Addio, 2012

December 28, 2012

It’s not even gone, and I’m already nostalgic.

2012 will be abandoned like an old Sicilian house. Cobwebs of memory will trail over  bleached walls. Doubts will creep in. Ghosts will whisper. A new generation will carve initials into decaying walls they don’t understand.

Farewell sorbet-pink days. Farewell sunlit skies. Farewell sweet grasses.

Abandoned house in Sicily with Pink Walls, Copyright Jann Huizenga

Must you push us out so soon, 2012? Can’t we linger in your embrace a little longer?

What awaits us through those dusty green doors?

Addio, 2012.

Old Green Doors in Abandoned House in Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

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Buon Natale

December 24, 2012

 

Buon Natale Means Merry Christmas to You
Buon Natale, to Everyone
Happy New Year and Lots of Fun

Buon Natale May All Your Wishes Come True
Buon Natale in Italy Means
A Merry Christmas to You

Far Away Across the Sea
In Sunny Italy
There’s a Quaint Little Town
Not a Clock Has Been Wound
For Over a Century

They Don’t Know the Time Or Year
And no One Seems to Care
And This Is the Reason
The Christmas Season
Is Celebrated All Year

Buon Natale, Means Merry Christmas to You
Buon Natale, to Everyone
Happy New Year and Lots of Fun
Buon Natale May All Your Wishes Come True
Buon Natale in Italy Means
A Merry Christmas to You

***

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Sicilian Christmas Pasta: Sciabbo

December 22, 2012

I posted this recipe last year: Sicilian Christmas noodles, otherwise known as sciabbo.

It’s a wonderfully easy dish from Pomp and Sustenance by Mary Taylor Simeti. Mary is an authority on Sicilian cuisine and its history, and I’m thrilled she allowed me to share it with you.

Take a look at some of the ingredients:

Some of the ingredients for sciabbo, Sicilian Christmas noodles, copyright Jann Huizenga

Mmmm! Cocoa and cinnamon and red wine and onion go into sciabbo.

The complete list of ingredients:

1 medium onion

1/4 cup olive oil

3/4 pound pork meat, diced small (I used ground pork)

2 T tomato extract (or 3 T tomato paste)

1/2 cup red wine

2 cups plain tomato sauce (I used a good store-bought sauce)

2 cups water

salt

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1 T sugar

1 T unsweetened cocoa

1.5 pounds lasagna ricce (I used pappardelle)

Instructions:

Sauté the onion in the oil until soft. Add the pork and cook, stirring, until browned. Add the tomato extract and the wine, stirring to dissolve the extract completely.

Cooking Sciabbo, Sicilian Christmas Noodles, copyright Jann Huizenga

Add the tomato sauce and the water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick.

Sciabbo, Sicilian Christmas Noodles, copyright Jann Huizenga

Correct the salt (if the extract is salty, it may not be necessary to add more). Stir in the cinnamon, sugar, and cocoa.

Cook the pasta in abundant salted water until it is al dente, drain well, and toss with the sauce. You may wish to serve grated cheese on the side, although I think sciabbo is better without it.

Sciabbo, Christmas Noodles, copyright Jann Huizenga

Merry Christmas! Sending warm, fuzzy thoughts your way.

***

Some Sicilian-Americans still cook seven fishes for Christmas Eve, but Mary Taylor Simeti emailed me that this tradition pretty much died out in Sicily itself after World War II. She has written other wonderful books too, including Sicilian Food: Recipes from an Abundant Isle and a memoir, On Persephone’s Island.

***

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Scenes from a December Sicily

December 17, 2012

Dicembre, a great season in Sicily.

Fog may roll over the hills.

Clouds may loom.

Laundry stays soggy on the line.

but…

Grasses are green.

Piazzas unpeopled.

Beaches bare.

Dog days done.

December in Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Sicilian Cow in December, copyright Jann HuizengaSicilian Road in December Fog, copyright Jann Huizenga

Panorama of Ragusa Ibla, copyright Jann Huizenga

my sweeeeeeet December village

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I Am the Eggman, Coo-Coo-Ca-Choo

December 11, 2012

This story takes place in Licodia Eubea, a foggy place high on a hill in Southeast Sicily, one of those time-frozen towns with a generous rhythm of life.

A big white van was inching its way through the slick streets when a man in a navy coppola flagged it down.

Out popped the driver. He tossed open the back doors to reveal a whole supermarket inside: oodles of noodles and bread and cookies and chips and cheese and sausage.

Sicilian Supermarket on Wheels in Licodia Eubea, copyright Jann Huizenga

The man in the coppola fingered some brown eggs to make sure they were good and fresh, then fished a few euro from a pocket.

Sicilian Man with Eggs, copyright Jann Huizenga

“Excuse me, signore. That’s a lot of eggs. What’ll you do with them all, if I may ask?”

(You can be a nosy snoop in Sicily.)

Sicilian Man with Eggs, copyright Jann Huizenga

“My wife sent me out to get them. She likes to make cakes.”

Sicilian Man with Eggs, copyright Jann Huizenga

Then the man was off, shuffling carefully over wet cobbles, holding the fragile treasures like his life depended on it.

I wondered: Will the eggs make it safely?  Will he get a peck on the cheek for running the errand? What kind of cake will she concoct? Orange? Lemon-thyme? Walnut? Ricotta cream?

Such are the daily dramas of life in small-town Sicily.

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Sleepy Licodia Eubea comes alive during the September grape festival!!!

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