First, let me apologize for not posting more often. Sure, the holidays were hectic, but there were lots of food things going on that I should have written about. But the problem wasn't just my busyness. I couldn't access my blogger account. The website made a change and all of the sudden, I couldn't log in, post, change photos, etc. And if you've ever dealt with a big website such as ... Google, you know how challenging it can be to get answers.
Anyhoo, I figured things out and am back in action.
I did get caught up in the craziness of the holidays, but had a nice, relaxing visit to Florida for a week to visit Barry's family. For those of you married to the idea that Christmas has to involve freezing temperatures and snow, I beg to differ. Christmas is perfectly fine in warm temperatures. Eating appetizers poolside before Christmas dinner is lovely. Going for a swim on Christmas Eve is wonderful -- rejuvenating. And wearing sandals for a week in December works for me.
Okay, back to food.
We arrived in Florida on Christmas Eve (yes, we flew out of Boston and into Miami on one of the busiest travel days of the year ... and it was seamless!) and went to Barry's mom's house, where we stayed for the week. Viola is 93 and doing pretty well. She doesn't cook like she used to but she has certainly done her share: a lifetime of eggplant parmigiana, lasagna, spaghetti, meatballs and the like. Viola is a wonderful cook. Shortly after we arrived, she handed me a recipe and asked me if I would make pizzelles. In case you don't know, pizzelles are thin cookies that are made using a press, kind of like a waffle iron, flavored with anise. I had only made them once before, for a friend's wedding. And that experience was old school. My friend, her mother, her aunts and her sister all got together to make 500 pizzelles and various other Italian cookies for the reception. And we used the family pizzelle irons, which made one cookie at a time.
So when Viola handed me the recipe, I blanched a bit. I'd just gotten off a plane, I was aching to go out to the pool for a swim and I wasn't sure I had the wherewithal to use a hot iron to make cookies for the next day. But then (cue the angels singing), I found the pizzelle maker. Viola had upgraded to a Cuisinart pizzelle maker. This new gadget makes two cookies at a time, really fast.
I set out to make some pizzelles while Barry and his mom visited. I brought the first batch into the dining room and they loved them. In fact, they loved them so much, I had to make another batch so we had enough to bring to Barry's sister's house the next day. And I made more before we left to head home so that Viola had some to enjoy.
Perhaps it was serendipity that I had a $50 Visa gift card in the mail when we arrived home, a rebate from buying a phone. It was exactly enough to buy my own pizzelle maker.