Inspiration comes from everywhere. As a young cook, I HAD to use recipes; if I didn’t, I would become paralyzed by fear of messing up. I felt the same way when I was driving and feared getting lost.
Once, I made a dish, probably more than ten times; I didn’t need the recipe anymore but never deviated from the original.
I made the dish this way for years; then, I began to learn what flavors went with what and started cooking “my” food. It is an ever-evolving process.
I watched the documentary Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, which changed my thoughts about food. I finally understood why some food was spectacular, and others were mediocre at best.
I learned how to balance a dish. I discovered what umami was and why it’s called the fifth sense. I finally learned how to season a dish properly. These things take regular home cooking to the next level and beyond.
Flash forward 20 years, and now I use recipes to inspire or see ingredient ratios. I will still follow a new or tricky recipe until I learn it. In baking, recipes are a must for most people since you can’t wing it.
My inspirations for the summer.
Look, anyone can cook and has to start somewhere. Back in the day, I used Betty Crocker and The Joy of Cooking cookbooks. Today, new cooks have YouTube, online cooking classes, food blogs, and other social media platforms.
Food was always an essential part of my life back then, and I wanted to get better. It took a decade or two before I stopped apologizing for my food and getting embarrassed when people complimented me on my cooking.
I use the food blog Love and Lemons whenever I am looking for new fantastic vegetable mains, sides, or salads. The food and recipes on this blog feel a bit like sunshine to me.
One of my readers asked for the lemon vinaigrette dressing recipe I used on the green beans & scallops salad I made this week. Here is the link to Love and Lemons recipe for Lemon Vinaigrette. I replaced the thyme used in the recipe with tarragon.
I have no affiliation with Love and Lemons, but when I like something, I share it. I’m sure anyone could find at least 3-5 recipes they would like to try; I have mine earmarked.
I hope this post inspires someone and a new food blog to check out. Something I always have on hand? Lemons. 🍋
I wrote about St. Joseph two years ago on my blog. This post was fun for me to research and share the history of the feast day.
I’m having Noah and Aja over for dinner tomorrow night to celebrate St. Joseph’s Day. I don’t know if he remembers always having Italian food and cream puffs on March 19th growing up.
Sadly, I may have to wait until next week to start my seeds. It will be in the teens and twenties in the evenings for the rest of the week, which is too cold for germination.
I wish I had a grow light to set them up in a warm place in our house.
Well, enough about me; here is the link to my blog post, “Make Way for San Giuseppe.”
I used to make my cream puffs with Bavarian cream, but have switched to whipped cream. It’s so much easier and delicious. I learned this from my bio mom. 😊
Tomorrow is also the first day of spring! Because of leap year, it’s on the 19th and not the 20th. Winter is holding on for dear life this week, even though spring has sprung.
After discovering I am 78% Irish, St Patrick’s Day means more to me each year. Since I am Irish, I have really started digging my heels in and learning more about Ireland and the areas where my ancestors came from.
I found out that many Irish people have special gifts like I do. I am another person in my family with the “Irish gift.”
Of course, not all Irish people have spiritual or psychic gifts; every nationality also has gifted people.
They can be labeled as Shamans, healers, psychics, different types of witches, or helpers to the other side, which is my specialty.
I’ve been focusing on honing my craft and doing spiritual work on myself—specifically, on my soul.
Many blockages have opened since removing that vortex in our home that came from two mirrors facing each other
I have finally been able to forgive my mother for everything. If you are a new reader, I wrote a lot about our relationship and its effect on me.
How do I feel? I feel free, lighter, and happier. Incredible.
I was happy af at dance class on Wednesday. I wore my jade shamrock and a green gemstone beaded necklace my friend Everely made for me.
I can think about my good and funny memories growing up. This is a miracle, honestly and truly. I feel as though I have finally completed one of my lessons in this lifetime. Yay!
I wanted to share the link to my “Everyday Irish Soda Bread” post from 2021. I’ll be making two loaves tomorrow morning. Yum!
Here is the recipe that changed my life when making my corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day. Trust me, I’ve shared this recipe with hundreds of people, all of whom had the same success as me. Do not boil your corned beef!
We all know by now that I am a techie knucklehead; I have many other strengths after trying to share the recipe link from my cooking class numerous times.
I’m glad the link didn’t work because now I can share other thoughts, notes, and advice with you.
A few of my cooking students feared Thai and Indian food because they thought they were too spicy.
After explaining to them when you prepare Thai and Indian food at home, you can adjust the spice level you are comfortable with.
Their favorite things we made in class were Thai and Indian cuisine, which I loved so much. I loved even more that they made the recipes they learned at home!
With this recipe, you can use any protein, such as chicken, shrimp, fish, tofu, soy curls, or vegetarian.
Speaking of vegetables, add what you like, have on hand, or do a kitchen sink curry with anything leftover in your fridge.
Spice levels can be left up to you. If you are afraid of spice, start with just a teaspoon of curry paste. If you love spice, use a whole can. I use half a can when I make it and adjust when I have guests.
This recipe can be vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, or gluten-free, using tamari sauce and not soy sauce containing wheat. Many cooks don’t realize this, and gluten poisoning their dinner guests.
Additional gluten-free information: these are the brands of curry paste and fish sauce I use, which are safe and gluten-free. All pure coconut milk is naturally gluten-free.
Whatever brand of broth you use, always check the label that it says gluten-free. Many are not.
I’ve had many requests for the recipe this week. Alas, here it is.
Thai Red Curry with Chicken
Ingredients
1 TBSP vegetable, coconut, or canola oil 1 TBSP Thai red curry paste (more or less depending on your spice level) 1 14 oz can of coconut milk (stirred well) 2 or 3 cloves of finely minced garlic 1 tsp of finely minced garlic 1 large onion cut into crescents 1 red & 1 green, yellow, or orange sweet bell pepper cut into strips 2 carrots cut diagonally or julienned 1 1/2 cups of your choice additional veg (sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, peas), etc 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts cut into bite-size pieces 1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth 1 TBSP fish sauce 1 TBSP soy or tamari sauce for gluten-free 1-2 TBSP brown sugar 1/2 lime freshly squeezed 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Directions
In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil & red curry paste to the pan, stirring in 1/4 can of coconut milk. Cook for 1 minute making sure not to burn, lower heat if necessary.
Add the onion, peppers, carrots, and additional vegetables to the pan and stir-fry the vegetables in the curry paste mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the garlic and ginger to the pan. Cook for another minute. Be careful not to let them burn. Add the rest of the coconut milk and chicken broth to the pan. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
Add the chicken to the pan and stir. Simmer over low heat covered for 20 minutes or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.
Uncover and add the fish sauce, brown sugar, soy or tamari sauce, and lime juice to the pan. Stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro.
Taste, taste, taste. Check for the balance between spice, sweet, acid, salt, or umami. Trust your taste buds and adjust as necessary.
Serve in bowls with steamed jasmine rice and garnish with additional chopped cilantro and lime wedges if desired. Enjoy.
Last Wednesday, when I was at my dance partner Kathleen’s house between belly dance classes, she showed me what she baked earlier that day.
You guessed it, butter swim biscuits. She let me smell them, and I looked at them. They made my mouth water.
Within one minute, I found a gluten-free recipe almost identical to the conventional recipe she used.
Friday morning, Marty’s birthday, I decided to make the biscuits. I failed. Dammit. I did everything correctly and knew I failed before putting them in the oven.
The dough was described in the recipe as a moist dough. I had a soupy mess. Shit. I added more flour than the recipe called for just until it came together. I proceeded with the recipe.
As they baked, I thought I saved them. I let them cool as instructed. Then I tried serving them. The insides were gooey. I was pissed. We ate one each, but eating it wasn’t pleasant, and we needed salt big time.
The next day, I went on YouTube and watched Southern cooks turn out the most glorious butter swim biscuits, and there was no fussy shit.
I watched their technique and how they measured their flour by scooping a cup into it. I used to measure flour this way, and that’s why I failed.
When I follow gluten-free baking recipes, they are always more complicated than necessary. Every gluten-free blogger tries to up the others since they compete for how many subscriptions they have.
“You must not scoop when measuring your flour; you spoon the flour into the cup.”
I follow the instructions if I want these gluten-free recipes to come out correctly. The next time I make the recipe, I cut out the bullshit extra steps and dishes.
The butter swim recipe I used had very few instructions for measuring the ingredients, followed by stirring it until a “moist dough” is formed.
There were no demo photos like most food blogs. Photos are extremely helpful, which is why I use them when I am writing a recipe.
I guess I back-seat drove the first time and measured my flour the “professional’ way. That was my mistake, silly Julz.
On Sunday morning, I needed to try making these butter whatamacallits again. Did I have to? Yes! I was still pissy; the first ones didn’t come out. I HATE wasting food and ingredients.
This time, I got to bake the way I used to, plunging the measuring cup right into the container of flour.
I added salt to the recipe, as all the Southern cooks did on YouTube. I was pleased with the outcome of the butter swim biscuits. They looked, tasted, and smelled like the ones I saw on YouTube.
After writing this, I know many people are shaking their heads and saying, “tisk tisk” at how bad these biscuits are for you since they are “swimming” in butter.
Butter swim biscuits use the same amount of butter or shortening as regular biscuits. These biscuits are a treat, not something you can eat daily unless you want to end up in a cath lab.
Scones also use the same amount of butter, so I rarely make them. I believe food and eating should be thought of as “everything in moderation.
For example, if I want to eat a scone, biscuits and gravy, or high-fat items, I’d rather eat a small amount and be satisfied than make a low-fat version. Moderation.
So would I recommend making butter swim biscuits? Absolutely! They are also the easiest biscuits to make.
We had the biscuits over three days with sausage gravy, preserves, and ham. They are so filling that you can only eat one, which helps when counting fat and cholesterol levels.
I must admit I miss the days when I could buy pop & fresh biscuits and crack open that tube, like winding a jack in the box. Pop!
So, if you like dense, crunchy, and buttery af biscuits, these are for you!
Just google butter swim biscuits, and a slew of recipes will come up, or go on YouTube and check out the southern cooks that helped me. 😊
“Gal”entines Day can be celebrated between February 1 and 13. The tea party was set for Saturday, February 10, so it qualified
I baked Earl gray tea cakes on Friday and glazed them with a made-from-scratch lavender glaze. Next, I baked lemon bars made with Meyer lemons. They came out amazing.
Finding Meyer lemons at Trader Joe’s that were $2.99 a bag, the same price as conventional and less than $3.99 for organic, is fantastic.
Just before the party, I made two kinds of tea sandwiches. The first was a cucumber and Boursin cheese sandwich. I used the Boursin cheese I made for “Sydney’s omelet.” It made the sandwiches so flavorful.
I forgot to take a photo of the sandwich platter. 😑
I whipped up a small batch of curried egg salad for the other sandwiches. The table setting came together quickly since I had a lot of different serving pieces and dishes.
Maria brought a tea party floral arrangement in a teacup. It couldn’t have been more perfect!
Nelly was a little doll and so happy to have friends over. She loves Maria, and she took her to Kat immediately. She settled into her little bed in the dining room. She would go over to Kat for a little loving.
She also spent her time inside Maria’s sweater that was hung on the stair post. Nelly smelled Maria & Jon’s three dogs, two donkeys, two chickens, one cat, and a flock of sheep.
Note…the sweater didn’t smell like any of the animals to a human’s nose. LOL.
I have always loved having tea parties since I was a little girl, plus I got to use my Mema’s rosebud teacups. I have beautiful memories of Mema and me drinking tea and having Stella Dora Anisette Toast. 💖
My friends and I enjoyed the food and tea. We had fun conversations and lots of laughs, exactly like the new holiday we had learned about, Galentine’s Day!
I took the leftover cookies with me to Martin’s dinner party last and got to share them with my other friends. Life is really good.
One of my favorite TV series is “The Bear.” I’m not going to get into the series or episodes, but in season two, Sydney makes Natalie, who is pregnant, an omelet. An omelet that is made with so much care and love.
After watching that episode, I started craving Sydney’s omelet. I watched Sydney several times making the omelet, taking note of Chef Sydney’s carefully prepared ingredients and techniques.
I made my first ever Boursin cheese and bought a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips, something I hardly ever purchase. I finely chopped some chives and was ready to go.
Marty likes to turn everything into a competition, which I knew when I asked him if we wanted to make our omelets together.
This is what was left in the sieve. When working on your culinary skills, this is a necessary step.
Marty is a better short-order cook than I am and can make a perfect French omelet. It is harder than you think.
This is why an executive chef will ask an applicant to make a French omelet. It tells them everything they need to know about the person’s skills.
Marty’s omelet is on the left, and mine is on the right.
I circled the flaws in my omelet in these two photos.
Long story short, Marty made a perfect omelet, while mine had two golden patches. I would not have been hired if this was an interview.
I know most people would think, “Big shit,” that I had flaws in my omelet, but I am working on my skills, and this bugged the hell out of me.
The last scrumptious bite.
The omelet is a viral recipe, and people are going nuts over it. We aren’t the type to try anything viral like people do on TikTok, but this was different because we “know” Chef Sydney.
Many people are making the omelet their own by using different chips, but we wanted to make it exactly as it was on the show.
I’m skeptical if cheddar jalapeño chips would have paired with the Boursin cheese, or would it take over?
It was every bit as delicious as it looked on the show. The smooth Boursin cheese and the sour cream and onion ruffle chips crunch were a flavor bomb with a great mouth feel.
Even perfectly cooked French omelets can be a bit bland, but this takes it to the next level. That is why this scene in the episode and the recipe is the talk of the town.
Call it what you will: meat mallet, pounder, or tenderizer. I have a 4-sided one that is about 30 years old. I have a flat pounder that I never use for meat but as a hammer.
It’s part of my Italian tool kit, which contains a pounder, a butter knife, duct tape, and zip ties. That’s what my dad called it, but I have to tell you this tool kit is very useful.
I admit that even though I had a 4-sided mallet, I never used all four sides. I never even thought about them until recently.
I become a better cook every day and love to share everything I have learned or taught myself with you. If only I learned these things decades ago.
Every kitchen needs to have a meat mallet, whether you are a vegetarian or vegan. Their use is not limited to only meats.
You can use a mallet to crush garlic, nuts, and olives to remove pits, peppercorns, potatoes, rice, lemongrass, cardamom pods, crackers, cookies, or candies. Pretty handy, right?
I wanted to attempt to make braciole, Italian stuffed meat that is braised in tomato sauce; again, I watched a video on how to make it and how to pound the meat with a mallet properly.
I felt stupid; I didn’t know how to use a mallet properly. You learn by doing, so that’s what I did. The braciole came out good! 100% better than my previous too-tough and thick version
Last Saturday, I wanted to make stuffed pork tenderloin. I remembered what I learned from the braciole and took photos as I went along.
Sam was visiting for the weekend, taking a class, so while he and Marty were out of the house, I prepped our dinner. This was perfect so I could spend more time with them instead of alone in the kitchen.
Knowing how to use a meat mallet is so much easier now. It’s all about using all 4-sides and letting gravity do the work—no more upper body workouts when preparing dinner.
The tenderloin opened like a book turned into this!
I removed the silverskin and butterflied the pork by carefully cutting it horizontally, like opening a book, making sure I didn’t cut all the way through.
Next, I placed the open book on the cutting board and covered it with plastic wrap. I used side number one, then two, three, and the flat side. Gravity did the work.
The first pork tenderloin came out textbook perfect; the larger one I cut a little too far in the middle. Ugh! I repaired it when I used butcher’s twine to tie the stuffed tenderloin closed
The stuffed tenderloin in the distance looks like it did before I started, the front one not so much. 😕
I made a simple stuffing for the pork; you can use any recipe or boxed stuffing mix. I added cooked chestnuts since I have a few bags on hand.
The chestnuts gave the stuffing a delightful sweetness Marty and Sam couldn’t put their fingers on. I am so glad I tried this; now I’ll always put them into stuffing.
Ocean State Job Lot always has packages of cooked chestnuts at their registers. How random, right?
I always stock up on them since I use them for a pasta sauce with chestnuts and mushrooms and a dish called chestnut chicken.
I seasoned the meat with onion & garlic powder, kosher salt & pepper, and paprika, then put it into the fridge until dinner.
I popped the pork into a 400-degree oven and roasted it for about 30 minutes or until it registered an internal temperature of 145-150 degrees.
I also made garlic & parmesan sweet potatoes, a recipe Sam found turned out to be a keeper. Here is the link to the recipe:
The sweet potatoes didn’t turn mushy; you could remove them still “shingled” when plating.
A few green beans sauteed in butter, kosher salt & pepper rounded out the plate. Marty requested this meal that he loved for his birthday dinner next month. Yay!
Don’t let seemingly intimidating recipes, like braciole, dictate what you can make or not. Try it if you have never used a meat mallet or use it often. What else can I do with a mallet, you may ask?
Chicken that has been tenderized and pounded thinner is perfect for chicken parm, chicken marsala, grilled chicken, or breaded chicken cutlets for sandwiches. The same goes for pork or flank steaks. Trust me on this.
If you don’t have a meat mallet, they run from $9.99 to $30 at most stores or on Amazon. I recommend a 4-sided one, but the decision will be yours.
It will make you a better cook if it inspires you to become one like me. I always want to get better at everything I do, like dancing, gardening, drawing, and writing. I will never settle for “good enough.”
By now, most of my readers know I am from New Jersey. I grew up in Elizabeth for the first nine years of my life; then we moved to Iselin. It felt far away, far away from the Italian section of Elizabeth.
It wasn’t until I moved to Vermont that I realized that people outside of downstate NY & NJ didn’t understand the Italian American lingo. You didn’t have to be Italian to know the lingo; people just did.
It felt so weird to me when I had to pronounce Italian food “properly” if I wanted people to understand what the fuck I was saying.
I still tawk the way I tawk at home, but I have learned to speak broadcast news when need be. Here is what I’m talking about:
Written by Peter Genovese from NJ Advance Media
Rule Number One for Speaking Jersey Italian: Drop the vowel at the end of each word. Most of the time, anyway. This is like that “i before e except after c” rule you learned in fifth grade. It holds true except when it doesn’t. So, “cavadeel” instead of cavatelli, cappacol or gabbagool instead of cappacola, “manicot” or “manigott” instead of manicotti.
Pasta fagiole is “pasta fazool,” right? Not so fast. Several chefs pronounced every last syllable – “fa-gee-o-li.” Others pronounced every letter in “cavatelli,” not the widely accepted “cavadeel.”
Rule Number Two for Speaking Jersey Italian: Get the “easy” words right, then proceed to the tougher ones. “Gnocchi” looks uncomplicated, but to speak it like a true Italian, you must roll the “gno” – “gnawww-ki.” It is certainly not “knock-ki.” Same with “ravioli.” Give the “ioli” a little operatic flourish, prolonging the three syllables a bit, but not so much that people start thinking you learned Italian by reading cans of Chef Boyardee.
Rule Number Three for Speaking Jersey Italian:Impress your Italian friends with the proper pronounciation of words they thought they had been pronouncing right all along. One good example: bruschetta. It’s “broos-ketta-a,” says Filippo Russo, the chef/owner of da Filippo in Somerville. “That’s all over Italy.”
Rule Number Four for Speaking Jersey Italian: It’s “sauce.” Unless the chef insists it’s “gravy.” Which is correct?
Here is how I understand the difference between the two. Marinara sauce contains no meats. The sauce is made and cooked quickly, in under an hour, and is bright red.
I call “gravy” Sunday sauce. It’s a 50/50 split, as people call it. Sunday sauce is always eaten on, you guessed it, on a Sunday as a family Sunday dinner.
Sunday Sauce is usually made on a Friday or Saturday since the prep time is lengthy and the sauce cooks on a slow simmer all day. This type of sauce always tastes better when prepared a day or two ahead.
“Gravy” is used because it contains several kinds of meats such as braciole, pork ribs or neck, sausage, and meatballs.
The meats are browned before adding them to the sauce, giving it a rich, brownish-red color. Meats are used when making any gravy; see how it makes sense now.
Yesterday, I made butternut squash manicotti with a creamy parmesan sauce with shallots and thyme. I served it with chicken Milanese. The two dishes were delicious and worth the time and effort.
While I was working in the kitchen yesterday, Marty asked me if a bomb had gone off in the kitchen. I have to admit the kitchen was bad even though I usually clean as I go, but that didn’t happen yesterday. When I have to pivot while I am cooking, things get wild.
Here is why I had to pivot. After attempting to make butternut squash ravioli, which failed miserably, I decided to make manicotti. Here’s what happened.
I rolled out my pasta dough. It was perfect, and it wasn’t sticking to the workbench. I used a small scoop when portioning out the squash filling on the dough.
I was holding my breath as I placed the other piece of pasta dough over the top. I carefully began to press the top to the bottom around the filling, and the dough started to break, and the squash was squishing through the top. Mother fucker! Ugh!!
After swearing, I took the top off, wiped the filling from the dough, and put it back in the bowl. The dough was very wet, so I needed to add more flour and knead it until it was smooth. This is gluten-free mind out so things were iffy at this point.
This was the point I had to decide what to do. Do I make lasagna like last time, or do I make manicotti? After I rolled out some rectangles, I blanched, filled, and rolled them.
The next step I didn’t plan on, but the manicotti needed a bechamel sauce. I’m a great sauce maker, so this extra step was no biggie.
I still had one last messy thing I had to do, pound out chicken breasts, bread them, and fry them. I popped them into a warm oven while the manicotti baked.
Then I tackled the inevitable clean-up, which was not that bad.
Here is the kitchen all cleaned up with the manicotti waiting to be popped into the oven. This cooking project was way more work and effort than I had planned.
I’ve yet to successfully make gluten-free ravioli after trying many times. It took me seven years to perfect our spatzle, so this is no different. I’ll figure it out. Someday.
I grew up not knowing any of my nationalities. If you have recently joined my blog, I was adopted. People tried to guess my nationality for years.
The number one thing people guessed was Italian, then Jewish and Mediterranean, coming in third place. I honestly thought I was those things myself. These photos are good examples.
My adoptive mother told me year after year that I could wear green on St. Patrick’s Day since “Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day,” almost rubbing it in because she was Irish and a bitch.
Christmas 1986, did I look Italian or what? I was a full-on Jersey girl guidette who gave the Brooklyn girls a run for their money. Lol.
Our family didn’t have a traditional Christmas anything when it came to food. I remember eating an early snack on Christmas Eve with my dad at his Aunt Fran & Uncle Eddie’s place.
Fran’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Spano, were right off the boat from Sicily and spoke no English. Food and music are universal languages. I loved being around the Spanos.
When I was little, we would go to my great-grandma’s place for Christmas Eve. My cousins were there, and it was fun. I don’t remember anything about food, so it had to be unremarkable, like cold cuts and salads.
After Great Grandma passed away, we moved to Iselin, 15 minutes away from Elizabeth, NJ. My Aunt Fran and the rest of my dad’s side of the family didn’t want us to move away.
My mother didn’t like any of them, including my Mema. She couldn’t wait to get away from them. I was sad and afraid when we moved; I was nine.
After we moved away, we went out to eat on Christmas Eve. I hated it and would look at the other poor children in the restaurant. They probably had a mother that didn’t like to cook too.
When Marty and I got married, I wanted to be sure we began our traditions for the holidays. However, It took six years for that to happen.
Our first Christmas tree was in 1989, and our first barn apartment was decorated for Christmas.
Right from the start, both of our mothers would ruin every holiday by fighting over who got us and putting unfair expectations and obligations on us. It was awful.
It got so bad one year, and we were tired of it. We decided the following year not to celebrate Christmas at all. No gifts, no tree, we ate Chinese food like Jewish people did on Christmas.
After that year, I volunteered to work on Christmas Eve and open the store I worked at bright and early on the 26th. That solved the problem we had. We would visit sometime in mid-December, and the pressure wasn’t as bad.
This tree is the year Noah was born in 1985. We decorated it long before he was born.
The year Noah was born, on December 18, I told everyone that my children would always wake up in their own beds on Christmas morning.
Since he was born a week before Christmas, both sets of parents and Marty’s brother Andy were at our place for the holiday.
The whole thing was a complete blur to us, and quite frankly, I didn’t give a fuck what anyone did, ate, or if they were fighting or killing each other.
The following year, we finally celebrated the holidays the way we wanted, which was wonderful! We always had a real tree, something I never had, and collected ornaments for the boys as they grew
We could have more grown-up meals when the kids were a little older. I decided we would do the Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve.
I usually make clams, shellfish, calamari, and maybe flounder this year. I always make fresh pasta, gluten-free, of course.
Marty chose his family tradition of pea soup for Christmas Eve lunch and his traditional breakfast on Christmas morning, German pancakes with lots of fillings and toppings.
Homemade split pea soup with a balsamic reduction and German pancakes hot and fresh.
We decided on prime rib, popovers, and a potato and vegetable dish for Christmas dinner. Look at that gorgeous Christmas dinner! I’m drooling just looking at it. That year, I made a spinach souffle that turned out perfectly for my first time making one.
I learned about the Feast of the Seven Fishes from my Aunt Fran and some Italian friends I worked with. I went to their homes and saw the preparation in full mode. Oh, how I wanted to stay and eat with them and not in some restaurant.
You don’t have to be Italian to celebrate the feast. I was looking for something that felt traditional to me and made me feel like I belonged somewhere.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes originated in Southern Italy and Sicily by the Roman Catholics. The practice is known throughout Italy and Italian homes here in America.
The Christmas Eve meal is very serious business regarding religion, but more importantly, it’s all about the food.
This is an understatement. Family members start prepping the food days before. Everyone has certain dishes they are in charge of, and of course, there is a lot of loud talking in the kitchens.
I don’t think I know any Italians who don’t talk loud; it felt natural since I am a big mouth.
While the feast name has seven fishes, some families have three dishes, others as many as 9 or 11. The number always has to be an odd number for some reason.
Why seven fishes, you may ask. Most people believe seven represents the seven sacraments in the Catholic faith. It makes sense since I had to know those sacraments in and out when I attended Catholic school.
Roman Catholic people always fasted on Fridays and before the big holidays like Easter and Christmas, eating only fish as a vigil. That’s how it started in Italy.
Not growing up in an Italian family, I wasn’t introduced to a variety of fish like salted cod, other varieties of fish, eel, baby octopus, squid, and more.
I can’t even fathom eating an eel or watching it being nailed down to a cutting board and the skin peeled off. 🤢
Calamari and shellfish I knew, along with a regular Friday night supper of fish sticks or Gordon’s Fishermen’s breaded cod fish filets. I loved them, and fish sticks with lots of tartar sauce.
I usually make at least three fish on Christmas Eve. Like others in the past, this year’s menu does not have authentic dishes, but that doesn’t matter. Here’s my menu:
When planning a holiday meal, I like to visualize what the colors of food will look like and what vessel I will serve them in. This is super fun for me.
I’d love to hear what some of your traditions are. You can email me directly at julziestyle@gmail.com. Food and traditions are an excellent way of connecting with people.
I am 78% Irish for new readers, which was a shocker to me, but I am happy to be part of two beautiful biology Irish families now.
