Christmas Window Dressing

I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas. Well, maybe hate is too strong a word. Disappointment is probably more accurate. I love the scents, the sounds and the sights--the food of course--and all the holiday trimmings. I love having both my children home for more than just a few days and that I have 5 siblings, 9 nieces and nephews and we’re all together on Christmas Eve having a great time. I love that now, when I look outside my kitchen windows I can see though the bare branches of the trees surrounding my backyard and watch the changing colors of the sky as the sun comes up. I even love watching corny holiday movies all month while I wrap gifts and decorate the house.

What I don’t love is that the thought of Christmas is so much more than the actual event.

It’s the thought that generosity can gain ground over self-interest and that the power of love is recognized as no match for fear. It’s the thought that we can simplify, stay still a while and capture the peace we all want. It’s the thought that we all can be a little kinder and that no one need be alone. Is this too much to ask? If this is the season for miracles, I want this kind of Christmas.

In spite of what’s going on in our collective world, in our personal one, can we recapture the innocence of a world we’ve forgotten?

I ponder this as I’m putting the finishing touches on a new wreath I’m making for my kitchen window. This one is filled with red and burgundy silk petals, dried red chili peppers and cranberries. It’s a happy wreath make from a state of peaceful meditation. I hang it lovingly.

And as I go through each act of preparing my home for all the students I will welcome to my kitchen and for the family that will gather there, I see in my actions a reflection of that which I seek so strongly.

If the thought of Christmas is what inspires me to lovingly create the holiday magic throughout my home, then isn’t my home filled with its true meaning? And from its warm embrace, do I quite naturally extend the kindness and the love that I want to see. The ribbons and bows are just…. pretty window dressing.

May the joy of this holiday fill your hearts and homes and extent to all that you do and feel.

Yours truly,
Chef Silvia

The 7 Fishes Christmas Eve Dinner Made Easy (4-Fish Seafood Risotto)

Many American Italians eat seafood on Christmas Eve, but most do not know why. Although no one knows for sure where or when the myths of the 7 fishes originated, here are some of the most common ones on which the 7 fishes are based:

1. The 7 sacraments of the Catholic Church
2. The seven hills of Rome
3. The seven wonders of the world

As a dish for Christmas Eve, this one dish alone will account for 4 of the 7 fishes required for this traditional celebration

Seafood Risotto

Seafood risotto is usually made with the seafood cooked right into the risotto. Although this makes a wonderful dish, I find that the seafood can easily become overcooked and get lost in the risotto, or that some diners can get lots of seafood while others get cheated. I find that flavoring the risotto with a seafood broth and then topping it with sautéed seafood is an unbeatable combination.
Makes 4 to 6 servings

1 pound risotto, made from Arborio rice prepared according to package directions and kept warm (see note)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Red pepper flakes to taste
2 dozen small clams, rinsed
2 dozen small mussels, cleaned and debearded
12 large sea scallops
12 medium to large shrimp, shelled, cleaned, and deveined
1/2 medium clove garlic, minced
3 plum tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
1 tablespoon butter (optional)
1 tablespoon Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, stems removed and chopped
1 cup white wine sauce (see below)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 to 6 lemon wedges, for garnish

Prepare the risotto according to package directions. Either keep the finished risotto warm in a 200ºF. oven or cook it while you prepare the rest of this recipe.
Put the olive oil and red pepper flakes in a large sauté pan over high heat for about 30 seconds, or until the oil is hot but not smoking. Cook the clams, mussels, and scallops (on both sides) for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the clams begin to open and the scallops begin to turn opaque. Add the shrimp and cook everything for 1 minute more, until the shrimp turn pink on one side. Turn the shrimp, add the garlic, and cook for a few seconds, until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the tomatoes followed by the sauce and cook for a moment or two until all the juices in the pan blend together. Finish with a pat of butter or two and a splash of cream if desired.

The Sauce
Add ¼ cup olive oil to the bottom of a saucepan, followed by 3-4 tablespoons of flour and stir over medium heat. Slowly add 1 cup of white wine and continue stirring. (sauce will thicken). Now slowly add about 1cup of clam broth and ½ cup of water. Stir until all the liquid is incorporated. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking for about 15 minutes until the sauce reduces to the consistency of a smooth gravy.


To serve
Stir some of the liquid part of the sauce into the risotto, then spoon the risotto onto individual serving plates. Top each serving with the remainder of the sauce and the seafood. If desired, arrange the mussels all along the rim of the platter or plate, then add the seafood in the center. Sprinkle with the parsley, salt and pepper, and garnish each serving plate with a lemon wedge.
Note: Arborio rice, for making risotto, is sold in 1-kilogram boxes (2.2 pounds) and comes in two packages. The cooking time is about 15 minutes, but it’s best prepared slightly underdone because it will continue cooking after it’s removed from the heat.

Creating Beauty

Every year for the last 12 years or so I kick off the holiday season, right after Thanksgiving, by gathering leaves, berries, nuts and other sorted items, buy a few cans of gold, silver, bronze and copper spay paint and begin making wreathes.

Much more than crafting, this yearly ritual becomes for me a form of meditation, when I begin to feel the magic of the season. My hands seem to know just what to do; what colors to use, what to put where, until a work of art appears. Wreaths hang everywhere, circles of beauty. They make me happy every time I look at them.

The funny thing is, they seem to be created without my direction. Could this possibly be a formula for happiness? Could it really be this simple? “Stop directing your life and let life direct you,” my reverie whispers. What a beautifully simple concept...