A cooking day

We enjoyed a pleasant day in the kitchen today!

We made timbale, our annual Twelfth-Night chicken pot pie.

Along with the chicken pie we had stuffed tomatoes as a side dish.

And we also tried something delicious for dessert: Galette des Rois, a King Arthur recipe for a traditional French Epiphany cake made of puff pastry and frangipane/almond filling. 

Our menu, consisting of three different filled foods, represents the gifts of Three Kings Day.  A nice success this year! 

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On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, Timbale, and Gifts

We've made it to Twelfth Night, and we've finished the jigsaw puzzle and finished the holiday season! 

Thank you for bearing with me as I've spent slow time these past couple of weeks, savoring the gifts of my life and nourishing my spirit, which is today's subject.

Twelfth Night is the final night of the winter holiday season.  At our house, we will begin dinner with apple wassail (hot spiced cider with white wine) to drink a toast to things past and things to come.   While I don't believe in 'magic potions', I do believe in being mindfully grateful for the amazing world around us, and in grieving for what we are losing because of climate change.

Our traditional Twelfth Night dinner is timbale, a savory Italian pie.  With it we will enjoy stuffed tomatoes as a side salad, and finally King Cake, a filled dessert.  All three components of the meal are 'packages' that represent gifts.

Michele Bilyeu has posted a wonderful essay about Epiphany/Twelfth Night and gifts at her blog WITH HEART AND HANDS.

I am grateful for the gifts that the universe has given me, and I hope I can pay my gifts forward to others somehow.  I hope it isn't too late to help make the world a better place.

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Timbale

This is our customary meal for

Epiphany/Twelfth Night.

TIMBALE

Pie crust dough for a double crust

6 slices smoked provolone cheese

1 1/2 cups cooked mini penne pasta

1 cup peas

1 cup ham, cubed

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded and seasoned

1/2 cup ricotta cheese 

Roasted red pepper strips  

1 1/2 cups alfredo sauce

Preheat oven to 425*.

Arrange bottom crust in 12" deep dish pie pan or springform pan.

Line bottom of crust with provolone slices.

Combine penne and peas with 1/2 cup alfredo sauce, and spread over provolone.

Continue adding layers: ham, spoonfuls of ricotta, chicken and pepper strips.

Pour remaining alfredo sauce over all.

Top with second pie crust and seal edges.

Cut slits to vent.

Place on baking sheet and bake about 45 - 50 minutes until golden brown.

Let stand 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

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On the twelfth day of Christmas ...

 

 

... we've finished the jigsaw puzzle, and finished the holiday season!

 

Thank you for bearing with me as I spent slow time these past couple of weeks savoring the gifts of my life and nourishing my spirit ... which is today's subject. 

 

Since this is Epiphany/Three Kings Day, we traditionally enjoy timbale, an Italian pot-pie, for dinner. The rolls on the plate are also stuffed with cheese and pomegranate seeds.  And for dessert we'll have chocolate chip cookies filled with chocolate fudge ...  so all three items on the menu represent gift packages :)  With this meal we enjoy mulled wine.

 

Another name for this day is Twelfth Night, and here's my Twelfth Night quilt, hanging for the month of January in the sunroom.  The winter nights are dark and deep, and we'll have time to rest and reflect during this quiet month of the year. 

 

 

Looking ahead: I will look forward to continuing to enjoy the friendship and inspiration of my blog community!

 

Looking back:  During December, we were saddened by the loss of our faithful dog Jess.  I read three books, finishing the year at 48.  I finished three quilt projects, bringing the total for 2012 to 72 quilt projects.  Our holiday celebrations were lovely, and the year ended with joy and hope.

 

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Odds and ends

Well, apparently I've reverted back to no-reply status. I reset everything yesterday. I don't know of anything else that might be causing this problem, and I think it's a Blogger issue anyway, so I guess I just have to wait and see if it corrects itself.

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My order came from Connecting Threads -- lovely spring-timey thread colors! It's going to be a very low-buy year. I'll need to replenish my batting inventory one of these days when it comes up on sale, but I have enough fabric on hand to keep me occupied until the next millenium.

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As was my New Year's intention, some real cooking has been happening! Over the weekend we enjoyed hearty lentil soup, and last night I made timbale, an Italian pot-pie-kinda-thing.

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GRATITUDES

1. Pinon incense
2. A sweet juicy orange
3. Woodpeckers at the feeders this morning

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