Home At Last! with Patty Gironda

Wishing all of you success and happiness in 2010!

This is one of those dishes created out of fondness for a memory of a favorite vacation. While vacationing at the Villa La Borghetta Resort in Figline Valdarno, Tuscany, we stumbled upon a neighborhood eatery that made, possibly, the best carbonara, I have ever eaten. Rich, egg-y flavor coupled with smokey chunks of pancetta; my mouth was amazed by it's fresh flavor and faboulous ingredients. That memory has lingered for three years now and I wonder if I will ever experience this rich, golden goodness again? My dish features locally cured bacon with a smokey sweetness and some Italian gnocchi!

When asked by Santa this year what I wanted for Christmas, I was at a complete loss. What I truly wanted; one more Christmas with my friend Char, I knew I would never receive. I found myself feeling sorry for myself for a few days. . . missing her FRIENDSHIP! her SENSE OF HUMOR and her CHILDLIKE WONDER at this special time of the year. Finally out of my funk, I told my hubbie, I KNEW WHAT I WANTED. We decided to go shopping together and made a night of it. We drove along . . .reminiscing about our favorite Christmases with family and friends and finally making plans for the next two days of celebration. We planned our Christmas dinner -one that we would cook together. We found a few pounds of chestnuts to roast in honor of Ron's family tradition of chestnuts at the holidays. I pulled out a small, pretty little fake tree and a some favorite decorations; including one from Char and suddenly I was filled with the Christmas spirit. We enjoyed a Christmas Eve breakfast, togethe

Topping the list of favorite cookbooks is my 1981 Southern Living Cookbook. Chocked full of useful recipes that yield fabulous results, these hardrolls are a perfectly crunchy roll with a soft, tender inside. I made an easy dinner of capellini with sweet little Campari tomatoes and goat cheese (another favorite) I drizzled the hardrolls with olive oil, a sprinkle of parmesan-reggiano and chopped dried basil. The easy pasta sauce was ready in a quick twenty minutes and was nothing more than wonderuful halved tomatoes and a little olive oil with more basil! Easy, breezy!

Southern traditions are the backbone of my holiday experience. I must have a piece of Pecan Pie around Thanksgiving to jumpstart my Christmas celebration. O.K., a piece of Pecan Pie and a generous helping of Cornbread Dressing and a dollop of fresh cranberry sauce . . .if I am being truthful! With that said, there are so many other traditions that I have adopted as my own. Pleasant childhood memories and traditions shared by others while growing up in Germany are as much a part of who I am and how I celebrate! Friendly German families eager to share their customs and traditions with me have provided a lifetime of Christmas memories. At the beginning of December I head to the International Farmers Market in search of Pfeffernusse, Stollen and chocolates from Germany. In the pictures (above) I have the first four steps in creating chocolate covered cherries soaked in German Kirchwasser. A tradition I first experienced as a young teen in Germany. Another favorite memory sha