Ricciarelli di Siena, and homemade/recycled Christmas decorations

Ricciarelli are delicious Italian (Tuscan) almond sweets, apparently originated in the XIV century.

Making them in New Zealand is quite special, as they really give Xmas an Italian flair. Bitter almonds are one of the ingredients though, and I have not found them here, so I added just a few apricot kernels (be careful, they are poisonous so you just need a tiny amount, and they MUST be blanched). Of course this is optional, you will get great results just with regular almonds.

200 gr of almonds

about 6 to 10 apricot kernels

200 gr of sugar

2 egg whites

zest of an orange or a tbsp of candied mix citrus peels

Possibly some more ground almond if the mixture is too wet

plenty of icing sugar to roll and dust

Blanch the almond and the apricot kernels separately in hot water and remove the skin. 

Place them in the food processor with the sugar and grind to a powder. Do this in two lots, on pulse, making sure that the mixture doesn't heat or becomes a paste.

Lightly whip the egg whites, just gently, they don't have to be stiff like for a meringue, just starting to be white. Add the ground almonds and the orange zest or candied citrus peels. Mix well, if it feels too soft add a little ground almond. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.

The day after flour a board or working surface with icing sugar and roll the paste into thin rolls, about 2-3 cm thick. Cut and shape into biscuits, about 1.5-2 cm high. the traditional shape is like a grain of wheat, with two pointed ends. 

Place on a oven tray lined with baking paper and sprinkle with more icing sugar. Bake at 150C for 15 minutes or until the edges start to be golden. Ricciarelli should not be overcooked! Let them cool down completely before removing them from the baking tray. They keep well for a couple of weeks in a biscuits tin. 

All the decoration on this Xmas tree are homemade or recycled.

I recycled small bottles fro Italian fruit juices and crochet around them to make lights. I used recycled old wool for the crochet, and also made a few balls and little doilies. I foraged and painted the pine cones, and also spray painted some dried hydrangeas flowers. And then my usual sugar decorations, made with fondant, all white this year! Finally I recycled the crystal drops from a broken chandelier, they look classy on the tree!

 Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Sugar Christmas decorations

On Sunday we had the Dante Alighieri Society Xmas Market (Mercatino di Natale), and I made lots of sugar decorations for sale.

Ideal for 'baby's first Christmas' trees, sweet pastel colours, they can be used for Christmas cards too!

White and hand painted with a thin brush

Chocolate fondant, they smell great!

Green and silver for the trees

Plain white and red, with some meringues too

I used fondant (white, chocolate, red and green), corn flour, cookie cutters, food coloring (not cochineal!) and a thin brush to paint. We sold the lot!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

And the winner of the Kimono Tango bag is...

Thank you all for entering the Kimono Tango's competition. The winner was selected using Random.org.  

Congratulations Martina! 

And if you like to find out more about this beautiful and unique brand please check out their Facebook Page.

Hot chocolate spoons, and recycling Christmas Cards

 For the hot chocolate spoons I used little wooden spoons, the idea is simple, just dip the spoon in a cup of hot milk and stir! They are perfect for little present, inside a little bag with a Christmas card for backing. Now this idea may not suit everybody, but I like to recycle everything I can, even old Christmas cards, I cut out the front (as long as there isn't any writing on the back, and make labels, collages, or even little cards like in this example, to be hand delivered with a chocolate spoon inside.

 On the back of the cards we wrote our Xmas messages and the chocolate spoon flavors: chocolate and cinnamon, double chocolate and cocoa, white chocolate and cardamom, white and dark chocolate, and dark chocolate with sugar granules. Melt the chocolate, pour on the spoons and add your spices or topping! Easy as!

 Do you ever recycle your Christmas cards?

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Meringue snow flakes and doilies for the Christmas tree

More ideas for more white Christmas tree decorations. Meringues are classic, in the past I used the meringue wreaths from my book Party Food for Girls, and this year I was very happy to see that Franci and Vale from La Signora dei Biscotti blog made them too, so if you would like this meringue recipe in Italian click here, and if you like the recipe in English you can find it in Party Food for Girls, available from Amazon, The Book Depository and many other online bookshops. If you live in New Zealand you can find it in good bookshops and, of course, in the library.  

Meringue wreaths, from left: page 54 and page 65 of Party Food for Girls

This year I decided to make snowflakes, it is a little harder as they can break more easily (also I didn't want to make them too big!) but they are beautiful!!! Same recipe as the wreaths and they will last for years (if you decide not to eat them, that is!).

Another idea is too use paper doilies, like the ones that you find under small cakes or cake slices in fancy cafes. I found two different sizes, the smallest that I could, and not only they look really nice and classy, but they are inexpensive and fill the tree nicely. To tie them up I used white embroidery cotton.

The tree is nearly ready, I will post a photo in the next few days!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

It's getting closer....

Christmas is getting closer, and greeting cards are piling up! Today I received this one from my publisher, and they used a photo from the book Party Food for Girls! They told me that they did ask the photographer first, but not me, as they wanted to surprise me :-). It was a lovely surprise!

From my part, I remember when I was young and made all my cards by hand... now the big bulk comes from various charities, and I only make a few because I just don't have the time. This year I made some with little painted cakes, first with watercolour, then with ink, and to finish gold sealing wax and my Z.A. stamp.

Last Italian class too, my students came in with lots of yummy food, and Linda made this potent little number from my blog, so we were all very merry!
Off to do some more packing for tomorrow, first stop: Singapore!!!

Ah, and this is my 500 post!!!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

The year of the Rabbit, Nengajo and Xmas labels

Around this time of the year I take out my Japanese stamps to make Nengajo (Japanese New Year Greeting Cards).

Next year will be the year of the rabbit, and in Japan it starts from January 1st (unlike China, when it usually starts around February).

This year I thought of using the rabbit stamps to also make labels for the Christmas presents, something different from having Santas and Holly!

They came out quite well, with a home-made but stylish look. The first went on the Rose liqueur bottle I posted yesterday :-).

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Origami Christmas Tree Decorations

Today I am running around and, as I don't have time to upload photos, I will be recycling some of last year's ideas. These are the modular origami Xmas tree decorations I made for Good Magazine.

If you are into origami, and would like to try to make your own Xmas Tree Decorations, here is a good Youtube link. Happy folding!

Christmas Cooker

I am starting to take out the Xmas decorations, today the kids started their tree (we have 3 Xmas trees at our house, you will see!) and it will take me a while to get on with mine(s).

But to add a bit of Xmas feel I put something up in the kitchen :-)!

I started collecting decorations ages ago, even before I had a home. Everywhere I went, if I could, I would buy something for the tree. I got these cotton hearts and reindeers in Italy this year, I must admit, they will come off the cooker as soon as I start frying, but by then my tree will be up (i hope), and I can just move them there.

The kids and I could not decide which reindeer was cuter, the red or the checkered one... my boy looked at them in the eyes for a long time: "It is like they are saying to me 'pick me!', I can't decide!" We got them both.

What would you have done? Happy Sunday, here it is almost gone :-)!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Advent Calendar

So many bloggers have started posting Christmas recipes, decorations and ideas. I love it! I am not one for bright neon lights, never ending Xmas tunes, and plastic Santas, but I like all the rest :-)! So I will try to post a little thing every day... (brrr, now I said it... everyday!!!), and since it is December 1st I will start with this:

The first decoration that I put up ever year is the Advent Calendar that my mother in law made for us 11 years ago. She is a very talented sawer (and knitter and quilt maker) and this is all made by hand.

The kids love it, every day they pick a figurine from the pocket with the date number and they put it up on the tree, in turn. Sometimes I get a turn!

Look at the details!!!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Lego Venice

The day we went to Venice it was raining so hard that I could not take good photos, and we spent most of the time in museums. Anyway, I have already written a guide to Venice here,

so no need for a new post except... well, call me proud mum, but I loved the fact that my kids got home and started making a Venice out of lego.

Here the gondola going through the Grand Canal, weeeeeee!

Did you know that Venice has been built on 118 small islands connected by 354 bridges? The things you learn when you have kids!

and to finish Max did an installation for the Venice Biennale :-)

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©