What We Eat … (Silverbelle Sandy)
BUON NATALE PASTA
You can count on this simple recipe for a festive bowl of red and green sweet peppers with pasta to dress up a holiday dinner table. In the cold, dark days of winter, the fragrance of frying peppers is a love letter from summers past.
Here is my adaptation of Mollie Katzen’s “Pepper Sauce” from the Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook (1982) that serves six.
- 3 medium-sized sweet green peppers
- 3 medium-sized sweet red peppers
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2-3 large cloves of garlic, crushed
- ½ tsp salt
- freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp oregano
- ½ tsp crushed red (hot) pepper
- 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 lb pasta
- Parmesan cheese, finely grated.
Bring the pasta water to a boil before you start sautéing the peppers. The cooked pasta and peppers should be ready at the same time.
Cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and stems. Slice peppers into thin strips. Set aside.
In a large heavy skillet (I use cast iron.), cook the crushed garlic in olive oil, with salt, peppers, and oregano over medium heat for about one minute.
Add the peppers and sauté them until tender, but not mushy (5-8 minutes).
Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the vinegar. Toss the pepper mixture with hot drained pasta and serve as soon as possible, sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese.
Christmas Tunes … (Jacob Morris)
The Million Dollar Quartet – Jingle Bells
This recording takes me back to Whitney’s and my trip to Memphis and Sun Studios late last year. We visited Graceland just as they were preparing their annual not over the top Christmas decorating explosion and will never forget the experience.
What Amuses Us (Whitney Campbell Morris)
For me, nothing better captures the experience of holiday shopping in a busy store than “Santaland Diaries” by David Sedaris. In this account of his time as a Macy’s elf named Crumpet, he distills the more ridiculous aspects of our Christmas traditions with honesty and warmth. Sedaris’ wry read of his short story on This American Life is always a joy to listen to.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/47/christmas-and-commerce/act-two-5
One year we found ourselves in Lisbon for Christmas. No particular reason. Here’s the holiday greeting that we sent:
Holiday Greetings from Lisbon