This time of year most government departments are involved in charity campaigns. What was once a simple canvasing of colleagues for donations has given way to some very elaborate ways of raising money for various local and national charities. I was working briefly at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) the past few weeks and their bake sale included one of the most delicious Niagara Grape pies I've ever tasted. And the bon-bon skewers that the Candy Ladies sold later in the week were a visual and taste delight.
The good folk over at CIC International Region (the section Laurent is part of) came up with the idea of a cookbook with recipes contributed by Officers and their spouses who had served in Embassies around the world:
Chefs without Borders/Chefs sans frontières.
You may recall that this past April I tried my hand at
making Pasteria using my friend Marco's mother's recipe. Marco had helped his mother make this Napoletane Easter dolce since he was a child so he gave me it to me not from a book but from memory. Deciding exactly how much "a little but some is required" actually was became an adventure which I shared at that time - and thank god I did because Marco saw the photo of the ingredients and immediately sent me an SMS just before I added enough orange flower essence to make 20 pasterie! Well after all he had said 3 bottles - he just didn't say what size! Fortunately the end product met with everyone's - including Marco's - approval so I must have done something right.
So I decided it would be a great recipe - even in its slightly unscripted state - to submit from our household. Once it was published I felt it was only right that Marco get a copy of the book that included a recipe that I'm sure will be followed this coming Easter in many Foreign Service quarters.
So last Friday - October 21st - Laurent put it in a large envelope and consigned it to the tender combined mercies of Canada Post and PosteItalia. The big question was "how long would it take to get there?" Well today marks the 5th day since it was stamped and sent on its way. Marco has been forewarned and is on the lookout for it. In the meantime I thought I'd take a little poll of my faithful reader. How many days do you think will fly by before it reaches his doorstep?
How many days will it take for the cookbook to reach Marco?
We were asked to share any culinary secrets we had learned in our posting abroad and I shared the lessons I had learned during our four years in Italy:
Four years in Italy taught me that simple is better and fresh is best; and the eye, the nose, the finger and the mouth are the best tools any cook can have in the kitchen.
25 ottobre/October - Santi Crispino e Crispiniano
