Sausage Making Day Again!

I am tired and my hands look like prunes! After mentioning our first sausage making endeavor last January to many of our friends, we have been invited to a homemade sausage tasting. So, in anticipation of the big tasting, we embarked on Sausage Making Round Two. Dom spent the morning chopping 18 pounds of pork butt, and another 9 pounds of pork trimmings and belly. I crushed the fennel and coriander seeds and combined the spices and herbs. Then I soaked and rinsed over 150 feet of natural pork casing (intestines.) Yum! Dom stirred all the chopped meat together with the spice mix adding water to make sure the spices were evenly distributed. We put the meat in the fridge to marinate for a few hours.

Homemade Sausage Recipe:
25 lbs. pork
3/4 cup salt
1/4 cup fennel seed, crushed
1 tablespoon coriander, crushed
2/3 cup paprika
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons cayenne, ground
2 teaspoons black pepper, finely ground
1 teaspoon black pepper, cracked
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
2 cups water (to help blend the spices)

We set up the grinder with the medium grinding plate and the sausage stuffer, and ground a test batch. Steve arrived just as we took the test batch off the heat. We decided that more red pepper, salt, paprika and 1/4 cup sugar were needed. We re-mix the batch and loaded the casings onto the stuffing attachment.

It is counter-intuitive, but water is your biggest friend in the sausage stuffing process. Keeping your hands clean, and keeping the casings and newly prepared sausage wet are extremely helpful. The moisture makes clean up a bit easier as well. Additionally, it is much easier to grind cold meat than warm. Using smaller batches of meat to grind while chilling the rest makes for a better end result.

After 2 hours and 20 minutes, I tied off the last link of sausage. We packaged the sausage in packages and remembered to write the weight on each package before placing them in the freezer. There is an old saying that the two things you should never see being made are laws and sausage. The wonderful thing about making your own sausage is that you know every ingredient that is included; no chemical preservatives or mystery meat. The only gross thing about it is the shear volume of meat and spices that it takes to make a batch large enough to warrant the time it takes to set up, produce and clean up.

It is a good thing we like sausage; the freezer is full of it! A shower is going to feel wonderful...

Lemonade Season

As much as I love homemade fresh lemonade, we don't always have lemons on hand or time to make it from scratch. So, recently we purchased a 5.13 pound container of Country Time Lemonade at Costco (of course!) We had forgotten how much we liked it! "Not too tart and not too sweet" according to their original 1976 commercial with "Grandpa, who is the best judge of good old fashioned taste." We blew through the first container, which according to the container made 8.5 gallons, in two weeks and are half way through our second container of the summer. Is it as healthy as drinking water? No, but Country Time has 40% less sugar than regular soda. It has 16 grams of sugar in an 8 ounce glass while a typical soda has about 27 grams of sugar per 8 ounce glass. It also has 10% of the RDA of Vitamin C per glass. So, I'm headed to the kitchen to mix up an icy, cold pitcher, and then I'm going to "sit back and drink it all in."

Last Minute Brunch

Now that the boys are teenagers, they manage to sleep in the mornings, while Dom and I still get up early. We have always been early-risers. So while waiting for the boys to wake up, Dom headed to Costco (of course!) to "pick up a few things."

He arrived home with a car-full of "things," but nothing specifically for breakfast. After looking at the clock and seeing that it was now 11:00am, we decided that perhaps a Brunch was in order.

So after a while of perusing the pantry and pondering the possibilities, we decided to make gnocchi with peppered bacon and (gorgeous, fresh, organic) chanterelles sauteed with fresh thyme and butter. To go with this, we sliced an heirloom tomato and drizzled it with EV olive oil, added a few "globs" of Chèvre and a chiffonade of fresh basil. We decadently opened a bottled of champagne and enjoyed a long leisurely meal.

Happy Father's Day, Dom!

Father's Day Gift

It is nigh onto impossible to buy my husband a gift! He sees something he wants and immediately buys it without a single consideration to whether there might be a pending holiday for which someone might need a gift idea. The guys had been planning to replace his stolen GPS device as a Father's Day gift since April. Two weeks before Father's Day he brought one home from Costco. He saw a leather journal he loved at Summerfest that the guys were going to surprise him with , and he bought a similar one on eBay the same night. Frustrating!!!

So, they were thrilled to have come up with a gift that they knew Dom wanted and had not purchased. We trotted off to Cook's Warehouse in Ansley Mall for the perfect gift. Sonny had seen him admiring a particular knife weeks before and was confident this was the perfect gift. He wrote two poems; one for Dom to read before he opened the gift:

Every day is Father’s Day
Every day’s a feast
You always make us laugh away
So you get what is helpful in the least

In the past years we
Have waited till the 11th hour
But Nic and I both agree
This is better than a whimsy flower

So now it is time to open up your present
It’s nice I will admit
We are giving you our consent,

To go ahead and open it…

And one for after he opened it:

A knife, a knife

A very special one
Yours for the rest of your life
Gifted to you by your Sons

Every day is Father’s Day
Ever day’s a feast
But now you have a special way
In which to cut the beast!!!

Seizure Salad

The guys have been helping out in the kitchen more and more. Nic loves Caesar salad and has taken on the task of making the dressing whenever we plan to have salad with dinner. Last night Nic made his dressing, but thought it had too much lemon, so his solution was to add more garlic. We all sat down to dinner and our palates were hit with the hot pungency of too much garlic. Everybody learns from their mistakes! I doubt Nic will add more than 2 cloves of garlic again.

Garlic is a key component in countless Italian recipes, but we don’t always want that pungent raw flavor. Raw garlic’s harshness comes from a compound called “allicin”, which forms as soon as the clove’s cells are ruptured and continues to build as it sits. Since the citric acid in lemon juice hastens the conversion of harsh-tasting allicin to more mellow compounds called thiosulfonates, disulfides, and trisulfides, we recommend steeping sliced garlic in the lemon juice while you get the other ingredients ready. Heating the sliced garlic in the olive oil is another method to mellow the garlic which produces the same milder-tasting compounds that form when the garlic is steeped.

This delicious salad was originated by Caesar Cardini who had a small hotel and restaurant in Mexico not far from the California border. During Prohibition, the Hollywood crowd would drive to Mexico to party. Apparently on the Fourth of July, 1924, celebrants arrived in droves and the kitchen ran low on food. However, there was plenty of lettuce left (in those days, Americans weren't wild about salad) so Caesar made a salad that was as much a performance as food. It became an instant hit!

Dressing:

• 1 large egg (dropped in boiling water for 60 seconds, shell on)
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 4 anchovy fillets (or 1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• A few drops of Tabasco sauce to taste
• 1/3 cup virgin olive oil

2 medium heads of romaine lettuce (outer leaves removed and thick stems removed)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Fresh croutons or garlic toast

Place egg, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, mustard, and Tabasco sauce in a food processor and pulse. Slowly add in olive oil. The dressing will start to emulsify. Adjust flavor to individual preference. You can add a little red wine vinegar or more lemon juice to thin. Shred lettuce into bite-sized pieces and coat well with dressing. This is best done by hand. Add some grated cheese and croutons while mixing. Top with more grated cheese, croutons (and any remaining anchovy filets) before serving.

Cornell Chicken Marinade

It is getting hot outside here in Atlanta. Time to start using the grill to keep the kitchen from getting too hot. This is a wonderful summertime treat is made using Cornell University Professor Robert C. Baker's recipe for grilled chicken which was published in the Cornell Extension Bulletin under the title Barbecued Chicken and Other Meats. For about 50 years, it has been served at "Baker's Chicken Coop" at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY which is still operated by the professor's family to this day.

1 egg

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Crack the egg into a medium bowl and whisk until beaten. Slowly whisk in the oil until fully blended. Then whisk in the vinegar, salt, poultry seasoning, and ground black pepper.

If you plan to baste with this sauce, as well as marinade in it, set some aside. It Is not a good idea to use marinade that has had chicken soaking in it. Please do not serve any unused sauce as it contains raw egg.

Place chicken in a large zipper-style freezer bag and coat with sauce. close tightly and marinate in the refrigerator for no less than 2 hours up to 24 hours. Rotate the bag periodically to ensure even distribution of  the marinade.

Prepare your charcoal in grill and heat until the coals are starting to turn white, then evenly distribute coals throughout base of grill.  Place an oiled rack on the grill, then arrange the marinated chicken on the grill and barbecue on each side 20 to 30 minutes, depending on heat of coals and thickness of the chicken pieces. If chicken is cut up into breasts, thighs, wings, and legs, start off by grilling the breasts and thighs as they will take longer than the smaller pieces.

The chicken will require constant attention while grilling due to the oil dripping on the coals. It is a good idea to have a glass or a spray bottle of water available while grilling to squelch flames from hot coals.Turn frequently to avoid burning. Grill to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F or until juices run clear when cut with tip of knife.

When done, remove chicken pieces from the grill and serve with plenty of napkins!

Brimstone & Treacle

I got the best Mother’s Day gift ever today! My guys made me a wonderful brunch and then got all dressed up to take me to see the Broadway Musical, “Mary Poppins” at the Fox Theater. It was an incredible performance and we all left singing and dancing. One of the most memorable numbers was “Brimstone and Treacle.” Since treacle tart is also Harry Potter’s favorite dessert, we all wondered what it was. Here is what we learned:

Treacle is another name for the syrup made during the refining of sugar cane. In the United Kingdom, golden syrup is a common household ingredient and is served on porridge in place of brown sugar or maple syrup. Have you ever noticed that Mary Poppins always pours her "spoonfuls of sugar" from a bottle rather than serving the granulated sugar we Americans are accustomed to? She is probably pouring treacle from the bottle!

Golden syrup can be hold in the international food section of grocery stores, but if you can’t find it, honey is a close substitute. Treacle tart has a consistency similar to pecan pie without the pecans. It is a little less gelatinous, slightly stickier, and very very sweet. It is usually served warm with whipped cream, or ice cream.

Brimstone is a sulphur ore from which pure sulphur is refined. The mixture of brimstone and treacle was thought to have positive medicinal effects and is mentioned in Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby as a remedy for hunger.

Easter at the Romeo House

The day before Easter, we color Easter eggs to "help the Easter Bunny." On Easter morning, Nic and Sonny always get up early (even though encourage them to sleep in!) They get a poem from the "Easter Bunny" with clues about where their baskets are hidden. Some years the baskets are easy to find and sometimes REALLY hard. Last year, one basket was in the fireplace and the other was in the clothes dryer.

While they hunt for baskets, Dom and I make breakfast. We make breakfast so that the guys eat something other than chocolate before we head to Mass. If we are having dinner at home, we always have lamb. One year, Dom cooked a leg of lamb at our fireplace. He tied a string to the leg and let it "spin" in front of a blazing fire all day. It smelled SO good. It was like food TV; watching the lamb spin all day made everybody hungry. We can't do that every year because the weather is usually too warm.

I make deviled eggs with the Easter eggs. Dom and Nic don't like them so Sonny and I eat our fill. We hope the "Easter Bunny" was good to everyone! Happy Easter!

No Turkey for Easter

While Sonny and I color Easter eggs for tomorrow, Dom is headed to Costco to buy a lamb roast. Everyone is out of town so it will just be the four of us for Easter dinner this year. Traditionally, we have lamb on Easter maybe because when Dom was growing up he had Turkey for Thanksgiving, then for Christmas Day, and again for Easter. Now, bear in mind, he is NOT a die-hard turkey fan like some. (He doesn't like chicken either.) When he was about nine years old, Dom finally said to his Mom and Grandma, "You are not supposed to have turkey for Easter!" He remembers them both being stunned by his culinary commentary, but he was ready for their rebuttal with a set of goat horns that hung by the front door as proof of his claim. After lots of debate, they agreed to change the menu. That was his first taste of lamb. Needless to say, he liked it.

We have made lamb every year for Easter since having children. Including one year when it was cold enough outside to cook a leg of lamb in front of our fireplace. In fact, the first meal I ever cooked for Dom when we were dating was a lamb shoulder roasted simply in a pre-soaked clay pot with garlic, fresh rosemary and potatoes. Both good stories for another post...

Easiest Appetizer EVER

This simple treat It looks very impressive and I have never met anyone who didn't love it. We originally had this Paul Luna's restaurant Luna Si on Peachtree Street in 1993. That restaurant has since closed, but Loca Luna and Eclipse Di Luna are still very popular in Atlanta. Plate the following up on a fancy plate:

Ricotta cheese
Aged balsamic vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea Salt

With an ice cream scoop, place a scoop of ricotta cheese on a plate. Drizzle olive oil over the cheese and plate. Sprinkle with salt and then drizzle balsamic vinegar on the plate with the olive oil and sprinkle the whole plate with sea salt. Serve with slices of good bread.

Ricotta can be watery straight out of the container. If you like it a bit more firm, take a sieve and line it with cheesecloth or coffee filter and place it over a bowl that will fit in your refrigerator. Empty the ricotta into the sieve, cover the top with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a few hours. The extra whey will drain out and the cheese will be firmer.

The First Sip...

The hot aromatic liquid flows over your tongue and warms the back of your throat. The fragrant steam fills your nostrils with the smell of promise. There is nothing better than being the first person in the house out of bed, pouring a mug of bean juice and stepping out into the cool crisp morning air as you take the first sip of coffee.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a coffee snob. I don't go to Starbucks or any other designer java barista. I don't have to drink Kopi Luwac* or Jamaican Blue Mountain, and I rarely add cream, milk, sugar, flavorings or anything else to my daily drip.

I still drink black, home-brewed coffee. We buy good coffee beans that we grind at the store. We use a Cuisinart FlavorBrew 10-cup coffee maker with a stainless steel carafe. The carafe keeps the coffee hot without a burnt taste that can happen when a glass carafe sits on the heated base for more than 20 minutes. Only one pot per day since I don't drink it all day; just in the morning.

Nothing fancy, just a good cup of coffee. It's going to be a good day!

* I just love the scene in "The Bucket List" when Morgan Freeman explains to Jack Nicholson why Kopi Luwac is so expensive!

Fish Fridays of Lent

During the season of Lent, Catholics are asked to participate in the threefold discipline of fasting, almsgiving and prayer to commemorate Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. According to Canonical requirements, all Catholics 14-years-old and older must abstain from meat (mammal or fowl) on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent.

We get in the habit of having fish on Fridays and often continue to have seafood on Fridays long after the Lent period has ended. One of our family favorites is Dom’s mustard-coated fish fillets:

¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon sugar
Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together and coat fillets liberally to cover. Let sit until your pan is ready. This can even be used as a marinade. Preheat a cast iron pan to get the surface very hot. Place filets skin side down (even if skin has been removed.)

Once a visible line of cooked flesh has risen to ¼” (translucent to opaque) and fat has rendered, carefully turn; about 3-4 minutes. The sugar should have caused a firm crust by this time. Cook the remaining side for another 2-3 minutes. Don’t try to make a pan sauce from the pan drippings as the flavor will be strong and greasy.

Serve with a fresh Caesar Salad or saffron rice is a great compliment to this dish along with a salsa made of fresh mango, red onion, lime juice and basil or cilantro.

While we prefer this marinade for salmon, this mustard dressing works perfectly on other types of fleshy fish like cod, halibut, swordfish or snapper.

King Cake for Fat Tuesday

Many people do not know that the term Mardi Gras actually means “Fat Tuesday.” Fat Tuesday is the last day of the Carnival season which begins on Twelfth Night (January 6th is the twelfth night after Christmas) and ends the day before Ash Wednesday. This is the last opportunity to celebrate before the beginning of Lent. The pre-Lenten carnival has Roman Catholic origins and is celebrated in New Orleans, as well as Brazil, France, and Germany. A tradition of the Mardi Gras season is the King cake. The cake has hidden within its sweet brioche, a token, usually a coin or bean. When the cake is cut the recipient of the token is the King (or Queen), and can expect good fortune in the coming year. The recipient is also responsible for providing next year’s King cake. King Cakes have a reputation of being hard to make, but I think this recipe will put an end to that myth.

King Cake Dough:
1 package active dry yeast (1 Tablespoon)
½ cup warm milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 ½ cups sifted flour

Filling:
4-6 ounces jam or preserves of your choice
1/4 cup softened butter

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk and allow to proof (bubble). In a large bowl, cream together 1/4 cup butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring between additions. Next add the yeast mixture, and mix. Gradually blend in the flour one cup at a time. Mix together until a soft dough is formed. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise in a warm location until it doubles in size, about 2 hours.

Gently deflate dough and transfer to a floured surface. Roll out dough into a large rectangle. Grease token and push into the dough, then rub 1/4 cup soften butter over the rectangle. Spread preserves over the buttered rectangle. Starting from one long side, roll the rectangular dough into the shape of a tube. Pinch the seam and gently place the roll on a greased cookie sheet to form a ring, pinching the ends to seal. Cover ring again with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise for 30 minutes to an hour. Place in a pre-heated 375o oven and cook for about 20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool and decorate with purple, green and yellow frosting.

Handy Little Sticks

Chopsticks are not just for eating your Mongolian beef or sushi, those little bamboo sticks can come in very handy in the kitchen! Here are some ideas:

Deep frying is normally done at between 360 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit, but without a thermometer it can be difficult to tell if the oil if ready for frying. Next time try this trick; when the oil has preheated, dip a chopstick into the oil. If the oil around the chopstick starts to bubble steadily, then the oil is hot enough for frying. If no or only a few bubbles show up, then the oil is not hot enough. Lastly, if the oil bubbles very vigorously, it is too hot and needs to cool off a bit.

The chopsticks are also great for turning over frying items, such as chicken or onion rings. The extra distance their length gives reduces the chance being spattered by hot grease. You can buy a pair of longer (15 inches) chopsticks for cooking at an Asian food market or kitchen-supply store.

Use chopsticks for coating or dipping items. Chocolate covered pretzels are much easier to make when using chopsticks to hold the pretzels and dunking them in chocolate. Dipping shrimp or vegetables in batter (especially tempura) can be very messy. The chopsticks can be used to dip into the batter as well as place the item in the oil. Chopsticks are perfect for coaxing stuck toast from the toaster especially since wood does not conduct electricity.

Chopsticks also work miracles in tight places. Olives in long skinny jars are easily removed with chopsticks as well as a lost sock behind the dryer!


Long hair is not always convenient when you are working in the kitchen; chopsticks to the rescue. Try twisting the entire length until it tries to twist back on to itself. Pull the loop end up (the end without the tips of hair) and insert the chopsticks to secure your coiffure.

Lastly, they make great magic wands for your Harry Potter wannabes!

Snow Cream

It rarely snows in Atlanta, and when it does it is cause for celebration. When they were little, the guys adored the Little Bear series by Maurice Sendak and according to one of the stories, a special chant must be recited while stirring the snow cream. “Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not!”

10 cups clean fresh snow (large mixing bowl full)
1 (14 oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add condensed milk and vanilla to snow and fold together gently until well mixed. The amount of snow will reduce a good bit when ingredients are mixed so add snow as needed.

Hint: Refrigerate condensed milk ahead of time, while it makes it a little more difficult to mix, the snow does not melt as quickly. Serve immediately.

Superbowl Pretzels

What is it about football that makes everyone want pretzels? The guys are preparing to watch Brett Farve and Drew Brees fight for supremacy in Superbowl XLIV, while I make a batch of pretzels to take to the party. They are best served warm with a creamy mustard sauce of good mustard mixed with mayonnaise (Duke's of course!)

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt (you can use coarse Kosher salt if pretzel salt is unavailable.)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside. Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Happy Hands

With the cold winter weather and holiday cooking and cleaning, I notice that my hands are even drier than usual and that I have been using my hand cream more often. I was very excited to find a new bottle of my favorite lotion under the Christmas tree a few weeks ago. Every time I pump out a handful of Cucina hand cream made by the Canadian Fruits and Passion, it makes me smile. Cucina lotions contain three olive tree extracts which help regenerate skin and improve its elasticity. First-cold-pressed olive oil and olive unsaponifiables moisturize and protect cooks’ damaged hands. In addition, olive leaf extract stimulates the skin and helps to heal minor cuts and burns. The best part is this lotion smells delicious and does not interfere with the flavor of foods because they contain the same ingredients that are in your favorite food dishes. There are seven different fragrances of which I have tried Coriander and Olive Tree, Sicilian Lemon and Ginger, and Lime Zest and Cypress. Coriander and Olive Tree is my personal favorite, but all them are truly yummy!

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage

Everyone is a little stir crazy. So yesterday on a wild hair, the guys went to one of their favorite hangouts, Bass Pro Shops. They came home with #32 Lem meat grinder. A large metal monstrosity designed to grind 5 to 6 pounds of meat per minute. Eee Gad!

We spent the rest of the day researching sausage recipes and contemplating the sausage making fiesta that would take place today. Dom called his Aunt Rose to get his grandmother's sausage recipe as well. Before bed, we set out a pork shoulder from the freezer to thaw.First thing this morning, Dom went to Costco to purchase 2 pork butts and then to DeKalb Farmer's Market to buy some fresh spices for the seasoning mix. We spent the rest of the morning chopping the pork and mixing the spices.

First Run Recipe: 

• 25 lbs. pork
• 7 Tablespoons salt
• 4 Tablespoons fennel seed, crushed
• 1 Tablespoon coriander, crushed
• 10 Tablespoons paprika
• 1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 2 teaspoons cayenne, ground
• 2 teaspoons black pepper

Then we ground the meat using the coarse grinding plate. We made a patty with some of the ground spiced meat and fried it to do a taste test. It was darn good! We added a little more coriander and cayenne to the ground meat.I soaked the pork casings (pig intestines) in water and rinsed them out. Ick!

We then put the medium grinding plate on the grinder along with the sausage stuffing attachment. I loaded the casings on the stuffing nozzle. It was actually quite fascinating to watch the meat fill the casing and come out looking just like the Italian sausage you see in the grocery store. Twenty five pounds of pork makes a lot of sausage! We put several large links in the refrigerator for dinner and packaged the rest for the freezer. It should last a LONG time.

Rulli Brothers

You all know I grew up in the South from my earlier post. My husband grew up on the opposite side of the food world! Dom and our youngest flew out to Dom's hometown of Youngstown, Ohio this morning for a birthday party. I was remembering that my first trip to Youngstown was a cultural experience. At first, nothing seemed dramatically different from Atlanta. After visiting with relatives, Dom and took me on a tour of Youngstown. We drove by the Sparkle Market where he used to work, then took a scenic tour of Mill Creek Park. We sat on the hood on Dom’s car while we ate chocolate pecan ice cream from Handel’s. Then we headed to Rulli Brother’s Italian Market to pick up a few things to take back to Atlanta.

As I stepped through the doors, I realized this was no ordinary store. Meats and cheeses hung from the ceiling. The deli case was loaded with capicolla, mortadella and soppressatta. Shelves were stocked with cans and jars of exotic sounding delicacies like giardiniera, caponata, and cipollini onions alongside a huge selection of olives. The bakery section had all sorts of fascinating goodies like foccacia, panettone and pandoro, mustaccioli, and biscotti. They had the boxes of torrone candy that Dom received each year at Christmas from a friend's Mom. Then there was the produce area with escarole, endive and cardoons. This was a veritable wonderland of food! They even had the equipment to make pasta, pizzelles, and cannollis at home, and the espresso pots did not have an electrical cord. My head was spinning!

Dom ordered mortadella, capicolla, prosciutto, as well as a ball of the butter provolone hanging from the ceiling. We bought one of the stove-top espresso pots and a few biscotti to nibble on the drive back to Dom’s Aunt’s house. I reluctantly left the store, frequently glancing back to permanently imprint the vision on my brain. Even years later, there is nothing in Atlanta that compares to that Italian paradise known as Rulli Brothers!

Christmas Eve Feast of Seven Fishes

On the night before Christmas in our house, strains of Louis Armstrong’s “Zat you, Santa Claus?” or Kurt Elling’s “Cool Yule” resound in the background while the smells of garlic, toasting bread crumbs, and lemon fill the air. The anticipation of the coming feast is only eclipsed by the anticipation of the following morning of ripping paper and opening presents. Italians usher in Christmas Day with ‘Cena della Vigilia’, the dinner of the vigil; the meal that breaks a daylong fast, at least in theory. Over the centuries, however, fasting obligations were relaxed, rules of abstinence from eating meat became the standard. Today, in our family, the birth of Christ is celebrated with one long, delicious (almost meatless) feast.

Dom's ancestors, the Warino (Guarino) family, originally emigrated from Calabria - a region of Puglia that borders the Adriatic Sea. There, La Vigilia means seven different kinds of seafood, cooked seven different ways. According to his Grandma, the number seven is important because it represents the seven sacraments. The number is also said to allude to the seven virtues, the seven hills of Rome, and the seven days of the week.

Romeo boys as Nativity shepherds.

After an afternoon at church, we usually start the evening at our house with champagne and raw oysters. We also put out a platter with smoked salmon and white fish with olives and crostini. It may not be exactly Italian, but everyone likes it, and it works. Fried smelts follow close behind. It depends on the year which friends and family are in attendance. Some years it is a house-full and others it is just the four of us. While I cook, friends chat in the kitchen, help set the table, or share pictures of recent travels. We have tried several different dishes over the years to comprise the seven fishes and do not always adhere to the strict interpretations that each fish must be prepared differently. Frito Misto is the perfect solution to preparing several of the fishes in our feast at one time. Gumbo is another family favorite that accommodates more than one fish. If we still need a fish to add to round out our repertoire, we add some anchovies to the pasta with olive oil, crushed red pepper and Parmesan that we serve on the side.

The custom of “La Vigilia” is revitalized whenever a new generation takes it on. We have tried to introduce the custom to our boys and family friends to keep the practice alive. As it is carried on into the future, we remember our ancestors who have added their imprint on the tradition, and it is if they are dining with us each Christmas Eve.