It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

(With apologies to every Christmas songwriter.)

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love said to me: forget the lords a-leaping. "Come," she told me, "pa rum pum pum pum."

And with Jack Frost nipping at my nose, we made our way to a place where treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow.

The stars were brightly shining. A silent night, a holy night! All was calm, all was REALLY REALLY BRIGHT. A far cry from deck the halls with boughs of holly. But lots of fa-la-la and jolly, nonetheless.

Strings of street lights, Even stop lights, blinked a bright red and green. And when you walk down the street, you say "Hello" to friends you know, and everyone you meet.

Oh Ho the mistletoe, downloaded from the app store for free. Somebody waits for you; kiss her once for me.

A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland. But, "watch out for the traffic!" This is where Grandma got run over by a reindeer, walking home from our house Christmas Eve.

Wait! Do you hear what I hear? Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow chanting: "bring us some figgy pudding, bring us some figgy pudding" (this part is true).

And then another child: "What child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping?" Do you really need to ask?

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir. Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy.

May your days be merry and bright!

P.S. If you like these lights, get over to the Trinity Street Light Competition by January 2, 2010.

Christmas Biscotti

This is my holiday spin on our traditional Italian biscotti, or what we used to call "Auntie Inesse cookies." The dried cranberries and pistachios give the cookies a lovely holiday feel. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup chopped pistachios

3/4 cup dried cranberries

Method:

Cream butter and sugar until light.

Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix until blended.

Divide the dough in half. On a greased and floured baking sheet, shape into two logs (1/2-inch high, 1 1/2 inches wide, about 14 inches long) and place two inches apart.

Bake at 325F for 25 minutes (until lightly browned).

Transfer from the baking sheet to a rack for cooling. After 10 minutes, move to a cutting board and, using a serrated knife, slice diagonally about 1/2 inch thick.

Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet and return to a 200F oven for one hour.

Once cooked, let cool o

n a rack. Store in a covered container.

Makes about three dozen.

Looking for other Christmas cookies?

Here are some of my past Christmas cookie postings:

• Scalille: traditional Calabrese honey cookies.
• Pizzelle: anise cookies.

Eat Christmas Cookies, Season 3!

I've submitted this recipe to Food Blogga's Eat Christmas Cookies, Season 3! event.

If you have awesome holiday cookies, find out how to participate.

Check out all the great cookies on the round-up page.

Zucchini Sousa

Zucchini sousa is a traditional family dish that's made with large zucchini during the height of the season when you don't know what you'd ever do with one more zucchini. This dish was a highlight of my childhood summers, made with zucchini from the gardens of nonnos, zios and neighbours.

I don't know what the word "sousa" means or if it's even a real word. And I don't know of anyone outside the family who makes this recipe. If you've heard of it, please leave a comment.

This is a fabulous summer side dish or picnic dish. It's served cold and tastes better the next day. If you like wine vinegar, you'll love this dish. My dad doesn't know this but he makes the best red wine vinegar ever. Don't ask about his wine.

Here's the recipe handed down from my nonna and mom. In true nonna fashion, it has no quantities. And in true Deb fashion, my sweetie makes it for me.

Ingredients

- medium or large zucchinis (not gigantic ones because they're too seedy)

- soft bread crumbs

- grated parmesan cheese

- fresh peppermint leaves

- red wine vinegar (use a lot)

- batter (flour, egg, milk, salt, baking powder)

- oil for frying

- salt

Method

- Slice zucchini into 1/8-inch rounds

- Salt and then drain (put them in a colander with a weight -- a jug of water on a plate -- to drain the liquid from the zucchini)

- Dip the zucchini rounds in your batter and deep fry

- Put the fried rounds on a paper towel to drain off the oil

Assemble while the zucchini is still warm

On a serving platter, layer:

- fried zucchini rounds

- grated parmesan cheese (sprinkle onto the warm zucchini)

- pieces of mint leaves (make sure there's enough for every bite)

- bread crumbs

- sprinkling of red wine vinegar (sprinkle liberally with each layer)

Continue layering until all the zucchini is used.

Refrigerate (overnight is best) and serve cold.

Delicious! Thank you nonna!

Fresh romano beans

I love beans. Sweetie is allergic to beans. When sweetie is away, I make "bean delight!" Doesn't matter what the dish is, we always call it bean delight.

My last bean delight dish was a warm romano bean salad. I was thrilled to find fresh romano beans at a local produce place and greedily purchased them for my dinner. I was so happy, I think I skipped a few steps along the Drive.

Reality set in when I got the beans home. Now what? How do I tackle this now foreign-looking bag of pods? I took a three-pronged approach:

1. Ask Twitter. This was a #fail, which I attribute to the Italians still being asleep when I tweeted.
2. Call Mom. Dad answered, uh-oh, Mom was out of the country. I tried to get Dad to channel nonna for her recipe but it was futile.
3. Google the experts.

Google wasn't as easy as it sounds, partly because I didn't know that romano beans are also called cranberry beans or borlotti beans. I settled on combining the wisdom of Mark Bittman and David Lebovitz.

Here's what I did. It's nonna-style, with imprecise quantities and instructions. Simply do what feels right.

Warm romano bean salad

• Shell your romano beans: This is best done outside because that's how my nonnas did it. Before starting, pour yourself a nice glass of red wine (that's my addition). Shell the beans directly into your pot. Discard the pods.
• Add water and a few cloves of garlic to your pot of beans and bring to a boil.
• Simmer 20-30 minutes or to your liking.
• Drain.
• Mix the warm beans with your favourite vinaigrette.

Vinaigrette for about 2 cups of cooked beans

Mix together:

• 5 T olive oil
• Thinly sliced onions
• Chopped fresh basil
• 1 1/2 T dry white wine
• 1 1/2 T red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Add the warm beans to your vinaigrette. Try adding tomatoes or greens if you like.

Enjoy your bean delight!

It's smoking hot and I decide to bake

What was I thinking? We're in the middle of heat wave and instead of sitting in a tub of ice water, I turn on the oven to bake a cake. And you remember that I don't cook a lot. 

Well, I had the kitchen to myself and wanted to bring something memorable to our friends' crabfest. And we had a fridge full of rhubarb.

This is a no-fail recipe but sweetie says I make it better than anyone. For that reason it makes my "signature dishes" list.

I love that this recipe breaks all the baking rules that I learned in my high school home ec class. You don't need to separate the wet ingredients from the dry ones, and you don't need to cut the butter into the size of small peas. You simply mix everything up, bake and serve. 

Rhubarb cake recipe

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup butter (melted is okay and easier to mix)

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup sour milk (to make sour milk, mix 1 cup milk with 2 tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice)

2-3 cups of chopped rhubarb

Topping: 1/3 cup white sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all but the topping ingredients together and put into a greased 9 x 11 baking pan.

Sprinkle with the topping mixture.

Bake 45 minutes in a 350 F degree oven

That's it. Enjoy!

Canada Day: What it means to be Canadian

Like most Canadians I take being Canadian for granted. We're not raised on a diet of patriotism. We don't sing "O Canada" at the start of every day. We simply ARE Canadian, sometimes with apologies, but never with regret. 

I come from a family of immigrants, my sweetie is an immigrant, many of my friends are immigrants, as are my neighbours [note the Canadian spelling]. We're a nation that embraces diversity through a multicultural policy. We are not a melting pot. Our cultures are fused, not melted.

Our revolutions are quiet ones but that doesn't mean we're not passionate.

We can vote freely, without intimidation or violence but we take democracy for granted. Our last federal election recorded the lowest voter turnout in our history. We need to be more vigilant to protect our democracy. Voting is the least we can do. 

Our sweeping generalizations:

• We don't worry about concealed weapons.
  
• If we're sick, we know we can get well without having to sell our home.
  
• We can sponsor our partners for immigration, regardless of gender.
  
• We can marry the one we love, regardless of gender.
  
• We can serve in our military regardless of sexual orientation.
  
• We don't have to join the military to get low-cost post-secondary education.
  
• As long as we have Québec we will never be "American"
  
• We call our money loonies and toonies, and we don't miss the bills.
  

As for our stereotypes:

We like beer.

We like hockey. 

We believe in Sasquatch, particularly after beer.

Of course, it's not a perfect place. We don't have hot, sunny beaches in the winter. Because it's Canada Day I'll save my rants for another day.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Please share your stories of what it means to be Canadian.

Happy Father's Day

On this Father's Day I'm thinking of my nonnos, the two fathers who brought their families from Calabria to Canada for a better life and unknowingly gave me two lands where my heart and soul dance.

Nonno Joe was born in the late 1800s. It makes me pause: I know people who were born in three different centuries. We may be the first generation to make that claim. 

Nonno set out for the USA on his own when he was barely a teenager. I can't imagine the strength needed for that journey in a time before mass communications and transportation. How would WE do it without the Internet and our cell phones? Nonno was resourceful enough to make that trip several times. Returning to Calabria to marry and emigrating with my nonna and their Italian-born children.

Nonno Joe

Nonno Tony arrived in Canada at mid-20th century with full family in tow. Even then, they left knowing they'd never see mothers, fathers or siblings again. And no text messages, no tweets. I was lucky to know this Nonno who lived into his 90s. His grapevines are in my back yard and his lemon tree is in my living room (this is Canada). 

Nonno Tony

I will write more about their journeys. Today is for a simple remembrance of the fathers who brought me here.

And happy father's day to my dad too.

Dad