The Fortress' Gate

These were taken for you, even if it's not exactly a knocker, and there is a wish attached to them: may all the locks unlock and all the gates of fortresses open for you and yours.

From my window

On the second day of Christmas...The last one is a day older- all the snow has melted, but more might come. I'd like that!

Christmas morning

Getting to bed the last one allows you the possibility of gathering the last lights, the last sounds, the last smells from the family meeting.

and getting up the first one in Christmas Day allows you to see all the presents waiting for their owners and anticipating the smiles, the surprise, the laughter.

friday, 2010

I wish the three of you Merry Christmas. A warm night, wonderful views in the morning and lots of smiles. Hugs

Cozonac

Not that it matters anymore, this is a recipe we usually prepare for Christmas and Easter, very similar to the Italian Panetone. The fillings can be diverse: chocolate, cream, Turkish delight, but walnut is my favorite. I never make it.

Dough: 2 lbs/1 kg flour, 10 oz/300 g sugar, 1 1/2 cups milk, 6 eggs, 2 oz/50 g yeast, 7 oz/200 g butter, 2 tablespoons of oil, vanilla stick, salt, egg for smearing the dough, grease for the pans.

Make a starter from yeast and a teaspoon of sugar. Mix until it has the consistency of sour cream, add 2-3 tablespoons of tepid milk, a little flour and mix well; sprinkle some flour on top, cover and let sit in a warm place to rise. Boil the milk with the vanilla stick (cut in very small pieces) and leave it on the side of the oven, covered, to keep warm.

Mix the yolks with the sugar and salt, then slowly pour the tepid milk, stirring continuously. Place the risen starter in a large bowl and pour, stirring continuously, the yolk-milk mixture and some flour, a little at a time. Then add 3 whipped egg whites. When you finish this step, start kneading. Knead, adding melted butter combined with oil, a little at a time, until the dough starts to easily come off your palms. Cover with a cloth and then something thicker ( a blanket, for example).
Leave in a warm place to triple in volume. If during kneading the dough seems too hard, you may add a little bit of milk. If, on the contrary, the dough seems too soft, you may add a little flour.

Filling: 10 oz/300 g ground walnuts, 1 cup milk, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of rum, vanilla

Melt the sugar in the warm milk with vanilla in a pot on the range. When the sugar is melted, add the walnuts and keep stirring. After a few minutes of boiling, and after the filling has thickened, remove from heat and add rum. When the filling is cold, roll a sheet of dough about one finger thick, uniformly spread the walnut filling on top and roll like a jelly roll.
Grease a bread pan, place the roll inside, let rise for a while. Smeare with egg and bake at medium heat. Take out of the pan as soon as it is done, place on a cloth and let cool.

Enjoy it!

Timisoara

Timisoara is a very special town. It's located in the Western part of the country and it was also called "Little Vienna", because it belonged for a very long time to the Habsburg Empire and the entire city center consists of buildings built in the Kaiser era, which is reminiscent of the old Vienna. It is a multi-ethnic city, hosting besides Romanians, Hungarians, German, Serbs, Bulgarians, Jews, Greeks, Russian, in a harmonious community; and a multicultural town, an important university center with the emphasis on subjects like medicine and engineering. It was the first European town to be lit by electric street lamps, in 1884 and the second one with horse drawn trams. For almost twenty years now, it's been for us the town where the revolution began.
Here are a few places connected to those moments: the Liberty Square, Opera Square and Maria Square, the Metropolitan Cathedral, places where blood was shed. And, since we approach Christmas, a few merrier photos. I hope you like them. Point on photo to see caption.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everybody the best for Chirstmas time: happiness, joy, love, peace and luck for the New Year.
May all your projects be successful!
Hugs

First Christmas lights

When I finally reached the Grande Square I met a beautiful spectacle. Those barren trees had bloomed with the Christmas lights. The first ones in town this year. The whole system was expected to start today. But only these trees in El Grande were on. It was a wonderful contrast with the snowflakes and the soft light on the Walls. Despite the cold I took out my camera and stopped to get these three moments. The same place, almost the same time and three different views.


I enjoyed the moment for a few seconds and then I went on walking, a freezing wind was making a thin ice coat.

A Carol

These are my 6th graders singing one of my favourite carols, while making postcards for their project partners. Well, not all of them are really working, as you see.
I love carols, both singing them and listening to them, they are the thing I like the best about the winter holidays.
It was a good moment. A warm one. Because they were doing something with their own hands for some other kids.
Merry Christmas and a happy year ahead!