Thaattt's allll Ffffolllks!

When we lived in the condo, we didn't have room for a big Christmas tree, let alone a live one. Our gifts were embarassingly placed under a 2ft table-top tree that came with teeny-tiny lights and ornaments made for Barbie-sized people.

Last year we bought a house and realized that we now had enough room for a real tree, albeit a small, real tree. I was finally able to rejoin my parents on their annual "tree-cutting-down-day", which is usually held the day after Thanksgiving. We drive 2 hours to BFE and drive up and down rutted, muddy lanes looking for The Perfect Tree. In the past, my mom has marked trees for return viewings with tissues, or even her gloves!

Marc was unable to come with us last year, so it was a real treat to have him along this year. He had never cut down a Christmas tree before; his childhood was limited to plastic trees, or the sprayed kind you find in the parking lot of a seasonal ice-cream parlor.

Unfortunately it rained the entire time we drove around the tree farm, which didn't help the hunting. Thankfully we found 'our tree' quickly and Marc sawed it down before I changed my mind.

It was a pretty, little tree once we positioned it in the corner and decorated it with lights and ornaments from my childhood. Once again, Marc's childhood did not produce any memories that we could hang from the green branches.

I was careful to water my tree each day, but after a few, I started noticing that the water level was remaining close to the top of the stand. And if you've ever had a real tree, you know that means one thing: The tree has stopped taking up water...it is close to drying out! Well, it was only mid-December when this started happening...our tree needed to make it 2 1/2 more weeks!! By Christmas Day, it was so dry that just breathing on it caused a shower of needles to hit the floor. I'm accustomed to leaving the tree up until after New Year's, but I just knew ours wouldn't make it much longer.

Today I began the tedious process of removing all the ornaments and I attempted to carefully unstring the lights. I started off gentle, trying not to cause a big mess, but that was hopeless. In no time at all, I was just ripping the light strands from the brittle branches. When I had finished and bagged up the remainder, this is what I found on the floor:

Ahhh...what fun vacuuming I had! What made it even MORE FUN was the fact that I have berber carpeting, so lots of needles got embedded in the threads and would not come up! I was down on my hands and knees picking them out, one by one.

Next year, I think I may splurge and get one of those fake, pre-lit trees. That way next summer, I won't have to worry about stepping barefoot on one of those embedded needles!

Holiday Traditions

Every year my mom and my aunt (and lots of helpers) get together to make an Italian treat, called Penolata. Though, none of us are sure on the spelling or the origin. The one thing we are sure of is the recipe! There are precise instructions on how to make this dessert, and like most family recipes, it's never written down.
Thankfully this year, I documented the process:


First the dough is made--7 cups of flour and 1 dozen eggs for just ONE batch! The mixer belonged to my grandma (rest her soul) and it's over 50 years old! Why we don't use a newer one (like the never-used one I got for our wedding) is beyond me!





Next comes the rolling. My aunt Nanny (hands on the left) is a professional roller! Of course this means she is forever showing us younger girls how thick or thin the dough should be. We'll learn some day!

The dough strips are then layed out to dry a bit before cutting. If they're too wet they can't be cut into the proper size and shape. Once again, heritage is before us, with an old cloth that's used every year for the drying phase! I'm sure my sister and I will fight our cousins for it! :)

The little pieces are then transferred to paper plates, which means there can be alot of confusion as to which plate belongs to which batch! Each family member gets a batch of penolata so it's important to keep track! Do you think we've figured out a system over the years? Of course not! It's more fun to yell: "Is this batch 7 or 8?" "Wait! That's batch 6! Don't mix these up!" :)

The toughest part is next...the dough pieces are dropped into heated oil and once they start to puff up, you can't stop stiring for 5 minutes, or until they are a perfect golden brown. It's hard work and the it can get very heated in the kitchen. It's important to dress for the occasion! :)

The pieces are then set in paper bags to soak up extra oil before the finishing touches:

Finally, the night is over...the women meet back up a few days later to decorate the penolata with honey, nuts and chocolate bits. It can be frozen and served at a later time. In fact, while making the fresh batches, we snack on plates from last year!