Buon Natale a Tutti

So, it's Christmas Eve, and the only people up at this hour are me, the gardener with the ridiculous leaf blower (I thought those things were outlawed. What ever happened to raking?), and the birds. I haven't heard any of my neighbors out for the day. The trash truck did go by - I forget about them; probably the most important men in my life, how could I forget them?

I've been neglecting my bird feeding responsibilities. What with rain and cold, all incentives to go outside are lost. Plus, I don't want to disturb the heat I've managed to gather up in my house by sheer determination - opening the door is out of the question. Bird feeding will have to wait for a sunnier morning.

Well, I have to write about last Wednesday's 'Warm up your Wednesday' recommendation - Cabbage and Potato Casserole. It was FANTASTIC. I ran out to get some pancetta. Not in the mood for driving to a good Italian market, but not wanting to shop at Ralphs or Bristol Farms, I opted for Trader Joe's, which usually has what I need, but of course, not this time. There must have been an early morning run on pancetta, because there was not a single pancetta roll to be found, so I picked up a package of applewood, cured bacon instead.

The dish was easy and quick. I don't have a working oven, so I had to make it on the stove top. This changed how I cooked it a little, and of course, the time: I had to double the time because I kept the heat low to make sure I didn't burn the bottom of the pan. Even with the time doubled, it was still an easy fix.

The long and short - the dish is a fantastic tasting, comfort light meal - even though it does contain some cream and cheese. The amount of these ingredients is negligible in my book.

It was so good, I picked up another head of cabbage from the farmer's market and plan on making it again tonight - hey, what can I say, it's Wednesday.

On another Wednesday note, I found the sweetest blog, and yet another argument for my theory of Wednesday, called The Wednesday Chef, hosted by Luisa Weiss, who cooks the recipes she finds in the NY Times and LA Times, and then writes about what worked, what didn't. I think this might be the central core of the blog, but she also has some entries about time spent with a friend, sipping elderberry syrup and all the memories that brought up for her. It's got some great recipes, like this simple recipe for Irish Brown Bread other great cooking blog links, and some amazing writing - not to mention the pictures.

This find was a great Wednesday find, something (else) to warm my Wednesday with. I was so motivated by Luisa's writings, that I ran to my refrigerator to see what I could create. What luck! It just so happened that I went to my friend's house for a Latke and Draedle bash. I was dispatched at the end of super fun evening with a plateful of Latke's to take home.

Well, I decided to create something all my own - I took the latke's, a slices of the leftover applewood bacon, onion (lots of onion), about 1/2 milk and 4 eggs. And here's what I got:

I browned the bacon, about 7 minutes on a medium heat, then added the onion. I cooked this mixture for about 8 more minutes, until the onions were softened to an almost transparent stage, just as the sugars start releasing, still on medium heat. I salted this mixture just a bit. Then I broke up the latke's (about 5 - some were sweet potato, some were traditional, and others were carrot and yam latke's) and folded them into the onion mixture, blended well - all the while the heat is still on medium then to low. In a bowl, I mixed together the 4 eggs and milk, salt and fresh pepper. I added this mixture to the latke mixture, blend together well. To this I did add a few pieces of thinly cut Monterey Jack cheese.

Then, I took an aluminum foil tray (mine was small enough to fit in my counter-top/toaster oven), oiled it just a bit, added some more thinly cut pieces of Monterey Jack cheese to the bottom of the tray, just enough for flavor, not to be sloppy, poured the mixture into the aluminum tray, placed a few more pieces of the cheese to the top, covered with more aluminum. Set my timer for 45 minutes. Voila! I had a fantastic applewood-latke-quiche-type-thing.

My house smelled delicious for about an hour after -- what a nice little breakfast.

So, my Christmas Eve, you ask? I have a handful of dvd's I rented, a casserole I want to make, and some poetry I hope to create. I'll spend this holiday eve in reflection, which may or may not be a good idea. I'll tell you next Wednesday.

Oh, and I'm tracking Santa - it's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

Wishing everyone I know and love good tidings, health and lots and lots of blessings.