A Life, Lived

Travel Tuesdays - New Year's in Rome

For the past five weeks I have been posting pics from our Christmas and New Year's spent in Italy last year. So far I have posted pics from Venice, Bologna, Florence, our day cooking with our friend Judy Witts Francini, and finally some scenes of Rome decked out in Christmas splendour.

Shortly after Christmas our friends Palma and Brad returned to the US and our friend Nancy joined us in Rome.It was great to spend the holidays with friends.

On the 31st we went to the Vatican museums and spent HOURS in line. Note: if you book your tickets online you can pretty well walk right in and ignore the line. Do not waste three hours standing in line!!!!!!

We had a relaxing afternoon and Nancy crashed early. There were a number of large street celebrations but we weren't up to more crowds after spending the day in the Vatican museums . . . particularly crowds of drunken Italians!

Paul and I decided to go out and wander the neighbourhood just before midnight. We had been warned of some safety things - Italians take the concept of 'out with the old and in with the new' literally. Sure enough as the clock struck midnight we heard the sounds of glassware and dishes shattering on the cobblestones. We also heard the crackling, shriek, pop, and boom of fireworks . . . everywhere!

In the midst of all of the laughter, shrieks, and booms we stood on the Ponte Sant'Angelo and called home to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Things will be decidedly more calm this year. The loudest sound this year will likely be mom banging a pot out the door or Paul blowing a noisemaker.

Be sure to pop on over to Sandi's blog to see what else is happening on Travel Tuesdays!

Cauliflower, Broccoli, Mushroom Gratin

When it came to Christmas dinner we wanted to have as many thing prepared in advance to ease the stress and work on the 25th itself. This vegetable gratin was a perfect example of this - we prepared it the day before up until the point of baking it. When the gratin had cooled we wrapped it in saran wrap and hid it away in the refrigerator. On the 25th, while the turkey was cooking we put it on top of the stove to bring it to room temperature. After the turkey was cooked and sat resting on the cutting board we popped the gratin in the oven and within 25 minutes it was done!

This isn't like a lot of vegetable casseroles that you may have had before - there are no cans of soup here. Instead you have a sensible gratin of cauliflower, mushroom, and broccoli in cheese sauce - but spiked with Dijon mustard, sharp old cheddar and grated horseradish. The crisp crusty topping tastes as good as it looks and adds an amazing crunch to each bite.

This recipe was from the LCBO Food and Drink magazine although I made a few changes to it.

There is no doubt that this was the hit of the meal - in fact, one of our guests (who shall remain nameless) had three helpings!

Cauliflower, Broccoli, Mushroom Gratin

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 bunch broccoli, trimmed
8 oz mushrooms,washed, trimmed, and cut into bite sized pieces
1 T olive oil
2 cups (500 mL) fresh bread crumbs
½ cup (125 mL) grated extra-old or old cheddar cheese
2 tbsp (25 mL) chopped fresh basil or parsley
1 tbsp (15 mL) horseradish, squeezed dry
¼ tsp (1 mL) each of salt and pepper
2 tbsp (25 mL) butter, melted

Cheddar Sauce
2 tbsp (25 mL) butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp (45 mL) flour
2½ cups (625 mL) whole milk
2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard
½ tsp (2 mL) salt
1½ cups (375 mL) grated extra-old or old cheddar cheese

Butter a 7 x 11-inch (2-L) baking dish or coat with baking spray. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add broccoli and cauliflower; cook 2 minutes or until cooked but still very crisp. Drain in colander; cool under cold running water. Drain again; turn into dish. In a small saute pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil. Satue the mushrooms for three minutes. Turn them into the baking dish and mix the vegetables.

Combine bread crumbs, cheese, basil or parsley, horseradish, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Stir in butter; set aside.

To make sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion; sauté 3 to 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually mix in milk and mustard while stirring constantly. Stir frequently 10 minutes or until mixture thickens and just boils. Remove from heat; stir in salt and cheese; evenly pour overtop of vegetables.

Arrange rack above oven centre; preheat oven to 400ºF (200º).

Scatter crumb mixture evenly over vegetables in cheese sauce. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly around the edges and topping is crisp and brown. (Gratin holds well, remaining hot for an hour or more after emerging from the oven.)

Thumbprint Cookies

There are a gazillion recipes for thumbprint cookies out there - some rolled in nuts and some without. This recipe is my favourite!

Raspberry preserves and almond extract are the primary flavors in this light shortbread-type cookie which is a snap to make. The shortbread dough takes only a few minutes to whip up. Then you need to refrigerate it for an hour so it’s easier to work with. Then you roll the cookies into balls and spoon raspberry filling into indentations you make with your thumb.

The recipe calls for an almond glaze to be drizzled on the cookie afterwards but we have never done that - they are just fine as it is!

Thumbprint Cookies

1 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (bleached flour toughens cookies)
1/3 to ½ cup seedless raspberry jam

GLAZE:

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 tbsp. cream (start with less)

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract; gradually add flour until dough forms a ball. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.

Roll into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle or your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each ball. Fill with the jam.

Bake at 350˚ for 14-18 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. 

Remove to wire racks to cool.

Combine confectioners’ sugar, extract and enough water to achieve drizzling consistency; drizzle over the cookies.

Photo Hunt - Shimmer

This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'shimmer'.

This one is EASY! A few daysbefore Christmas we were hit with a bad ice storm. There are people who still have no power 6 days later. The destruction of trees and property has been horrendous.

That aside - it is also beautiful  . . . the perfect example of beauty amongst the mayhem, as light shimmers on the ice.

Luckily we were close enough to the lake that most of the freezing rain fell as rain. Areas further north of us were hit quite badly. We never lost power and since we live in a newer subdivision there were no large trees to crumble under the weight of the ice . . .

Christmas Eating .. .

It seems as if all we did on Christmas Day was EAT!

In fact, we ate so much that yesterday all I ate was a clementine and a bowl of soup . . . and I still felt full!

It started with snacks while we were opening our stockings in the family room. I set out some fruit, cranberry focaccia bread, and baked a banana cinnamon pull-apart loaf.

After opening our presents we sat down to breakfast. I had made a stuffed french toast casserole on the 24th. All that I had to do was pop it in the oven and 30 minutes later we were sitting down to a yummy treat! With this we had some baked peameal bacon (this is the real Canadian Bacon, my American friends not that stuff that stores south of the 49th sell as Canadian Bacon!), honey cinnamon sausages, fruit, and mimosa's made with prosecco and blood orange juice.

These make ahead casseroles are really the way to go!

Once we tidied up from breakfast we got the turkey in the oven and relaxed until mom arrived (90 minutes late) to open some more stockings.

Sadly there was no stocking for me since Santa Mom hadn't wrapped the treats yet. The upside to this is I have treats to look forward to on New years - woo hoo!

Paul selected an ice wine martini to sip while we opened our gifts from mom. We set out snacks to nibble. I also served a wee bowl of tortellini en brodo - the traditional northern Italian Christmas day treat.

Our friend Judy showed us how to make it during our cooking class last year:

This is the version we served on Christmas Day last year in Rome:

Mom didn't want any at first. Then she saw Paul's and decided to try some . . . I think that we have a new Christmas tradition! :-)

After we had opened the gifts mom walked around the corner to visit with our cousin while Paul and I tidied up and did the last minute things necessary for dinner.

We visited in the family room and our guests nibbled on sausage rolls (this year I tried a Jamie Oliver recipe and made them with caramelized onions  . . .best.sausage.rolls.EVER!), cheese ball, kielbasa, cheddar and sausage balls, and an assortment of mini quiches (they were still in the oven when I took the photo below).

Later we moved into the dining room for dinner but I haveno photos of that- I never seem to get any of dinner for some reason. It was our traditional dinner though - roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, corn, and a cauliflower and broccoli casserole. The great thing was that with the exception of the turkey, stuffing, and corn everything had been made ahead of time. All I had to do was heat the rest up. . . far less stress than normal!

For dessert we had the cranberry pudding that we have had every year for the past 15. I but it from a vendor from BC at the One of a Kind Show. It steams for 20 minutes while you're enjoying dinner. I made a simple vanilla sauce in the microwave - yum! We also passed around some of our home-made cookies and tarts.

WOW - just writing all this out has made me full again!

It Was a Brilliant Christmas!

I think, after many years of trying, that we finally got it right.  Yesterday we enjoyed some time with Paul and I, we enjoyed some time just with us and mom, and we enjoyed some time with family and friends. We had some amazing food, lots of laughter, and didn't have to run about cooking. It was a relaxed day - mind you, by the end we were tired!

Today I waved goodbye to Paul when he went to work at 5:30. Went back to sleep. Rolled out of bed at 6:30. Lay on the couch until 1:30. A relaxing Boxing Day!

Here are some shots from yesterday - more about the food tomorrow . . .

Yup, it was a GREAT day!

Merry Christmas!

It appears that Santa has arrived!

We hope that you have a happy Christmas surrounded by the laughter and joy of family and friends.

Travel Tuesdays - Rome

For the past month I have been posting pics from our Christmas spent in Italy last year. So far I have posted pics from Venice, Bologna, Florence, and of our day cooking with our friend Judy Witts Francini.

We finally arrived in Rome where we had rented a luxury apartment for three weeks. The capital of Italy (and the Vatican - being a separate country, don't you know . . .) was all decked out in holiday splendour.

Be sure to pop on over to Sandi's blog to see what else is happening on Travel Tuesdays!

Wowzers ...What a Storm!

Talk about an early gift from Mother Nature.

Three days before Christmas Eastern Canada got walloped by an ice store. Happily we were spared the worst of it where we live - that same lake effect that delivered significantly higher snow accumulation to us last weekend worked to ensure that some of the freezing rain fell just as rain.

Nonetheless everything had a thick coating of ice on it when we woke up yesterday.

We lucked out - we never lost power, phone, cable, or internet service. I heard of many who lost all. In fact today they were saying that some in the city would have no electricity until after Christmas!

People were in a panic. How would they ever be ready for Christmas?

I reminded more than a few of the lessons from the Grinch:

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

Yes indeed, it isn't gifts, packages, turkey and stockings - it is spending time with friends and family you care about.

I am sure my reminders were helpful for those trying to make lunch by warming up a pot of chili on the BBQ!

:-)

We had a great day - we stuck inside, made sugar cookies, napped, and relaxed by the fire.

We didn't venture out of the house but here are some shots of the ice in our yard and from our porch.

A Christmas Baking Tip . . . Icebox Cookies in the Freezer

Since we normally have more than 40 types of cookie and squares that we make each festive season I feel that I am able to provide a tip or two to those who want to have a nice assortment of cookies on their cookie platter. Starting in November I brought the stand mixer up from the fruit cellar (where we generally store everything but fruit . . .) and we whip up batches of ice box cookies.

They go by other names -refrigerator cookies, slice and bake cookies.Whatever the name, it is the same premise - a log of cookie dough that just needs to be sliced, placed on a cookie sheet, and baked.

This year we made 10 types - Orange-Cranberry Pinwheels, Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread, Santa’s Whiskers, Marbled Chocolate/Vanilla Wafers, Walnut Spice Rounds, Chocolate Nut Wafers, Mocha Pinwheels, Vanilla Slices, Oatmeal Cranberry, and Cranberry Noels. Each log gets wrapped in saran wrap, then foil. The roll is sealed with a file folder label indicating the name of the cookie, baking temperature, cooking time, and any special instructions.

When I am ready to bake them I pull the like temperature logs out together i.e. all the ones that need to be baked at 350 degrees and thaw them slightly. Lately, because they are for Christmas after all, I have been adding added bling by brushing the logs with egg white and then sprinkling the surface with white sanding sugar before slicing. This makes a sweet, crystally, crust . . . you can't go wrong with that!

Here is what I had on the cooling racks after 2 hours of slicing and baking the other day. . .

The great thing about this is you can have a nice assortment of fresh cookies ready in a short period of time. The unbaked cookie logs also make great gifts to bring along to a party.