It's beginning to look a little like Christmas--or maybe just to "feel" like Christmas--around here. The weather has turned cold, and we've had our first little bit of snow. Where I am, it began to snow after dark last week, when the temperature finally dropped, after a full day of windy rain. My car had a visible coating when I turned the porch lights on before going to bed, but when the sun came up in the morning it was gone. It counts, though--we had snow. For here, that counts as snow. We probably won't have anything measurable until January sometime. Right now I'm watching The Weather Channel, where they are reporting from the great lakes area, being pounded by lake-effect snows of nearly 2 feet. Maybe that's what's making me think about Christmas.
Unfortunately for me, I've been just too sick to do any decorating or shopping for the holiday. Hate that! It's starting to get a bit late in the season! Other than making lists in my mind and crocheting and sewing (I'll have to show those in another post) I have done nothing to usher in the season. I must get my head back together, make lists, and at least start to burn up the internet to get the shopping done.
About a Christmas tree...we actually need to do two, since I live in two places...I have no idea when they will happen. More importantly, I'm missing Advent, and listening to our sermons on iTunes just doesn't really take the place of being in my church, feeling the sense of preparation and warmth of Advent. Oh dear. Just to feel better and be a part of the season of preparation for the birth of Jesus, that's what I want for Christmas this year.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus
by Peter J. Gomes
Subtitled "What's so good about the good news?" this book takes to task the religious establishment and urges a return to teaching the good news Jesus taught His followers.
Subtitled "What's so good about the good news?" this book takes to task the religious establishment and urges a return to teaching the good news Jesus taught His followers.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Eat, Pray, Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert
I just finished Eat, Pray, Love last night and couldn't wait to write about it.
I just finished Eat, Pray, Love last night and couldn't wait to write about it.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Viva gli italiani!
I have another new hobby. It suddenly dawned on me that there could be blogs written by Italians, about anything Italian, in Italian! I was right--there are! It took me a few minutes to figure out that in order to find them I needed to do my searches in Italian, but then I hit the "mother load." Just like in the English-speaking blogosphere, there are many hundreds (maybe thousands) of blogs in Italian!
I first tapped into the world of cooking blogs. My, oh my, there are so many! I started browsing the other night and added a bunch of blogs to my list to follow. One in particular which I loved immediately is written by a mature woman who is apparently a fantastic cook! The first night, I found her family recipie for Cappalletti in Broth. She credits her grandmother and aunt for the recipe, so I'm thinking it must be quite an old, traditional recipe.
Finding this recipie was quite a thrill since I have for years been searching for a traditional recipe for Cappelletti in Broth because I remember it so fondly from my childhood. My grandmother (nee Moretti) and her two sisters would get together on a fairly regular basis and make what seemed like massive quantities of Cappelletti together. I wish I could have been there just once. Cappelletti is a filled pasta which resembles tortellini, and theirs was filled with a mixture of meats with maybe some cheese inside as well. The filling always had a hint of spiciness, along the lines of cloves or nutmeg--so unique with the meat filling. I suspect there never was a written recipe for this wonderful dish, it was just a family tradition probably learned from their mamma and nonna.
We ate the meaty filled pasta in chicken broth, and there were always sweet brown raisins in the broth. It was like nothing else I ever ate during my childhood, all warm and brothy and sweet, with grandma back and forth from the kitchen, fussing over us. Now that I found a traditional recipe, for some reason, I just starting having the desire to make my own pasta....strange, is it?
But I digress. The new Italian blogosphere promises much--more opportunities to practice reading Italian, some links to my heritage, and a window into today's Italy too!
I first tapped into the world of cooking blogs. My, oh my, there are so many! I started browsing the other night and added a bunch of blogs to my list to follow. One in particular which I loved immediately is written by a mature woman who is apparently a fantastic cook! The first night, I found her family recipie for Cappalletti in Broth. She credits her grandmother and aunt for the recipe, so I'm thinking it must be quite an old, traditional recipe.
Finding this recipie was quite a thrill since I have for years been searching for a traditional recipe for Cappelletti in Broth because I remember it so fondly from my childhood. My grandmother (nee Moretti) and her two sisters would get together on a fairly regular basis and make what seemed like massive quantities of Cappelletti together. I wish I could have been there just once. Cappelletti is a filled pasta which resembles tortellini, and theirs was filled with a mixture of meats with maybe some cheese inside as well. The filling always had a hint of spiciness, along the lines of cloves or nutmeg--so unique with the meat filling. I suspect there never was a written recipe for this wonderful dish, it was just a family tradition probably learned from their mamma and nonna.
We ate the meaty filled pasta in chicken broth, and there were always sweet brown raisins in the broth. It was like nothing else I ever ate during my childhood, all warm and brothy and sweet, with grandma back and forth from the kitchen, fussing over us. Now that I found a traditional recipe, for some reason, I just starting having the desire to make my own pasta....strange, is it?
But I digress. The new Italian blogosphere promises much--more opportunities to practice reading Italian, some links to my heritage, and a window into today's Italy too!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)