FRIDAY FRITTELLE

 Tomorrow is the Ognissanti (All Saints' Day) holiday, prior to the Giorno dei Morti (the commemoration of those we have lost) on Sunday. In Sicily, a holiday or saint's day usually means there are frittelle to be enjoyed and what is better than one frittella? A cascade of frittelle, of course! These, in flavours of apple, walnut and raisin, appeared in the Cicara Caffeteria this morning:

Photo: Cicara Caffeteria

Happy Halloween and Happy All Saints' Day.

NO TRICKS, BUT MANY TREATS

 Halloween is celebrated, mainly for the benefit of children, more than it used to be here (even when I came in 2005) but less than in countries like Britain and the USA. In my experience, the evening remains peaceful and I haven't seen flour and eggs thrown in the street or been disturbed by trick or treaters that I don't know. Long may it continue in this way - a festival which people enjoy without wasting food in a world in which, particularly this year, there are people starving, and without upsetting others.

On the jolly side, I couldn't resist buying some treats from the Liolà  pasticceria in Modica:

Today is Ognissanti, All Saints' Day, and is a bank holiday. Tomorrow is I Morti, or Day of the Dead, when many people visit the graves of their loved ones and even take food. I think this is a healthy attitude to death, which after all comes to us all, and teaches children that it is part of life. 

I think it's time for tea and one of those biscuits now. 

NAILED IT

For Halloween:

Grazie, Beauty Giò .

AUTUMN CASSEROLE

In 2003 I lived, for one month, in Prague. I loved the tiny apartment I rented there and I bought a Czech cookbook and cooked my way through it. One of the techniques I learned there was to thicken casseroles with bread and every now and then, I still do this. 

At Halloween, having found, for the first time, a butternut squash here, I decided to add it to a Prague-style casserole. The Sicilian ingredients are 'strattu [tomato paste], pomegranate seeds, the orange peel and Mediterranean cardoncello [king trumpet] mushrooms:

First of all, cut a long strip of peel from an orange and put it on a plate in the microwave for about 1 minute on medium. Put aside till needed.

Heat 6 tablesp olive oil in a large, wide pan and in it brown 1 kg cubed beef for casseroles or spezzatino. Add 1 chopped white onion and a chopped clove of garlic and swirl these around with the beef until they are browned too. Then add the peeled and chopped squash and brown this. 

Now add 1 tablesp 'strattu, seasalt to taste and a few grindings of mixed peppercorns plus 170 gr roughly sliced mushrooms, a handful of chopped parsley and some sprigs of fresh thyme. Add the strip of orange peel and 568 ml water [1 UK pint]. Bring the mixture to simmer, cover and leave for 1 hour, stirring once or twice.

Add 4 slices of bread, crusts removed and cut into squares. [This can be brown or white - it doesn't matter] and stir till dissolved.

Finally add the seeds of 1 pomegranate, discard the orange peel [if you can find it] and serve.

This is serious comfort food and will serve 4 - 6. 

Buon appetito!  Dobrou chuť!

Me in Halloween mood

ADMIT IT - YOU'RE SCARED!

At London Town Modica, Centro Linguistico Internazionale we've got marshmallow ghosts and ghouls today! Go on - you can admit to me that you're scared!

Thank you, the Activity Village for the idea.

Cross-posted at Pat's English Pages.

SCHOLASTIC SPOOKS

I had fun making these white chocolate ghosts for the school.  The idea and instructions are in the October edition of UK Good Housekeeping [only whoever made theirs managed to "sculpt" better tails than I did].

Mr Twain came to have a look at these two

and Messrs Joyce and Poe liked this one:

I hope you're all suitably scared!