Silent Night...Blessed Night
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 04:10PM Christmas Eve...
A Blanket Of Snow...
And Voices Raised...
In Solemn Song...
To Greet The Child...
The Newborn King...
All Love Him For...
The Peace He Brings...
To Troubled Souls...
And Violent Lands...
With Blessed, Gentle,
Tiny Hands.
The Prophets Saw...
The Magi Came...
The Weak And Strong...
Bow And Proclaim...
He Is The Promised...
Hope Of Man...
And Destiny’s Sacrificial Lamb.
(1997)
Perhaps the greatest joy of Christmas is hearing and singing the beautiful music we call Christmas Carols. For centuries, these sacred and secular songs have raised our spirits, and cast a magic spell. Some music scholars might attribute this feeling of good will to the sympathetic vibrations found in the harmonies of the bass and treble pitches. I really don’t care why the music makes us feel good. Let’s just enjoy the feeling and sing, sing, sing.
Now, all this singing takes a lot of energy. That’s why we feel we must have lots of goodies at Christmas time. There is always some SCROOGE, however, who will warn us that we should never attempt to sing on a full-stomach.
“BAH...HUMBUG,” I say. Those big, booming voices need hearty nourishment, and a variety of fine refreshments to reach all the notes. How can you belt-out a song with nothing under your belt?
There is a traditional Christmas Eve dish that some of you might find interesting. I can assure you that I have known a few singers, with excellent voices, who have eaten this dish just prior to performing at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Their voices did not suffer even one tiny bit.
Perhaps even Pavarotti or, my all time favorite tenor, the incomparable Mario Lanza ate this same dish before a brilliant performance.
The basic sauce is most likely Neapolitan. My mother-in-law made it every Christmas Eve. I cannot recall her ever preparing this dish at any other time. Over the years, I have added a few more ingredients to her basic sauce. The additional ingredients are marked with a star*, so you can choose which way you want to prepare it.
ANCHOVY ‘PASTA’ SAUCE
2 cans ANCHOVY FILETS (packed in oil) *OR ANCHOVY FILETS WITH CAPERS (packed in oil)
2 - 4 cloves GARLIC CLOVES - mashed (If you would like to use roasted garlic cloves,
I think they would be a delicious personal touch.)
1/4 cup (approx.) OLIVE OIL
2 scoops WATER—FROM COOKED PASTA POT JUST BEFORE YOU DRAIN IT
*PINCH BASIL (dried or fresh)
*PINCH HOT RED PEPPER
1 - 1 1/2 lb. PASTA -- USE THIN SPAGHETTI OR LINGUINI
Put OLIVE OIL in saucepan. Add GARLIC CLOVES and sauté over medium heat for a sufficient time for the GARLIC CLOVES to release their flavor. (This should not take more than a few minutes.) Add the ANCHOVIES without draining the packing oil. Stir. The ANCHOVIES will break-up quickly and appear to almost melt. Add BASIL and HOT RED PEPPER. Stir. Carefully add the two scoops of the boiling WATER, which you will take from the pot of pasta just before draining. You may remove the GARLIC CLOVES from the sauce, or leave them in. I like to leave them in. Put PASTA in an appropriate size serving bowl. Pour-on the SAUCE and gently toss to distribute evenly. NOTE: This sauce cooks-up very quickly, so you will make it when the pasta is almost cooked.
I wish you all a Blessed Christmas.
Reader Comments (1)
-latest Tods Sneakers Add BASIL and HOT RED PEPPER. Stir. Carefully add the two scoops of the boiling WATER