Happy New Year!

A brand new year, 2014, is just around the corner.  

I'd like to thank everyone who has visited since I started in 2009.  

I hope visiting I'm Turning 60... has been helpful and enjoyable for you.



I'd like to make my blog better, and for that I need your help.



Could you please post a comment on what types of recipes and posts you'd like.

Also I'd like to know what you don't want to read

Wishing you all the blessings of the season...

Wishing you a Christmas filled with all you hold dear

and a New Year filled with all the best!

Thank you for visiting!!

Carmela Soprano's Stuffed Mushrooms

The holiday season is in full swing.

Yes, I know, the past weeks just flew.

Unfortunately your company's appetites didn't fly away, too.

Okay… time to fill their tummies with bread cumbs.

Seriously.



In 2010 I posted a quick description of Carmela Soprano's Stuffed Mushrooms 

from Entertaining with the Sopranos.


I also quoted what Hugh Jackman had said in Kate & Leopold...

In a perfect

The Grinch, St. Nicholas and Moonlight Upon the Snow by Margaret Ullrich

Tonight is Full Moon number twelve for 2013.

The last one for the year.

No, we did not get a blue moon this year.

No problem… I don't think anyone missed it.



Here in Manitoba, witnessing a full moon during winter is a mystical experience.
Add the occasional Northern Lights and it can be a once-in-a-lifetime moment.

When viewed through a frosted window, the night scene is truly magical.

Carmela Soprano's Neapolitan Crostini l Melon and Prosciutto

Not all of Carmela's recipes are as difficult as Carmela Soprano's Baci Cake.

Here are two real quickies from the book Entertaining with the Sopranos.

Actually they barely qualify as recipes.

But they published the Crostini - with a picture - in the Welcome to the Family chapter.

The Melon and Prosciutto - also with a picture -  was in the Dinner for Twelve chapter.

Go figure.



I

Would Santa Ever Find Me? by Margaret Ullrich

In 2004 I wrote a story and read it on the CKUW radio show '2000 & Counting - Older & Wiser'.  For a while it was an annual tradition.  I got a few emails asking if I could post it.  Here is a  short version.  
This is a busy time...   Merry Christmas!




     When I was a baby my family moved from Malta to
America.  Pop's brother and sister were in Corona.  So, we had to
live there, too.  

Carmela Soprano's Baked Ziti In Bianco and Bechamel Sauce

In February, 2010 I compared Carmela Soprano's Baked Ziti In Bianco to Ma's Timpana.

Well, I compared the importance of Baked Ziti to Timpana.

Only a fool would think they are just plates of pasta.

We're talking about respect must be paid, iconic pasta dinners.



Christmas is coming.

If you haven't decided on a main course, this could be it.

Or, at the very least, a first course.



As I

Anna Sultana's Spaghetti Pie and Pasta with Butter and Ricotta, Maltese Style

As I said in 2010, Carmela's recipe for Crunchy Chicken is better than Ma's.

But then, Ma's recipe for Spaghetti Pie is better than Carmela's.

What can I say - win a few, lose a few.



I had posted a recipe for Ma's Spaghetti Pie - Froġa tat-Tarja - a few months ago.

Of course, she had another recipe.. or two... for vermicelli.

And here are a couple of them.

Try them both.



Ma's recipes

Carmela's Spaghetti Pie

Back in 2010, in that second post, I also compared a second recipe.

Like I said, I was a beginner and, in addition to being snide, I wasn't pacing myself.

Okay… now I know better - one recipe per post.

Less risk of getting lost in all the directions, too.



Carmela's recipe for Spaghetti Pie in Entertaining with The Sopranos is a little pricey.

Like she's trying to prove they have the bucks

Carmela's Crunchy Baked Chicken

Alrighty, then… glad to see you liked the lasagne recipes.

Lasagne is also great to add a bit of heft to the Christmas and New Year's Eve menus.

When Ma had the gang over, she served lasagne as a second course, after the soup.

That made the turkey go further and left a bit of the bird for the following week.



Now let's go on to the second post I did comparing Carmela Soprano's and Ma's

Anna Sultana's Lasagne, Maltese Style

Okay.. you now have two versions of Carmela's Lasagne:

one with meatballs and one with basil.

Hope you enjoyed them both.

I also hope the recipes don't discourage you from making Lasagne.

Really, there is a simpler - and cheaper - way to make it.



Like I said back in 2010…  

my Ma, Anna Sultana, might've made lasagne with lots of fresh basil when she lived in Malta. But, when I was

Boomers Against Elder Abuse l US Senate FRAUD HOTLINE

What happens when incapacitated elders are stripped of constitutional rights?



Today elders deemed incapacitated by the courts are in grave danger due to the fact that their rights are removed by mandate of the probate courts in all fifty states. 



Abuses occur because people who lose their rights are no longer equal in the eyes of the law.



People who are denied rights suffer due to the

Carmela Soprano's Meat Sauce and Lasagne #2, with Basil Leaves

I've been writing this blog for over four years.

Long enough to know I didn't do a very good job at the beginning.

On January 17, 2010 I started comparing Ma's recipes to those of Carmela Soprano.



I had bought the book Entertaining with The Sopranos almost four years ago.

The recipes were familiar, more or less.

I did a rather quick job of comparing the differences between Carmela's and

Feng Shui and Christmas in My Favourite Home by Margaret Ullrich

Tomorrow there will be a new moon.

The last new moon of the year.

The bad news - Christmas is just three weeks away.

The good news - the days will start getting longer.



I now feel like I'm at peace with my home.

As Katherine and Frances in Under the Tuscan Sun might say...

It's a nice little villa. Rather run down, but redeemable...

It's not a villa, and, yes, it's a little run down,