Sunday, December 12, 2021

Finally Some Snow! Merry Christmas!


Thank you to all who expressed concern in their comments on my last blog post over the wildfire that was burning in our local foothills. Thankfully, the brave firefighters made many firebreaks and there was a light snowfall that night which helped contain the fires until they could be extinguished.  Later that week we received a long-awaited snow accumulation of 2 inches!



 

After the unusually warm autumn we had, it was a welcome sight to see snow instead of very dry tinder in our hills! 




A herd of deer came running into my neighbor's yard during the storm and they made me smile as they looked confused by all the snow!  It had been 232 days since they saw snowfall in our area, which broke a long weather record for late snowfall.



It was a winter wonderland for a day!



I have been busy decorating and doing Christmas preparations. 

I was also fortunate to see Santa Claus come to our neighborhood ranch house where our oldest granddaughter was able to tell him her Christmas wishes!




I've also been busy shopping for our Christmas Eve dinner which we celebrate annually with an Italian "Feast of the Seven Fishes."  Can you guess what the fish above is?   



It is Baccala--salted codfish.  We send away a mail order for it from New York every year as we find it difficult to find it in Colorado. It is my husband's favorite and he looks forward to it every year!  It is soaked in water for a few days to remove all the salt and I prepare it two ways. I cut pieces and make the thick portions of the fish floured and deep-fried and the thinner pieces I simmer in tomato sauce with peppers and olives.  If you are curious as to the recipe for the second preparation you can find it in this older blog post--click here --in which I wrote about my favorite movie, Moonstruck, and included a recipe for Baccala Fiorentina.



For the next two weeks, I'll be extra busy baking for Christmas.  I always make the same favorites every year.   You can find the recipes in this older blog post--click here.

When I look back at these old posts I am amazed how long I've been blogging and wonder how I've had so much to say over the years. Thank you to all my readers for keeping an interest in Mille Fiori Favoriti along with me! 

 I'll be taking a blog break until after Christmas so I can devote all my time to last-minute holidays joys.


The true reason for the season.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

I'll see you all back here in a few weeks!

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Monday, December 6, 2021

100 Things I Love about Grandma Book Review


This is a new journal book I received as an advanced reader's copy for an honest review-- A Love Journal:100 Things I Love About Grandma, by Lisa Carpenter, which will be on sale December 7th, 2021. This delightful book provides a variety of 100 prompts to help a grandchild recount important milestones, funny moments, and all the special things they love about grandma. An older child can fill it in by themselves and a younger child can answer the questions with the help of a parent. Either way, it is a gift all grandmothers would cherish receiving.

When I first began to blog, back in 2007, I first "met" Lisa Carpenter and her blog "Grandma's Briefs."  Back then blogging was rather new and blogs were simple and brief, yet right away I knew Lisa had a flair for writing and shared my joy of becoming a new grandmother.  She asked me to participate in a feature she has on her blog called "Grilled Grandmas" where she sent us a list of questions about being a grandmother to answer and asked us to send a few photos of our grandchild(ren). It is a fun feature and a nice way to find other blogs written by grandmothers.


My oldest grandson as a baby

I only had one grandson at the time and lived in New York City--quite a distance from Denver where my son and family lived. Lisa was also a long-distance grandmother at the time and we commiserated over living far from a grandchild. You can read my 2007 Grilled Grandma Q&A on this link




My sweet cheeked little baby grandboy from 2007 is soon to become a teenager! He now has a younger brother and sister, and, along with my daughter's little girl, I have four grandchildren now whom I adore and love with all my heart!  Happily, nine years ago my husband and I were able to retire and move to Colorado to live close to both of our children and all our grandchildren.  We have been so happy and blessed to have been able to spend lots of quality time with them all.



This brings me back to this wonderful new journal book by Lisa Carpenter --A Love Journal: 100 Things I Love About Grandma which publishes December 7, 2021.  Not only does each page have an easy-to-answer prompt to be filled in by a grandchild, but it also has spaces for "extra love" on which a child can do a drawing or post a photo, etc.   

Some of the heartwarming prompts are:
 
#13 You encourage me to be better at _______

# 36 I hope I get to _____ the next time I visit your house

#43 We both like ______

# 65 I was thrilled when you surprised me by _____

#98 I know when you were my age you loved to ______

I think you can see how any grandmother would love to read their grandchild's answers to these questions (and more!) and would treasure a completed book like this. It would make a wonderful gift for a grandchild or grandchildren to give to their grandmother!  I look forward to giving it to my grandchildren to fill in. 

If you would like to order a copy of "A Love Journal:100 Things I Love About Grandma" you can order on this link.  I'm so excited and happy for you Lisa Carpenter!


Now for what is new around here...

Photo collage of Denver area foothills and wildfire.

Our area of Colorado has continued to be in extreme drought.  The long-time record for the latest snow in the Denver area has been broken already by weeks.  The weather has also been unusually warm. We broke a high record of 73 degrees this past week. As we feared, the dry conditions and wind brought Red Flag Warnings, and then today a wildfire broke out in the foothills above our community.  The terrain is rough and dangerous up high in the hills and the high winds were preventing helicopter water drops as is the usual way to fight fires like this. All we can hope is that fire breaks can be dug overnight and that the winds will die down. Please keep our community and the firefighters in your thoughts and prayers!

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Sunday, November 28, 2021

Italian Caponata Appetizer



We had a very Happy Thanksgiving and a very happy 40th Birthday celebration for our daughter! Thank you for all your good wishes!


Our Christmas tree was up and decorated for the very first time, ever, before Thanksgiving Day. We decided that getting a large real tree was getting too heavy and hard for us to bring in and out of our home every holiday, so we bought a new pre-lighted artificial tree.  Since we were concerned about supply chain issues we ordered it early online and put it together to make sure the lights were working.  It is 9 feet tall so once it was up we decided to keep it up and decorate it, and we were very happy with the final results.  Thanksgiving eve we had snow flurries, and our backyard Colorado blue spruce tree collected some snow but sadly not much else accumulated. The Denver area record for the latest snow was broken a week ago and has had temperatures into the 70s. It is very strange weather and a bit worrisome as it has been very dry


Some of our Thanksgiving Day appetizer lunch is in the first photo collage, and these were the entrees I made for our dinner. Lots of food, lots of favorites, and everyone took home leftovers.

 

Desserts were birthday ice cream cake, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, and apple pie.  The apple pie crust decorations before on the right, and after on the left. They looked better before baking!



One appetizer we really enjoyed this Thanksgiving was homemade Caponata. Caponata is a Sicilian sweet and sour version of ratatouille, with a mixture of eggplant, celery, red peppers, onions, tomatoes, olives, etc, in an agrodolce sauce. I made some crostini to serve with the caponata by thinly slicing baguette type loaf bread and toasting the slices in the oven, brushing them first with olive oil, garlic, and parsley on top,

To make the Caponata I used a New York Times recipe with the addition of pine nuts (pignoli nuts) imported from Italy.  Caponata is best made the day ahead of serving, so it can marinate and is best eaten at room temperature.

 CAPONATA

 Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds eggplant (1 large), roasted
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, from the inner, tender stalks (the heart), diced
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 red bell peppers, diced
Salt to taste
1 pound ripe tomatoes, preferably Roma, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped, or 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes (in puree) 3 heaped tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pitted green olives
1/2 cup toasted Italian Pine Nuts (pignoli nuts)--optional.
2 tablespoons plus a pinch of sugar
3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar (more to taste)
freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

1) Roast the eggplant, allow to cool, and chop coarsely.

2 ) Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy nonstick skillet and add the onion and celery. Cook, stirring, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes, and add the garlic. Cook together for a minute, until the garlic begins to smell fragrant, and add the peppers and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring, until just about tender, about 8 minutes. Add another tablespoon of oil and the eggplant, and stir together for another 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. The eggplant will fall apart, which is fine. Season to taste.

3) Add the tomatoes to the pan with about 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of sugar. Cook, stir, and scrape the bottom of the pan often, for 5 to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down somewhat and they smell fragrant. Add the capers, olives, remaining sugar, and vinegar.  Turn the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often, for 20 to 30 minutes, until the vegetables are thoroughly tender and the mixture is quite thick, sweet, and fragrant. Stir in the pine nuts. Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Allow cooling to room temperature. If possible, cover and chill overnight. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy spoonfuls of Caponata eaten plain or served on slices of crostini or crackers.


November has continued to give us some remarkable skies and sunsets. 
 
Let's hope December will bring us some well-needed snow!

Wishing all who celebrate this week a very Happy Hanukkah!

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Monday, November 22, 2021

November Happenings and have a Happy Thanksgiving!






It will be a busy week ahead as I prepare for our Thanksgiving dinner and our daughter's "new decade" birthday!


Our Thanksgiving buffet photo collage from 2020

As our family gathers we have a large appetizer-style lunch with delicious orange, pineapple, and strawberry champagne punch we make every year. 
For dinner, l roast a large turkey, and sometimes a baked ham if we have many guests, and many sides--giblet gravy, sausage and mushroom stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, a few varying vegetables, cranberry sauce, fresh rolls and of course apple and pumpkin pies and a birthday cake for dessert. Everyone takes home a good portion of leftovers for the next day's meal.

It is wonderful to give thanks for the blessings of family, our country's freedoms and abundance, and our good health! 
More than ever, during this pandemic, we can not take good health for granted. 


Now for what's been happening this month of November...

A view of some of the Colorado front range taken from the Denver International Airport area

Tomorrow, the Denver area of Colorado breaks a weather record that dates back to 1934--a Dust Bowl year--for the latest snowfall!  Our autumn has been unusually warm and dry. The ski resort areas above 9,000 feet have had some snow and they supplement with man-made snow, but the front range has been extremely dry. It's not something to celebrate and I hope our weather returns to normal and does not continue this way for much longer.  Wildfires are always a danger when there are drought and high wind.



Some beautiful November sunsets that we've marveled at.




Local deer visitors to my back and front yards.  It's always a joy to see them! They have been having a good time munching all the fallen leaves from our trees.


One of our backyard tree's resident squirrels has enjoyed eating a leftover Halloween pumpkin.  We had a lot of fun watching him from our window for a few days as he devoured all the pumpkin seeds first and then worked on eating the pumpkin flesh. 





My youngest grandson is one of the trombone players in this photo of his elementary school's 5th-grade band.  They played in a wonderful combination school district concert this month, along with 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade junior high school, as well as a 9th-grade high school band.  Bravo to all the students who are learning to play music as an extracurricular activity! My older grandson plays viola in his junior high school orchestra.


My husband and I attended Opera Colorado's production of one of our favorite operas this month--Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver, Colorado.  The cast takes its final curtain call bow in the collage above. Bravo!  We loved it! 




Wishing all who celebrate this week 
a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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Monday, November 15, 2021

Immersive van Gogh Exhibit


My husband and I attended the Immersive van Gogh Exhibit in Denver in October.  As a lifelong fan of Vincent van Gogh's artwork, I was excited when I learned this exhibit was coming locally after premiering in France and subsequently touring in many US cities. 

(All photos will enlarge if clicked on)



For 35 minutes many of the famous paintings of van Gogh, through various stages of the artist's life, are projected on large screens in a show designed and conceived by Massimiliano Siccardi, with a soundtrack by Luca Longobardi, who both pioneered immersive digital art experiences in France. There were 500,000 cubic feet of projections, 60,600 frames of video, and 90,000,000 pixels of light and color that make up the show.





The venue we attended had two large rooms with surround screens that simultaneously played the same videos. There were benches and lighted rings on the floor in which to sit. The video not only filled the screens but also spilled down onto the floor and the audience to give an immersive experience.




The show began with an array of  Vincent van Gogh's early works. You can click on his name to learn more about his life and paintings.





Then the exhibit moved on to his brighter, more impressionistic paintings that most people are familiar with.




It really felt as if the paintings became a part of us.




In this video, the irises grew up from the ground to finally become his famous painting.



Vincent van Gogh's room in Arles begins to 
come alive piece by piece.




Street scenes light up...




..movement and color explode on the screen all accompanied by dramatic music.

If you'd like to see some short videos I took during the exhibit you can see them on my Mille Fiori Favoriti Facebook page at this link.






In the sequence above you can see how "Starry Night" begins to evolve...




...and as more and more of the painting begins to reveal itself we become part of it!




"Wheat Field With Crows" was one of Vincent's last paintings. It is a dramatic expression of his mind gone mad and sadly his impending suicide at age 37 in 1890.



An array of self-portraits.




We really enjoyed the exhibit and sat through it two times to see things we may have missed the first time.  My only complaint was that I liked it so much that I wished it were even longer in length! I could have sat through it many more hours.  It made me appreciate Vincent van Gogh's work in a completely new and unforgettable way.

Are you a fan of Vincent van Gogh and have you seen this immersive exhibit in your town? I'd love to know what you thought of it.

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