End of the Year meme

When I saw this end of the year meme over at Michelle's of Bleeding Espresso I thought that I would give it a try. I say try because I really have a problem with remembering things within the time they happened, I mean, some things that happened two years ago seem to me as if they happened two months ago while recent events sometimes seem to belong to another decade! So I give this a try and see what comes out of it, if you do it too, I know that Michelle is happy if you let her know.


What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Many things among which making trippa alla fiorentina for Marco.

Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I never make any so I never get disappointed with myself, at least not for this reason.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, a couple of neighbours increased the population here in our 'village'.

Did anyone close to you die?
No this year I was saved from this and it was needed.

What countries did you visit?
Sweden. As usual.

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009
To see something else than Sweden maybe?

What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Dates? Can't remember any particular dates.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Making some job decisions and carrying them out.

What was your biggest failure?
I don't see things like that and even if I did, my selective memory would have mad me forget it.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
The only big illness was the swine flu.

What was the best thing you bought?
Studio lights and cookbooks

Whose behavior merited celebration?
All the people who work in the field for help organizations and people who are making other people's life better.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
A certain Prime minister's.

Where did most of your money go?
On food.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
This is typically something I never remember

What song will always remind you of 2009?
must ask some child about that

Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer?
a)much happier, b) a bit thinner c) neither richer nor poorer

What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I had been nicer to people or rather that I got outside myself for someone else, made real efforts to help my my fellow beings. But life's not over yet and it is always good to have a direction.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
I wish I had eaten less sugary food not so much for my health as for the empty calories

How did you spend Christmas?
With the Italian part of the family. We had a very nice time with good food.

What was your favorite TV program?
Blob (an Italian TV program that is difficult to define, I'd say it is a satire on what is shown on TV and How Is It Made or whatever they are called, programs where they show you how things are made, from racing cars to phillo pastry. Love it.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't hate much but I still strongly dislike a lot of politicians, they somehow bring that feeling out of me.

What was the best book you read?
I read a lot of books but no one stands out really, except the Dickens novels but then I love 19th century novels.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
don't think I made one

What did you want and get?
Love. And even better, I loved which is the most incredible thing there is in my opinion. To love beats it all and I am not talking about romantic love here, just plain love.

What did you want and not get?
Too many things to even think of

What was your favorite film of this year?
as if I would remember that hahaha

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Blogging (that includes You)

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Relaxed, very relaxed, too relaxed

What kept you sane?
Being me if that makes any sense

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
none in particular

What political issue stirred you the most?
About anything happening in this country

Who did you miss?
My parents. Still.

Who was the best new person you met
It has not been a very social year on my part but I am very happy and satisfied with the friends I am fortunate to have.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
To accept that people die and never ever come back but that life goes on and that you always find pieces of the missed ones inside your heart.

For 2010 I wish you all a year that will make you (even?) happier!

Love & Peace

BRUSSEL SPROUTS WITH ROSEMARY AND PARMESAN CHEESE

I was complaining about the dullness of winter yesterday but there are some nice highlights, like when the sun shines through a tree with yellowed leaves on Christmas Day. Light is something very beautiful I find, the way it moves and highlights the things that surround us and the way it light up us inside, our need of light to stay serene and grow. I speak of actual light but then we all have our own secret lights, the, often small, things that lights us up or that leads us on when life is dark or just makes you shine because you are happy. So make darkness less dark - use your light!



This is a recipe I posted during the first months of my blogging here but when I made it the other day, I felt that I had to re-post it because it is so simple and so good and it is probably my favourite way to make Brussels sprouts. Some of you have probably come up with it yourself but for those of you who haven't, I present:





BRUSSEL SPROUTS WITH ROSEMARY AND PARMESAN CHEESE

500 g/17,6 oz Brussels sprouts, that is the weight before you clean them of the outer leaves
1 clove of garlic
1 sprig of rosemary
100 ml/ 0,42 cup freshly grated parmesan
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Clean the sprouts and then quarter them, if they are small it is enough to cut them in two.
- Cook the garlic for a minute in some oil before you add the Brussels sprouts.
- Add salt and rosemary and cook slowly until the sprouts are tender and have got some colour, it takes about 10-15 minutes.
- When it is ready, add the grated parmesan, stir to let the cheese melt and serve it!

After

I hope you all had the Christmas you wanted and that you are ready to move on! As much as I like Christmas, I like it shorter and shorter. If I could I would take away all the Christmas decorations today but, and this is pure mother's love taking over, I know how disappointed my children would feel so I keep it all up. And maybe I should be happy for myself, it is probably good for me anyway to have some Christmas feeling around me, after all there is none for the rest of the year.





Outdoors there are some colour around but on the whole it feels quite grey and brown. They can be nice too, grey and brown, I don't want to exclude them from the palette because they do make pretty pictures as well and we are fortunate to have green grass and green olive trees here all year round. I realise that maybe I should just shut up and not complain when I write this so I will, I just leave you with the photos instead. And yes, I am on a diptych trip, the new layout here finally allows me to make them and I do!

From me to You with all my heart

WINTER SALAD WITH FENNEL, BROCCOLI STEMS, CARROTS AND ORANGES

I had made a timeschedule for today, I don't know why I bother because I am obviously out of synch with it already so this will be a short post because as usual there are a couple of things (about 300 it feels like) to deal with before Christmas can be declared tomorrow because I am Swedish and for me the celebrations start on the 24th. Luckily I married into a family who also thinks so because here in Italy, it is the 25th that counts, like in many other countries. And even though I am cooking a lot tomorrow, at least it is Christmas cooking and not the usual boring chores!



Right now I think it is nice to eat fresh, especially when you know what is to come and as I really like raw broccoli stems and think it is a pity that they rarely are considered on their own, I decided to make a salad with broccoli stems and a small fennel bulb, then a carrot appeared and an orange as well and the salad was suddenly there, all it needed was a nice vinaigrette and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and then it was done - a nice and crunchy winter salad!





WINTER SALAD WITH FENNEL, BROCCOLI STEMS, CARROTS AND ORANGES
4 servings

2 small fennel bulbs, better if they are small because they are more tender I find
5 broccoli stems
1 small carrots
1 orange
2 tblsp sesame seeds
vinaigrette of you own choice, I think one with a little honey on it goes very well here

- Slice the fennel thinly. Peel the broccoli stems and chop them finely, or slice them thinly if you want, the important thing is to peel them well.
- Peel the carrot and then grate it or peel it into long strips, then slice the orange thinly and mix the vegetables in a bowl, sprinkle sesame seeds over and add the vinagraitte.
- Mix well and serve.

Grump and recipes

We are covered with snow and it seems to me as if it has been here for ages. The problem is that when it snows like this, we are stuck here and right now, a few days before Christmas, that is not needed! We are fortunate to have a tractor driver who just loves to work so he has cleared the road but unless you have a four-wheel drive car, the ups and downs of the road makes it more or less impossible to go out driving. The schools have closed and some even for the year so here we are and I even managed to catch a pretty heavy cold too so today there is no new recipe for you because I can't feel much taste and have only baked gingerbread cookies, following a new recipe that I didn't even like much, better go back to the one I usually use.



But I have a couple (or more) of suggestions for you, things that I would like to make myself here in the snowiness:

A rustic focaccia with lemon and rosemary is a nice treat to chew on when you drink hot and healthy Chai!

Talking about drinks, when you have been out in the snow, what else can you drink than a dense cup of chocolate?

These ginger candied orange wedges are pretty fabulous if a little bit tricky to make, the crunchy cover and the soft inside is a great combination!

And now a couple of cakes to choose from: these small chocolate and prune tarts are pure comfort food just like this chocolate and orange cake! Mmmm is all I can say

And to finish a gluten-free orange and coconut cake with ricotta frosting for those of you, but not only, who need to keep a gf diet!

Buon appetito!

EASY AND FAST GLUTEN-FREE JAM COOKIES

If that isn't a winter sky,I don't know what is. Winter is here, we woke up with a thin layer of snow yesterday but nothing serious really, but this weekend, beginning tonight, should on the other hand be a white one. If it comes, let's hope the snow won't stay long because Tuscany (apart from the Apennines) is not made for snow.



Sometimes I take out my mother's old cookbooks and just sit and feel good no not only, I actually read them too get ideas and remember. I very often find pieces of paper with my father's writing on them, old seating lists for dinner parties sometimes with my name on them , often not. I love this even though it makes me miss them, my parents I mean, so much and it takes me back in time for a little while. I also find old cuttings from newspapers and magazines, recipes my mother wanted to make and today's recipe is one of them. I have no idea where it comes from, nor when it was published so I feel a little bad about posting it but it is a brilliant little cookie recipe, so simple to make and it is gluten-free as well so I decided to share it with you. And there is no need to be on a gf diet to make them, my family liked them a lot.






EASY AND FAST GLUTEN-FREE JAM COOKIES
around 25

125 g/ 4,4 oz butter, unsalted
3 tblsp sugar
1/2 egg
250 ml/ 1 cup potato or corn starch
thick jam of your own choice

- Stir butter and sugar until smooth.
- Add the half egg, stir well and then add the potato starch. Work the dough quickly.
- Make small balls that you put on baking sheets.
- Make a small hole in the middle and put a small amount of jam in each hole.
- Bake in the middle of the oven in a pre-heated oven (175°C/350°F) for about 15 minutes.

TUSCAN BEAN STEW OR FAGIOLI ALL'UCCELLETTO

Cold weather has hit us and I wish I could wear mittens when I write this because the indoor temperature in our house goes straight down when icy winds are keeping it prey. Fortunately the wind is no longer but that doesn't help us really, once the temperature is down, we're stuck there. At least I get a lot of stuff ironed because that is such an excellent way to warm up still little fingers.



The other day, I got a request in a comment for the recipe for fagioli all'uccelletto or what could be called Tuscan Bean Stew and I was very surprised to find that I never have posted the recipe of it in my over four years of blogging because it is such a typical winter dish here. There are small variations of course but on the whole it is made with white cannelini beans, tomatoes, sage, garlic and extra-virgin olive oil. It is often served or cooked with salsicce and that is such a great dish to eat on a cold, windy winter's day when you need to get warm and to feel comfortable. THis is one of those dishes that I have problems with in the sense I can't stop, one forkful follows another and I don't feel that my stomach is completely full, I suppose it is one of my glutton dishes! So annannan, here is your Christmas wish come true because I hope this is the dish you asked for!






TUSCAN BEAN STEW OR FAGIOLI ALL'UCCELLETTO

400 g/ 14,1 oz cannellini beans, cooked al dente
400 g/ 14,1 oz tomatoes, chopped
a sprig of sage leaves
1 clove of garlic, slightly crushed
a little chilli pepper, optional
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- There are two schools of when to add sage and garlic, one adds them straight away to the oil, the other waits until the beans are added to the tomatoes. I do the in-between, I let the garlic cook a little in the oil before I add the chopped tomatoes and add the sage later on.
- After a couple of minutes, add the tomatoes to the garlic and leave it to simmer for about 5 minutes. Add salt as well. I add a little chilli pepper because I like it but not too much, there should just be a faint echo of it.
- Add the beans and the sage and continue to simmer for about 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
- Serve as a side dish or with salsicce.

VIENNESE STRIESEL - Bread Baking Babes December Bread

Right now I am baking and baking, I am even baking too much, yesterday I had complaints from a family member but everything disappears pretty quickly anyway so I happily bake on. This month's Bread Baking Babes challenge disappeared very quickly too, the Viennese Striesel chosen by Katie of Thyme for Cooking, a perfect choice now when Christmas is coming up and it is not difficult, not time consuming to make. Well, it was a bit difficult for me because I had never made a braid with four strands before but I googled and found something that helped me but I suspect that you can make several variants of the four stranded braid because now I found another one that looked different from the one I managed to produce. But it really doesn't matter that much because you put two other braids on top of it so no one will notice if you make mistakes! That makes the Viennese Striesel even more perfect, doesn't it?



I tweaked the recipe a little because a) I really don't like candied cherries at all so I used dried cranberries instead and b) I found that I had no candied orange peel at home so I had to skip that too. But apart from these deviations, I was a good babe and did was I was told. The striesel didn't really do what I told it though because it was twisting and turning all by it's own force and as you can see it looks like some kind of primordial worm or snake peeking out of its den in the first photo. But this is just me never managing to reach the perfection I am striving for but it really doesn't matter as long as it is good! And it is!

I am not alone as you know, there are more Bread Baking Babes and I hope you will take the time to see their creations, here is a link to the complete list! And don't be shy, join in and be a Bread Baking Buddy, the last day is 21st of December. For more details check out Katie's blog!





Viennese Striesel
from an old cookbook put out by Fleischmein's Yeast called Breads of Many Lands


Basic sweet dough
1 package active dry yeast (I used 25 g fresh yeast because our house is cool now)
60 ml/ 1/4 cup very warm water (because of the fresh yeast, I didn't warm the water that much, finger warm is nough)
120 ml/1/2 cup milk
60 ml/1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbs shortening, melted (I used butter)
650-700 ml/ 2 3/4 - 3 cups flour
1 egg

- Dissolve yeast in warm water
- Scald milk. Put milk, sugar, shortening, salt in bowl of mixer. Cool until just warm. Stir in 1 cup of flour. Mix in dissolved yeast.
- Whisk egg and add to dough. Add remaining flour and knead until smooth and satiny.


Viennese striesel
1 recipe Basic Sweet Dough
60 ml/1/4 cup seedless raisins
60 ml/1/4 cup candied cherries, chopped
2 tbs candied orange peel, chopped
1/8 tsp mace I couldn't find it and used a pinch of both nutmeg and cinnamon

frosting
120 ml/1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tbs milk
almonds or walnuts for sprinkling

- Add fruit and mace to basic dough before the last cup of flour. Mix in well. Add remaining flour and finish kneading until smooth.
- Shape into a ball, place in lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, about 2 1/4 hours.
- Punch down. Divide into 9 pieces, shape each into a ball and let rest 5 minutes.
- Roll each piece into a rope about 38 cm/15 in long. Lay 4 strands on a lightly greased baking sheet, overlapping at the center. Braid from the center toward each end. With the side of your hand make a trench down the center. Now braid 3 strands, also from the center to each end, and place in the 'trench'. Twist the 2 remaining strands loosely together and place on top, bringing the ends over the end of the loaf and tucking in.
- Cover loosely and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Bake, 350F (175C) for 40 - 45 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
- Mix milk and sugar. When bread is cool, drizzle frosting over the top. Sprinkle with nuts.

Looking for St Lucia

Today it is St Lucia. Not here but in Sweden and strangely enough this year I had to look at videos with Lucias on youtube.com this morning (more here and here), I usually never do that but maybe I am getting sentimental. When we first moved here I did adhere more to Swedish traditions but nowadays I just have a few and many of those are food related so today we are going to bake Lussekatter a go go!



When I grew up and was of a reasonable age, we used to wake up really early, like 3-4 in the morning (sometimes we stayed up all night) to go out in the really cold, hopefully snow-white dark to go to our teachers with coffee, lussekatter and singing. It was magic, for us I mean, I somehow doubt that the feeling was shared by our teachers.



Yesterday night when I had to perform the usual Saturday night taxi duty, I took camera, tripod and remote control with me to look for St Lucia, I didn't find her but I did see nice people and my city at night. In December almost all cities and villages in Italy are decorated with lights, not very eco-friendly but very beautiful!

WINTER SOUP WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS, POTATOES, ROSEMARY AND CHESTNUTS

That tree that you see is one of my favourite trees around here, it stands there all alone in the middle of a field of grass and when I happen to pass with a camera I always have to take a picture of it. Maybe it is because it is all lonely or because it looks so perfectly tree like or maybe I somehow identify myself with it, both as an expat and on a more personal level. Or maybe not. Maybe it is just because it is a beautiful tree that is standing in a position that makes it attractive to photograph.



On the same stretch of walk, there is another view that attracts me a lot. I really like the symmetries and patterns that is created through threes, terracing and wilderness if you can talk about that here. The landscape made garden when it is really the opposite in the sense that the plants on rows are plants grown for gardens and not in gardens yet. This is an area of plant schools and wherever you go, you are bound to find plants and trees growing in straight rows, something I find very attractive actually, there is something mesmerising about the symmetry and repetition of it.



Brussels sprouts grow in rows too but on a common stalk instead, I think it is a brilliant way, think of all the space that is saved in this way. And it looks fantastic too. I like Brussels sprouts, well if I didn't I would hardly post a recipe of a Brussels sprout soup but it is not only the taste I like, the small girl in me like the size of them too, the doll size of them is pretty and I think it is nice to see perfect small scale cabbage heads in a bowl, it makes me feel like Gulliver in Lilliput. They must look great in doll's houses too now when I come to think of it. But enough of that, time for the soup! The chestnuts are not obligatory but I suggest you to try it because they add a sweetness to the sprouts that I truly enjoy.






WINTER SOUP WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS, POTATOES, ROSEMARY AND CHESTNUTS
3-4 servings

200 g/ 7 oz Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
200g/ 7 oz potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 small onion, sliced
a small sprig of fresh rosemary
10-12 dried chestnuts
6 tblsp white wine
1000 ml/ 4,2 light stock or water
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Braise the Brussels sprouts and onion in olive oil, adding the white wine a little at a time, together with chestnuts and rosemary for about 6-7 minutes or more if needed.
- Add potato, let it cook along for a couple of minutes and then pour the stock into the pan. Leave to simmer without lid for another 10 minutes.
- Take out the chestnuts and chop them.
- Now you can choose between mashing the vegetables with a fork like I did or run it in a blender until smooth.
- Serve topped with chopped chestnuts.

ORANGE AND YOGHURT SEMOLINA DESSERT WITH GINGER HONEY

When I was a student and lived in a student corridor (maybe it is called dorm but we did live in very long corridors, one on top of the other) I must have eaten hectolitres of yoghurt every month, it is one of the few foods I remember eating there. Most of us lived on it because it was cheap and quick, but it took me many years before I could eat it again and still I avoid yoghurt with muesli. I am far more fastidious now about which yoghurt I eat now and I almost always choose Greek yoghurt and eat it with acacia honey, that is pure pleasure to me.



I have now been thinking about making a semolina dessert but I wanted it to be lighter than it usually is, more fluffy if you know what I mean. I like semolina a lot but sometimes it can feel s a bit stodgy so one day when there was a a bit left over, I tried mixing it with yoghurt (Greek obviously) just to see how it was and I fell in love at the first spoon.



Here I have made a wintery semolina dessert with yoghurt and orange topped with honey and fresh ginger that adds a certain tang to the dish! I love it but then I love most things with Greek yoghurt and ginger. You can obviously use your favourite natural yoghurt as long as it isn't too thin.





ORANGE AND YOGHURT SEMOLINA DESSERT WITH GINGER HONEY
4 servings

80 g/2,8 oz semolina flour
600 ml/ 2,5 cup milk
5-6 tblsp sugar
1 orange, the grated zest of
5-6 heaped tblsp thick yoghurt, I used Greek
5 tblsp (or more) liquid honey
fresh ginger

- Cook semolina flour in milk together with sugar and orange zest until it has thickened, it takes bout 10-15 minutes.
- Let the semolina cool down a bit before mixing it with the yoghurt. Stir well.
- Grate fresh ginger finely, as much as you like, and mix it with the honey.
- Serve the semolina in small bowls and drizzle with the honey before serving.