The weather is steadily getting colder here in New England and with Thanksgiving around the corner there are different foods showing up at the grocery store.  The summer fruits and veggies are gone and have made room for autumn foods and for me that means castagne (chestnuts.)  In Calabria they still have plenty of chestnut orchards and when we were there this past summer the chestnuts from last year still littered the ground as we foraged for wild mushrooms.

Chestnut trees here in the US used to be plentiful once but many were decimated by a chestnut blight over the last 100 years… I always wondered why there wasn’t a single chestnut tree on  “Chestnut Street” here in town.

I have fond memories of the castagne vendors this time of year in Italy.  They roast the chestnuts right on the street and the wonderful smell combined with the shop-lined cobblestone streets is a page out of a Charles Dickens book.  For 3000 lire (which I’m sure has become 3 Euro) you could get a mini paper bag with 10 warm chestnuts and eat them as you walk.

Most of the chestnuts in our local grocery stores come from Italy and E and I usually make them a few times a week… did I mention they go GREAT with wine?  Many of my non-Italian friends have never had chestnuts… which makes me wonder who’s eating all the “chestnuts roasting by an open fire” during the holidays??? Italians? (Bingo Crosbino?)

If your looking to impress your holiday guests this year… pick-up some chestnuts.  They are easy to make and delicious! This is what you need to do:

• pre-heat your oven at 350-375 degrees
• put a slit in each chestnut with a knife (otherwise they will explode in the oven)
• place the chestnuts on a baking sheet or pan and cook them for 40-50 minutes
• Serve with wine by a fire

In Calabrese we also call roasted chestnuts – ruselle

You can grow an apple tree with seeds from an apple, but don’t wait around for any apples from that tree…. because it won’t produce any unless you graft your apple tree.  WHAT? Have you ever wondered why the cherry tree you bought from your local garden center never produces any cherries?  It was probably never grafted.

grafting diagram from tutorvista.com

Grafting a fruit tree or Innestare in Italian is to add a branch of an existing fruiting tree to another tree in order for it to produce fruit.  There are many ways to graft a tree and for a few hours my Zio Gino gave me a crash course in tree grafting.  A walk around his garden with the bounty of various types of trees will soon convince you of his expertise.  He knows more than one way to graft a tree and why one way is better than another depending on the type of tree your grafting.  Many Italians are master tree grafters… there’s a reason why the fruit trees that Italians own actually bear fruit! Do any come to mind?

So the next time you see a fruit tree that doesn’t produces fruit… you’ll know why.

The sweetest Yellow Plums you'll ever taste

Mad Scientist - Half Lemon, Half Mandarin Orange

The half lemon, half manderin orange tree above actually produces lemons on one side and manderin oranges on the other!!

Escarole is a favorite green in many Italian families.  Some of the more popular ways to prepare escarole are in soup, with beans, and as a simple salad.   The escarole in our garden has been ready for a few weeks now and we have been enjoying it to the fullest!  One of my favorite ways to prepare escarole is cooked with bread.

Here’s what you need:

• Fresh escarole
• Extra virgin olive oil
• garlic
• day old bread or stuffing bread
• salt and pepper

Here’s what you need to do:

Add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to a pot with some chopped garlic and let it simmer for a few minutes.  Wash your escarole and chop it into pieces, then add it to your pot making sure the escarole is still wet as the water will help steam the escarole.  Cover and stir occasionally until your escarole becomes tender, then add your bread or stuffing bread, salt and pepper (crushed red pepper if you like) and let it simmer for several minutes until the bread becomes soft.  Simple and delicious!  Drizzle a little fresh olive oil on top if you like. It makes a great side dish or main course with some fresh bread.

If you haven’t entered to win the $50 Venetian Mask gift certificate, you still have time (see post below.)  I have extended the deadline until tomorrow at 5pm EST.  Here’s what you need to do to win:

• You need to leave a comment on the Venetian Masks post
• And either retweet the post (upper right corner of the post) or mention the giveaway with a link on your blog or facebook page.

Thanks to all my readers and friends for helping me reach 50 Comments on my post, Q&A with ABC Italiano author Sonya Caruso! I ordered the 50 books Tuesday and they arrived today.  With the help of Linda, Claudia, Marie and Barbara, I hope to get these books in the right hands and help some children take their first steps in learning Italian.

I decided to give away 3 books to those of you who were kind enough to leave a comment.  I removed any double comments and pushed everyone up and then used a random number generator:  Congratulations to Gabriele, Girasoli and Pete Maserati! (I will contact you all soon for mailing addresses.) If you still want a book, make sure to head over to Sonya’s website www.italianbabybooks.com/italyville and use promo code: Italyvilleamici for 20% off!

A very special thanks goes out to Mr. James Brady for contacting me to let me know that he was purchasing 10 books from Sonya and working with a local Italian restaurant in his area to distribute them as well.  Thanks for making a difference James!

Are you serious about teaching your child Italian?

If you are, or you want to take a few classes yourself and you live in the Yonkers, NY area: Make sure to check out La Piazza di Carolina. Carolina Gengo Di Domenico has a wonderful school with classes for children starting as young as 6-13 months and working up to adult classes as well.  Carolina takes it a step further however…. how about Italian Language Camp in Italy!  She’s offering Italian classes June 26th – July 17th in Lido di Camaiore, Toscana.  Go to Carolina’s website to see more details on the summer programs for children and adults along with the classes offered at her school in Yonkers.  Brava Carolina!

**There’s still time to participate in the Olive Oil Shop Giveaway (see below.)  You have until 11:59pm tomorrow.

In my last post on curing black olives I mentioned that I was making them 2 ways: sott’acqua (in a simple brine of salt and water) and al forno (oven dried black olives.)  The black olives “sott’acqua” don’t take much maintenance… once you make your brine and drop them in it’s a waiting game.  The dried black olives however, are more involved.

The olives we had were late season olives and were a little banged up so I separated the ones that were really bruised to use for drying.

Here’s what you need to do: Take your olives and place them in a large bowl with a lid.  Sprinkle salt over the olives (I used an entire 26 oz pack of salt) and cover them.  You do not need to refrigerate them.   Mix your olives twice a day for 2-3 weeks.  Water from the olives will start to collect at the bottom of your bowl but don’t remove it… just keep mixing them twice a day.  After a few weeks, you will have mushy looking olives in water and you’ll know they’re ready (I kept them in the bowl for 3 weeks.) Drain the water from your bowl and rinse your olives several times to remove the excess salt (otherwise they will be too salty.)  Once you have rinsed your olives, lay them on paper towel in a baking tray or cookie sheet and turn your oven on to 125 degrees F (50 C)  Place your olives in the oven for several hours and check them periodically until your satisfied with how dry your olives are.  This method can take up to 12 hours to dry them out, so you might want to consider leaving them in your oven overnight.   The key is to expose your olives to low heat over time so that they can dry out slowly.  Another variation is to preheat your oven to 200 degrees F (95 C) and once your oven is preheated, turn it off and put your olives in… that way you can leave the house and not have to worry about the oven being on.  You can repeat this process over several days as I did.

Once you have your olives at a level of dryness that you like and they have cooled, place them in a bowl, add a splash of olive oil, oregano, crushed red pepper and mix.  They’re ready to serve.  They also freeze very well. Enjoy and buon appetito!

First of all, I would like to thank Maryann from Finding la Dolce Vita for co-hosting the first “Seven Fishes Feast” along with Italyville.  I know I’m not the only one who thinks she has a GREAT blog and equally GREAT personality.  I would also like to thank the team at “Feast of the Seven Fishes” for the book and everyone who participated with these amazing fish dishes from all over the world.  Thank you, Grazie 1000!! Make sure you check out some of your favorite dishes and give them a try…. they’re not here just to look at!  Get in the kitchen and start cookin! We hope you’re able to enjoy some of your own holiday traditions and if you don’t have any, you can always adopt “Seven Fishes Feast” So without further anticipation…. the gift basket goes to: Susan from “Food Blogga” Congrats Susan! Please send your slow mail address when you get a chance.

The snow is starting to get heavy here in New England and it really is starting to look like Christmas…. I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season and make sure to check in for some pictures of my family’s “Seven Fishes Feast” and other Italian Holiday Specialties.  Buone Feste e buon appetito!

I moved the Roundup to its own page, so to see it click on the link on the left or here.

I was talking to my “mamma” today.. just chating and she casually mentioned that she was going to Mohegan Sun this weekend.  My mom’s not a gambler… so I was thinking my dad put her up to it. I was wrong.  Her friend had an extra ticket to go see Toto Cutungo and offered it to her!  He’s performing Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Casino along with Al Bano and Francesco Merola.  I’ll tell ya, no one brings back memories for me like Umberto Tozzi and Toto Cutungo.  Here’s a little throwback (which will be stuck in my head for the rest of the week!)  Have fun mom!