Christmas Gifts Archive

Cappelletti and What Time Is Midnight Mass?

Posted December 20, 2015 By Adri

A Vino Aperitivo for the Season


Midnight Mass


It’s early on Christmas Eve when the phone rings in the parish office, and the caller asks “What time is Midnight Mass?” Honest. Every year at parishes around the world inquiring minds want to know. A friend who was a parish administrator herself said that she fielded dozens of such calls every Christmas. We all chuckled at the goofy question. And every Christmas Eve morning I called my friend at work, put on my silliest, most heavily accented voice and asked the very same question. I could hear the hesitation in her voice while she figured it out, and then she replied “And Merry Christmas to you too, Miss Adri.” It was our very own Christmas greeting.

But Christmas Eve Midnight mass presents its own logistical problems. What do you serve before Mass? We’ve eaten a big feast just hours before, but by the time 10 PM rolls around, as the rest of the relatives arrive for a visit and the drive to the family parish, everyone is ready for “a little something” to tide us over. Somehow when I think of Mass, and what to drink, I think of Italian vermouth – served straight up in a pretty etched glass. But it is Christmas, and that should have you seeing and serving red, the festive kind, crimson with citrus and herbal notes. I know. You think I am talking about Campari, or perhaps Aperol. Nope. Allow me to introduce you to Cappelletti. It’s not the Bridge convention, nor is it Modena’s famous pasta, the “little hats” bathed in capon broth so popular at this time of year. Read more… »

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Three-Nut Fingers and The Inaugural Italian Gals Cookie Exchange

Posted December 17, 2014 By Adri

A Pop-Up Cookie Event


Christmas Cookie Exchange


2014 is the inaugural year of the Italian Gals Christmas Cookie Exchange. One minute Linda, Domenica, Marie and I were gabbing about food (what else?) on Facebook, and the next we were doing what we do best – getting busy in the kitchen. Linda figured out the logistics, and we all baked and packed our goodies for shipment to one another’s homes. Linda sent her spiced Italian Christmas “Brownies.” Domenica tantalized us with Cranberry-Hazelnut Biscotti, a sample from her forthcoming book, Ciao Biscotti.


Christmas Cookie Exchange


Marie baked (literally) hundreds of her famous fig-filled, spicy, orange-kissed Cucidati. My Three-Nut Fingers made their way from California to Illinois, New Jersey, and Virginia and into the homes of my partners in this project. We had a ball, and a tradition was born. Sweet Mouthfuls! Read more… »

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Call it Spaghetti Rapida – A Pasta to Die For

Posted December 4, 2014 By Adri

Gifts for Christmas Giving #2


Spaghetti Rapida


Every anniversary deserves a celebration, and to celebrate 90 years of making some of the world’s finest pasta the people at Rustichella d’Abruzzo have introduced the world’s fastest cooking spaghetti, 90″ Rapida. It cooks in exactly 90 carefully timed seconds. I have to admit that at first I was skeptical. But one try, and I was convinced. Take the classic pasta dish, Aglio e Olio, Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil. Because the sauce is so quick to make people always say you can dish up a plate of it in the time it takes to cook the pasta, set the table and pour the wine. It’s even faster than that now. Drop these strands of golden spaghetti into boiling water, and ninety seconds later it is ready to eat. Read more… »

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Strucà – Olive Oil Panettone

Posted December 1, 2014 By Adri

Gifts for Christmas Giving #1

 

Struca-Olive Oil Panettone

 

All through December big hatbox-shaped loaves of Italy’s classic Panettone make appearances on Italian tables everywhere. The sweet yeasted bread, packed with dried fruits, chocolates, chestnuts, or other sweet treats – even cream – is a classic Christmas tradition. Guests often arrive with one, and Bart and I buy them by the dozen to give as Christmas gifts. Last week I was looking at the array on the internet when I came across Strucà, a variant of Panettone made with extra virgin olive oil. No butter. No dairy. No problem. This is not your nonna’s Panettone. I had to buy one. See, the deal with me is I am like a woman in a jewelry store, or the proverbial kid in a candy store. When I am in a food hall, I just can’t leave empty-handed. Read more… »

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Where to buy Corzetti stamps

Posted January 14, 2012 By Adri

More from the Corzetti Files


Corzetti Stamps-640x396-0993_425


I have heard from many of you out there who said you need help finding a corzetti stamp (stampa). While I have included sources for corzetti stamps in my other articles about corzetti, (corzetti stampati or croxetti), here is a list of corzetti stamp makers and how to contact them.


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One can purchase corzetti stamps from Terry Mirri of Artisanal Pasta Tools in Sonoma, California. The stamps are fabricated to order; you can choose from three different styles of stamp, multiple choices of woods and a wide variety of choices in carved design.

Artisanal Pasta Tools
Sonoma, California, USA
707-939-6474 between 9 AM and 6 PM Pacific time

Visit Artisanal Pasta Tools


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Intagliatore Signor Franco Casoni of Chiavari, Liguria. Sig. Casoni will make a custom stamp to order from your own design. He carves his stamps from beech.

Franco Casoni
Via Bighetti 73
16043 Chiavari (GE) Italia

Visit Sig. Casoni’s web site


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Intagliatore Signor Pietro Picetti will carve a custom stamp for you from historic designs or a design of your own. He uses beech, pear, and other hard, fruit woods.

Mr. Pietro Picetti
15 Via Pieve
19028 Varese Ligure
La Spezie, Liguria, Italia
Telephone 0187/842195


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Filippo Romagnoli
3/5 Via Firenze
50028 Tavarnelle Val di Pesa
Firenze ITALIA

visit: Florentine Touch


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This is Part 4 of a series – The Corzetti Files.
For detailed information and photo essays on how to make corzetti, along with recipes, please delve further into The Corzetti Files:

Edible Art, The Corzetti Files – Part 1

The Intagliatore of Chiavari, The Corzetti Files – Part 2

Corzetti agli Spinaci con Gorgonzola, The Corzetti Files – Part 3

Where to Buy Corzetti Stamps, The Corzetti Files – Part 4

Corzetti Stampati – and a Giveaway! The Corzetti Files – Part 5

And if you have questions about this delightful pasta or the tools used to make it, please feel free to leave your inquiry in the comment section.

I have no affiliation with any product, manufacturer, or site mentioned in this article.

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