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5 Nov 2015 – Italian Fig Cookies

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With the holidays approaching, dessert recipes are in demand.  Following is a recipe from the Italian side of the family.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
  • 1 pound dates
  • 1 pound figs
  • 1 cup walnuts chopped
  • 1 orange peel, juice of one orange
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 small can of crushed pineapple
  • Cook mixture for 5 minutes keep stirring so it will not stick
Ingredients for Dough:
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Juice of one orange
  • 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder, pinch of salt
  • 4 – 5 cups flour
Directions:
  • Beat eggs, add sugar, orange juice & beat, set aside.
  • Mix flour, butter like a pie crust.
  • Add baking powder & salt.
  • Add beaten eggs.  Mix all together.  Add vanilla last.
  • Roll out dough on lightly floured surface start at the end and place filling along the edge & roll up & then cut into squares.  Continue until you finish the all of your dough.  You may want to roll the dough in small batches.
  • Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes.
  • Cool & frost with powdered icing

 

Directions for Powdered sugar Icing (makes a lot so you may want to cut in half):

  • 1 box of powdered sugar
  • A few tablespoons of milk
  • 2 teaspoons lemon or anise flavoring
  • Combine sugar, milk and flavoring in a medium bowl, stirring well until all the sugar is dissolved – (I use a whisk)

3 Nov 2015 – Genealogy and DNA

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Have you ever thought of getting your DNA tested?  Well, I thought about it and actually did it!  My Mother always talked about the women in our family having a Native American heritage, so I really expected to see results that included Native American – maybe 10% or more!

 

ADN_animation

The structure of part of a DNA double helix. May be subject to copyright.

I took advantage of the tests offered by Ancestry which provides an estimate of the historical origins of my DNA.  Following are my results:

 Africa 73%

  • Benin/Togo 21%
  • Mali 17%
  • Cameroon/Congo 14%
  • Nigeria 6%
  • Ivory Coast/Ghana 5%
  • Trace Regions 10%

Europe 26%

  • Europe West 10%
  • Ireland 8%
  • Trace Regions 8%

West Asia 1%

  • Trace Regions 1%

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1 Nov 2015 – Buffalo Botanical Gardens

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One of my favorite places to go is the Botanical Gardens in Buffalo, NY.  I know this sounds crazy, but the place is really popping with exotic plants, waterfalls, and some of the best scenery around town!  My Sister in Law takes us for a visit every time we go to Buffalo, and I look forward to it!  Generally, the gardens feature selected displays, contests and seasonal plants and activities.

In this post, I am sharing some of my favorites photos from my visits.  Let me know what you think.  I know there are some nature lovers out there!  Enjoy!

 

 

 

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Between The Dashes

28 Oct 2015 – Uncle Nick’s Cookies (Pizzelle)

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There is a story that goes along with this recipe.  When my husband was a child at Grandma Flagella’s house, she would make NICKs.  It was only years later we learned the ordinary name, Pizzelle.  Grandpa’s brother Nick made two Pizzelle irons, one for his wife and one for our Grandma which had the name NICK built into the iron. The iron was black and heavy with two long arms, you made one NICK at a time, putting the iron on an open gas burner on the stove, then flipping it over to cook the other side.  Grandma would do a few then order her grandchildren into a line, and we would take turns like at a playground slide doing one or two cookies then running to the back of the line.  No one could eat a NICK until a large bowl was full, and Grandma bought the bowl to my Grandpa bowing down as she offered the cookies to him.  He always refused with a loud “NO!” turning his torso away with his arms folded.  Grandma flashed a mischievous smile, then we could dive in.  I asked my mother the story about grandma’s grin.  But that’s enough for now.  Eat your NICKs!
Ingredients
  • 6 eggs
  • 3 1/2 cups of flour
  • 1 1/2 cups of sugar
  • 1 cup butter melted and cooled
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp vanilla or anise, also can use almond flavoring
Instructions
  • Mix all ingredients together and let rest.
  • Heat Pizzelle iron until hot.
  • Place a tsp. of batter into the center of the iron, count 30 seconds to see if they are the color you want (depends on your iron) remove and place on wax paper to cool.
  • Store in metal tins – 3 lb coffee cans work well.
  • Do not make when raining they will not be crisp.

26 Oct 2015 – Alexandria, VA – Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial

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As you know, I live near Washington D.C. which is full of history!  I recently discovered a historic site in my local area that I think is worth a post, the Contrabands and Freedman Cemetery Memorial in Alexandria, VA.

During the Civil War, there were many slaves that fled to Alexandria for freedom and a better way of life.  There were so many freedmen (called contrabands) moving to this area because of the Union occupation, that it created a refugee crisis.  Many arrived destitute, in ill-health, and hungry.  Initially, the government placed the contraband in barracks, but disease ran rampant and many died.

In 1864, after hundreds had perished, the Superintendent of Contrabands ordered that a property on the southern edge of town, across from the Catholic cemetery, be confiscated for use as a cemetery.  

In the first year, burials included those of black soldiers, but African-American troops recuperating in Alexandria’s hospitals demanded that blacks be given the honor of burial in the Soldiers’ Cemetery, now Alexandria National Cemetery. The soldiers’ graves were disinterred and moved to the military cemetery in January 1865.  The last burial in Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery took place in January 1869.  (Source:  Contrabands and Freedmen Memorial)

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