Buon anno

I always feel a special connection to the New Year's holiday, because my grandmother's maiden name was Terese Capadanno, which translates to head of the year. I till miss my Nonna so much, and during this holiday season of baking, I thought of her often as I made her biscotti and pizzelli.

Buon Anno a tutti!

Buon natale

And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Honor Christmas

I've been unpacking the (yikes. ten.) boxes of Christmas decorations since the week after Thanksgiving, but it's just not Christmas until I find this little sign. Every year, I'm tempted to keep it out, but I'm afraid that I'd get used to it, and not see it with fresh eyes the way you do when you bring something special out. And this is my special Christmas thing.

Of course, I have others. And I have new treasures. Like Santa Chef. You've seen him before, but here, again, ta dah...

A Santa that cooks.

 

Santa, will you marry me?

And then there's Mr. and Mrs. Santa, my Santa Vincenzo finds:

And, this year, finally, I instituted the kitchen tree I've been thinking about for so many years.

In last year's after Christmas markdowns at Williams Sonoma in Mashpee Commons, I found a fantastic set of kitchen ornaments, with an Italian coffee maker, a Cuisinart toaster, and a copper bundt pan. I added the fantastic Santa Claus rolling pin ornaments my cousin Beth made. And this week, I was poking around KMart after work, and I found the wonderful cooking utensils from Martha Stewart. I needed something else, something, something....then I remembered!

 

The tea kettle my cousin Jan sent me years ago. I keep it in my china cupboard all year long because it reminds me of Jan whenever I see it. I opened the door, grabbed the kettle, added a ribbon link et voila!

Love my tree. Love Christmas! Love you all!

Oh pioneers!

Okay, click here and read this wonderful recipe. It's for rosemary rolls in an iron skillet using frozen rolls. I love rosemary (it's like eating pine needles), and with our warm fall on Cape Cod this year, the big rosemary plant I dragged into the breezeway is still hanging on. I don't know the Pioneer Woman (yet), but her web site has loads of great recipes, and she's in the midst of a book tour for her new book "Pioneer Woman Cooks." Can't wait to read it!

What wins my heart, though, is the point in the rolls recipe where she says, "I'm not stopping there. I never stop there. Stopping there is my least favorite thing to do in life..." Words to live by, Pioneer Woman -- even here on Cape Cod!

Dew, I love you? Dew I; Oh, my. Dewey, deed I do!

I'm at my happiest in a library, and one of the best parts of living on Cape Cod is our access to the outstanding CLAMS system, which links libraries all over the Cape. So thanks to the Writer's Almanac for the notice that today is the birthdate of Melvil Dewey, the man who developed the Dewey Decimal System -- where would bibliophiles be without him?  Happy Birthday to the man who said, "My heart is open to anything that's either decimal or about libraries."

The dear little Cotuit Library.

It's snowing! It's snowing!

Yes, finally. It's snowing on Cape Cod, and burying all the roses that have kept blooming right through December. Snow!

I love the snow song in "White Christmas," don't you? Listen to it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yQ2xqCE2E8