A bit of Christmas cheer

Back in warm-ish Canada, well it is warmer than freezing London. So for people without kids, beware as when you do have them your day can go something like this. Wake up at 7am, make and eat french toast, play and make rainbow cupcakes by 9am, wonder what the hell to do for the rest of the day for about 30 seconds in between more playing of Hungry Hippo, kids Monopoly and tag.

Hmm....it was only 11am and I was already exhausted. So at 1pm it was bowling time, then more playtime and more cupcake eating.

Cousins of the children's age came over after bowling so that eased the play requirements, snuck in a bit of Oprah watching, Le Dolci emails and a bit of pub action tonight with the Adopted Lebanese sister and the real Italian fiery one.  I have done very little walking as this is the land of the vehicle so Momma Dolce's home made pasta and veal have gone down a treat and it keeps on coming. 

Today's cupcake making had a 'rainbow' theme and each cupcake was a color of the rainbow (well we tried as best as we could!) It's great to be home for xmas, more food adventures to come. Bring on the Christmas feast.

 

12/12 & The Queen's Christmas Cake

Today is the 12th day of the 12th month - only 12 more days til Christmas Eve!

Have had some mulled wine and Christmas music and getting very excited about a snowy white winter wonderland and family in the Great White North. I also made (well steamed) a Christmas pudding for the first time. It was a gift from the Queen, yes Liz and I are mates. I did attend a lunch with her once but that was a few years ago and I was one of another 100 people but let's just pretend it was her and I chatting about life over a cuppa tea and some biscuits.

Anyhow, before I digress any further, Queen Lizzie gave these puds out to each of her staff as a Christmas gift in 2007.  And one of her lovely employees gave it to me!

I steamed it for 1.5 hrs yesterday and served it up on a plate with lots of spoons, which to everyone's dismay is not how you serve it.  It is supposed to be served with custard or ice cream but there was none of that at our place, just mulled wine and minced pies. I had a spoonful of the Queen's pudding and one was not amused as there are so many raisins and fruity bits!!   Dried fruit and brandy is not a good combo for me, our Christmas dessert is usually Tiramisu.

Well the pudding has been saved for the Brits to eat 'properly' with their custard and ice cream. Let the countdown begin to Momma Dolce's tiramisu xx

Ice cream cakeMomma Dolce's home made ice cream cake that was served at Easter lunch (I think Zia Chuza made it and my mother supervised but she passed it off as her own anyway!)

Happy Easter

Easter greetings from sunny Canada! So far the food and vino have been great, even the plane food on BA was decent. The one sad piece of news is that I tried to get some bagels for my British guest to test out and good ol' Gryfe's Bagels on Bathurst Street is closed for a few days for Passover. I will have to have them next time but we did have some lovely oysters and fish at Rodney's Oyster Bar on Good Friday. 

The mixed oyster platter was fantastic, bar the few mini oysters that JK said 'punched him in the stomach'. No one liked these small fat and round Japanese oysters; it was like swallowing a mushy plum -they were too hard and round, not thin and delicate like oysters should be. Since we could not return them (I asked) Sista Dolce took the last few down with loads of sauces to ease their descent. 

Easter lunch tomorrow (after the Easter egg hunt) Momma Dolce has the lasagna ready and Quinn Senior is on the BBQ - I should be even rounder than when I first arrived! The image of the eggs is from the net but they reminded me of the Easter markets in Prague where they were selling similar eggs at each stall. Happy Easter to you and your families.   xo

Pizza Nina
Why isn't Rexi fatter? If my mother made pizza like this, (note: she comes close), I would be a fat cow as it is so good and all you want is more! I think she should open up a pizza restaurant as I know a few customers who would definitely be regulars.

Her husband can still throw knives across the kitchen at errant wait staff (that was long time ago) and the place would be full of loud Italian family and friends. I could get my Momma Dolce to provide the tiramisu. What a winning combination, non?

Etymology of CalogeraI spoke to a lovely lady this morning named Rena Salaman who has published several cookbooks about Greek food and Mediterranean cooking (her latest pictured above). She has given me very helpful & constructive feedback on my cookbook proposal and also told me something I didn't know.

Rena is Greek and recognized the name Calogera, which was my grandmother's, as being of two Greek words meaning something to the effect of a good person (Calo) who was married to a monk or someone who was a nun (Gero).

When I Googled it via Behind the Name.com, it came up as Calo (kalos) beautiful and ger0 (geron) elder. It was the name of a 5th century saint, a hermit in Sicily (masculine).

See and my mother never liked her name?! I will take it as beautiful elder which is perfectly befitting of a grandmother. Now there are so many options, I can call my mother: Momma Dolce, Beautiful Elder or Calogera - Momma take your pick?


;)

More on St. Calogero
...during the whole of the first week of July we meet St. Calogero the hermit, considered by farmers the protector of summer harvests. The festival culminates with a contest between the tambourine players of St.Calò. The hermit Calogero, born maybe in Carthage or maybe in Constantinople and reached Sicily in the 5^th century AD, earned the fame of saint because, apart from expulsing the idolatrous priests from Mount Kronio, nowadays Gemeriano, he was a performer of miracles and cured the sick with the vapours of the caves of Sciacca which he understood contained therapeutic values.

The cult of the saint is linked to the miracle which took place in 1578, when Sicily was shaken by a strong earthquake and the company of St.Vito, after various attempts with processions to other saints, tried to promise a procession to St.Calogero if he saved the town, which happened punctually. From that time on, as a thanksgiving, the procession has taken place every year on the Monday after Pentecost and St.Calogero is considered the co-patron together with the Madonna of the Soccorso.

Also in Aragona we find many devotees of St.Calogero, venerated by the offers of the characteristic votive bread. They consist of offerings made of bread rather than wax, in the form of human arms and legs that are blessed and then conserved to be eaten in times of difficulty or sadness.