake roll recipe. I made it for Cork Poppers and it was a hit with hot fudge, whipped cream and crunched up peppermints on top!)

I know people who have been baking cookies and freezing them for weeks. I salute you. I just can't live up to you! I usually do cookies and baking in one fell sweep over two or three days, making enough to give away (because I really do not have to have dozens of cookies in my house!).

My favorite shortbread recipe is decked for Easter here. At Christmas I use peppermint or dried cherries.

My favorites include Cousin Bonnie's Jingle Balls (those little white balls of nuts that explode in your mouth and all over your black shirt -- busted!); my easy shortbreads which I change up with peppermint or dried cherries or whatever else happens to be in the cupboard; ginger cookies; peanut butter bars that rival Reese cups and Ina Garten's Raspberry Crumble bars. Together they make a pretty versatile cookie plate with different shapes, flavors and textures.

Small bread loaves (like this blueberry bread) or crackers or scones are always a treat to include. My Italian neighbor always has these little glazed donuts that I snap up as soon as I get her cookie plate! They're the best!

(If you are interested in adding any of these to your recipe collection, include what you would like in the comments and make sure you are either a no-reply blogger or include your e-mail address!)

I'll often include my favorite nut recipe from former blogger-still friend Anno, which are peppery and spicy versus sweet. Those are always a crowd pleaser!

I have fond memories of my friend Stephanie's cookie party, long discontinued but like yesterday in my memory. We would bring 13 dozen cookies, packaged individually in groups of six (and packaging counted -- people were extremely inventive!). We went home with 12 dozen (there was one dozen for the table) and didn't have to bake all season! And boy, did everyone bring out their best.

Here are some quick tips for a cookie exchange -- I've done my share.

• Figure out the number of guests and get firm commitments so you can tell your guests what to bring.
• Allow for a half-dozen to take home for each guest. Stephanie was bold to have so many guests -- and 13 dozen is a lot to make (I recommend bar cookies!) -- but everyone loved to participate so no complaints. You might want to keep the crowd a little smaller!
• Ask guests to include at least a half dozen for the table.
• While sharing the recipe isn't a must, it's nice for guests to have the recipe to take home. Years ago at a Schweddy Balls cookie party Jan and I threw, we asked each person to bring their recipe on the cards we sent them. (This was just a party, not an exchange.) The cards were pre-punched and I had covers made in advance. We just put them together with a binder ring and everyone had a party favor with good ball-shaped cookies!

No matter which holiday you celebrate, I wish you a great season of delicious dishes, family traditions and lots of fun.

And a gym membership for 2016!