Natale in Cucina con la Matta — andiamo matta con i dolci!
Christmas in the Kitchen with the Matta — going a little crazy with the sweets!
La magia delle feste inizia in cucina
The Magic of the Holidays Begins in the Kitchen
Ogni anno, la settimana prima di Natale, vado un po’ “Matta” — pazza.Entro in cucina e non ne esco finché non ho preparato tre tipi di biscotti e una montagna di pane ai mirtilli. Preparo tutti questi dolci per i miei figli, come faceva mia madre per me e i miei fratelli. È la nostra tradizione di famiglia.
Every year, the week before Christmas, I go a little “Matta” — crazy. I enter the kitchen and don’t leave until I’ve made three kinds of cookies and a mountain of cranberry bread. I make all these sweets for my kids, as my mother did for me and my siblings. It’s our family tradition.
La mia tradizione natalizia: biscotti e pane di mirtilli
My Christmas Tradition: Cookies and Cranberry Bread
Ben presto, la casa si riempie di un delizioso profumo di dolci appena sfornati e, improvvisamente, la famiglia appare magicamente in cucina, sperando in un pezzo di pane caldo appena tolto dal forno. Devo distribuire biscotti e pane ai mirtilli a piccole dosi ai ragazzi (e a mio marito), altrimenti finirebbero tutto non appena lo preparo.
Before long, the house is filled with the lovely smell of baked goods, and suddenly the family magically appears in the kitchen, hoping for a piece of warm bread fresh from the oven. I have to ration out the cookies and cranberry bread in small portions to the kids (and my husband); otherwise, they’d all be gone as soon as they’re made.
Sono astuta, però, e cerco di nascondere le prelibatezze appena fatte. Tuttavia, i miei figli sono più furbi di me e conoscono già tutti i nascondigli. Oh, beh! Cosa posso fare se non unirmi a loro e godermi un piatto di biscotti? Non posso pensare alle calorie ora… ci sarà tempo per quello a gennaio!
’m clever, though, and try to hide the goodies I’ve just made. However, my kids are smarter than I am and already know all my hiding spots. Oh well! What can I do but join them and enjoy a plateful of cookies? I can’t think about calories right now… there will be plenty of time for that in January!
La MATTA ricetta del pane di mirtilli
La Matta’s recipe for Cranberry Bread
Ingredienti / Ingredients:
2 misurini farina
2 cups flour
1 misurino zucchero
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cucchiaini di lievito in polvere
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cucchiaino di sale
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cucchiaino di bicarbonato di sodio
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 misurino succo d’arancia
3/4 cup orange juice
2 cucchiai di burro
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cucchiaio di scorza d’arancia grattugiata
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 uovo ben sbattuto
1 egg, well beaten
1-1/2 misurini di mirtilli freschi o surgelati tritati grossolanamente
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 misurino di noci tritate (opzionale)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Procedimento / Directions:
Pre-riscaldare il forno a 350 gradi. Ungere una teglia da pane da 9×5 pollici. Mescolare farina, zucchero, lievito, sale e bicarbonato. Incorporare succo d’arancia, burro, scorza d’arancia e l’uovo. Mescolare fino a ottenere un composto omogeneo. Aggiungere mirtilli e noci. Distribuire uniformemente nella teglia. Cuocere per 55 minuti o fino a quando uno stuzzicadenti inserito al centro esce pulito. Raffreddare su una griglia per 15 minuti. Rimuovere dalla teglia e raffreddare completamente. Ottieni una pagnotta.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5-inch bread pan. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir in orange juice, shortening, orange peel, and egg. Mix until well blended. Add cranberries and nuts. Spread evenly in the pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely. Makes one loaf.
Vedo veramente che sei “Type A” Melissa! Tante biscotti!!!!! 🙂
Ora scrivo in inglese. My emails to you still bounce back. Hubby says there’s something in email programs where you can block emails from certain parties. Maybe you’ve hit that by accident in my case? I tried your “click to contact” button above, too, and can’t get it to work. Baci jann
Type A? (non hai la mininma idea!) 😉
provaci italiamelissa@comcast.net
Wow. I just discovered your blog through your twitter page and I love it! Especially the post about the presepi and the biscotti. I always wondered how those hand-made presepe are made. Now I can make one myself! Your Italian is excellent. How long have you been speaking?
Laura
Ciao Laura, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I LOVE comments and meeting new readers. Last year was the first time I had the pleasure of building the presepe with my Italian daughter…and now year 2 and it has become a new family tradition. I love the figurines and building the scene. I have basically self taught myself the Italian language and it was about twelve years ago that I jumped in and started to seriously tackle the language. I studied art in Firenze in college, but didn’t learn the language well then…but after the birth of my 3rd child was born about 12 years ago I decided to pick up the language again and really learn it well. The rest, as the say…is history!
Where are you from and how is your Italian? Are you studying it currently? Ci sentiamo! Meli
Ciao Melissa, che bei biscotti che hai fatto! Sembrano molto delioziosi!
Complimenti per questo blog – veramente sei brava a scrivere in italiano!
Keep up the good work!
Larry
Ciao Larry! Benvenuto e Buon Natale!