Cooking with Love
with Gianna Conte (Jan)
Welcome to November
The days are getting shorter and the winds are getting cold. I would run home to my house to find my mother and my 2 aunts, zia Isabella and zia Rosetta, sitting at the kitchen table making cookies. It was All Souls Day to honor all the people that have passed on. This holy day is celebrated in Italy. The traditional cookies were called "The bones of the Dead". My mother called them Mostaccioli. They were so different. The filling is cocoa, almonds, flour, sugar, olive oil and vin cotti (a fig nectar syrup). If you want the recipe, there are a lot of Italian recipes on the internet.
All Souls Day cookies - Mostaccioli
My kindergarten class - that's me in the second row, one in from the right.
Arbor Day in Kindergarten
Arbor Day was very special in our school. Every year a new tree was planted and we would sing a song commemerating the Earth.
I still remember the poem we recited called "Trees"
Trees
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet floating breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Thanksgiving in my new world....
Turkeys and pilgrims were all new to me, but I loved learning about them. This big bird was being celebrated and then eaten. The Indians were all so colorful and friendly, eating at the same table with the pilgrims.
My mom did not cook turkey, but she wanted to celebrate the holiday, so she would make a capon, unstuffed. It was like eating a large chicken, roasted till golden. My sisters and I urged my mom to make a turkey like all of our friends' moms were making.
We celebrated Thanksgiving one year with an American cousin in NYC. She made a turkey with stuffing. The stuffing was not appetizing at all; it was made with eggs and bread. Not a good introduction to this new tradition.
My mom continued to make a capon every year until my sister got married and she made a turkey. So we all went to my sister's house for Thanksgiving. Her turkey was delicious!
This is a capon.....tastes like chicken.
Comments
02.11.2020 10:16
Jean
Love the stories and pictures 😘
