The Seasons: My Winter Wonderlands

Snow dominates the winter memories of my Midwestern youth. I especially remember those days when big fluffy snowflakes fluttered gracefully from overcast skies covering the ground in a blanket of white, readying itself for the myriad of children that would joyfully use it as their playground to stage snowball fights, to build whimsical carrot-nosed snowmen and to gather like-minded friends to carry their sleds to the highest hill for an afternoon of sheer gleeful terror. Even walking to school sloshing through piles of snow was an adventure.

Of all those winter activities, ice skating was my favorite. I so looked forward to meeting “the gang” at Goose Island, the local outdoor skating rink in my hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin. All of us were budding Sonja Henies (the figure skating ice princess of the fifties for any reader under the age of 65), trying diligently – and mostly unsuccessfully – to master our figure eights. Despite our failures, the fun was in the trying and it always resulted in peals of laughter as we watched each other twist, turn and fall all over the ice. If there is an equivalent feeling to the invigorating outdoor activities of winter in any other season, I can’t think of it. However, there comes a time when I had enough of the cold air and ice. When our noses and cheeks were chapped and bright red, we happily retired to the rustic warming house to take off our skates and then headed to the warmth of our local diner for a Coke, french fries and endless teenage gossip.

Today the Midwest is warmer than it used to be and the exceptionally snowy days of yore – that once required feet to be encased in big furry boots, necks to be wrapped in scratchy wool scarves, and hands to be protected by oversized mittens – are far less frequent. But I still hang on to all those warm garments of my childhood as I do the memories of those chilly day in Wisconsin (though I take them out of my coat closet much less than I wish I could!).

Coziness is really at the core of what I love about winter, yet its short days bring with it a mood of somber reflection. But my love of the seasonal comfort food of winter will always triumph over that melancholy. Stews, chilis and pot pies sink deep into your bones and transfer a physical and emotional solace the same way a wood burning fire, a steaming cup of cocoa and a cozy blanket do. Those things offer more than just physical warmth, but a soulful contentment. John Steinbeck put it best in his book Travels with Charley:

“What good is the warmth of summer
without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?”

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The month of December is when the calendar tells us that winter begins and in that month come countless festivities: brunches, dinners, cocktail parties, caroling, and (hopefully) a few Santa sightings for the kids. As a child I only knew of the Christmas tradition, but over the years friends of mine have introduced me to Hanukkah, Kwanza, Solstice and others. No matter our traditions, the one thing we seem to have in common is that we decorate our homes in celebration of these holidays, in my case by putting up garlands, twinkling lights, ornaments, candles, tinsel-clad trees, poinsettias and every kind of greenery imaginable. December provides us all the opportunity to celebrate the past year and our shared embrace of hope never fails to fill me with joy.

Back in the days when I was newly married with young children, it seemed that everyone I knew hosted some kind of holiday party and there were many weekends when we would go to three or more of these events. I often found myself struggling for new things to talk about as I stood next to the same people I had seen just last night. But escaping from the stress of work – and the relentless needs of small children – made this world of adult holiday cheer a wonderful escape.

The best events were the early-evening cocktail parties which invariably featured creative drinks and passed hors d’oeurves. Cocktails back then were serious business, invariably consisting of generous pours of hard liquor and something to mask the booze– scotch and water, gin and tonic, Jack and Coke. Wine was years away from being something anyone really thought of to serve socially. Occasionally someone might make a show out of some overly tannic, straw-basket-covered Chianti or a faux-ceramic bottle of Lancer’s (a painfully sweet Portuguese rosé), but the more sophisticated Sauvignon Blancs, Barbarescos and Merlots would not arrive for at least another decade or more.

My cocktail parties were a combination of passed appetizers and a buffet featuring crudité platters, chafing dishes filled with sauced meatballs, bowls of shrimp with cocktail sauce and a variety of wraps, bruschetta, dips and chips. At later cocktail parties (after I had been on my Italian journeys), I loved making one of my cheese tortas inspired by my favorite Milanese Salumeria – Peck’s. I featured these tortas at my downtown Chicago location in the late 1980s, but they were a short-lived experiment once I realized that the labor and ingredient cost made them a dramatic profit-loser no matter how popular they became. Regardless, I still had the kitchen make them from time to time because I loved them so much. Consisting of layered cheeses, nuts, dried fruits, vegetables and herbs they were stunningly beautiful, so much so that they once caught the eye of a famous Chicago merchant about to open the Armani store on fashionable Oak Street near my restaurant and market. She asked me to create a layered “designer cheese torta” for her opening party and I was naturally thrilled to do it. I named each layer after a famous Italian fashion designer. Both my staff and I put many hours into its creation. The below photo is of my one and only designer-inspired layered-cheese torta never to be made again. I didn’t charge her what it cost – it was obscene – but I have never for a moment regretted creating this indulgent, gorgeous and delicious dish.

I named the layers (from bottom): Torta Missoni with dried cherries, blueberries & walnuts; Torta Krizia with sun-dried tomatoes and basil; Torta Armani with basil and pine nuts; Torta Valentino with dried apricots and walnuts; and Torta Gucci with a Gucci-colored green and red of green olives and roasted red peppers. Each torta also contained many different cheeses like mascarpone with dried blueberries and the rich Annabella cheese with chopped walnuts.

The most festive looking one is the Torta Missoni which I still occasionally make during the holidays.

Torta Missoni

36 slices of domestic mozzarella (approximately 3-inch squares)
18 ounces cream cheese
10 ounces mascarpone
5 ounces gorgonzola
½ cup dried blueberries, chopped
½ cup dried cranberries, chopped
1 pound cream cheese
½ cup milk
1 pound cream cheese
½ cup milk
1 ½ cup whole dried cranberries
1 ½ cups whole dried blueberries
1 ½ cup walnuts, chopped into similar size pieces to dried fruit

Day One

Let the cheeses come to room temperature.

With a mixer blend 12 ounces of the cream cheese with the mascarpone. Divide this mixture in half into two smaller bowls. In one bowl with mixer, blend with chopped blueberries. In other bowl blend with chopped cranberries.

In another small bowl, with a mixer blend the remaining 6 ounces of cream cheese with the gorgonzola.

Oil a 9 inch round cake pan and line with saran wrap leaving 6 inches on either side to help with removal in the future.

On approximately a 10-inch square of parchment paper, lay out 3 rows of 3 squares of the mozzarella so that the edges meet or overlap slightly. Place the bottom of the cake on top of the mozzarella, with a knife running along the base of the cake pan, trim the mozzarella so that you have a circle that will fit into the inside of the pan. Pull the scraps aside. Remove the pan from on top of the mozzarella and place the circle of mozzarella pieces inside the pan. Spread the blueberry-cheese mixture evenly on top of the mozzarella.

Add a second layer of mozzarella using the same technique as above. Spread the gorgonzola mixture evenly on top of the mozzarella.

Add a third layer of mozzarella. Spread the cranberry cheese mixture evenly on top of the mozzarella.

Add a fourth layer of mozzarella, cover with tin foil and place in refrigerator to solidify overnight.

Day Two

Remove the torta from refrigerator, un-mold by lifting the saran wrap edges and place on the serving platter. Pull the saran wrap from under the torta and throw away.

With a mixer combine the cream cheese and milk until silky smooth to make the icing. Ice sides and top of torta reserving some icing for piping at the end.

Create a template for the decoration: From the center, use a toothpick to outline the missoni design by dividing the top of the into six triangular sections with a slight curve at the outside edge, Leaving about ¼ inch between each triangle for piped icing.

Decorate each triangle with alternating rows of dried cranberries, walnuts, dried blueberries, walnuts. Repeat. Make rows of berries and nuts shorter as they progress to the corner of the triangle. Repeat until all 6 triangles are complete. Finish by piping the remaining icing between each triangle and around the outer circle of the torta.

Colette and Sergio with antipasti tray.

Another dish I love to include on my buffet is an antipasti tray. Convito carries many – Formaggi & Salumi (cheese and salamis), Charcuterie (salamis, mortadella, olives, roasted peppers and artichokes), Artisanal Cheese Platter (an eclectic selection of unique cheeses with walnuts, apricots and a delicious fig-almond cake), our popular Vegetable Crudité Platter (raw vegetables and dips) and a simple Cheese and Fruit Tray.

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December ends with a bang, literally. Horns, noisemakers and fireworks conclude many New Year’s Eve parties, though I prefer a quieter evening. Apparently the origin of all this noisy hubbub is an ancient tradition meant to scare off evil, but to me it is just needless chaos! All that noise combined with confetti in my hair, over-served strangers bumping into me, and the compulsory public kissing adds up to one party I am happy to miss these days. When my kids were little, I was willing to join the fun, but these days I much prefer to watch the freezing-celebrants navigate their drunken bedlam via television and get a call or text from my kids. Come 12:01am I’m thrilled to be either going to sleep or watching an old movie to ring in the new year.

Back when I was still a reluctant celebrant there came a moment when my close friends Janet and Paul Alms suggested maybe we transition away from the big parties to a more intimate, formal New Year’s Eve dinner evening that we would limit to just four couples. At that point I began to look forward to celebrating New Year’s Eve. We eventually expanded the group to six couples over the years, but it remained a comparatively intimate evening. Our first one was at the Janet and Paul’s home and featured French cuisine with Coq au Vin as the main course. We all took turns hosting these formal dinners and over the years many different cuisines were featured – Greek, Mediterranean, American regional, etc. To no one’s surprise (or complaint!), I cooked Italian food several times. Probably my favorite was the year I prepared a multi-coursed Carnevale-themed Venetian meal. Our whole group consisted of excellent cooks and wine lovers (wine was in vogue by now!) so every dinner was superb and featured many (almost always too many) amazing wines from all over the world.

New Year’s Eve group

Eventually as our kids grew up the group disbanded and most of us began to celebrate with our now grown families. My daughter Candace lives nearby and my son and family usually come in from New York so we are able to spend a whole week together celebrating both Christmas (blogs “Christmas Traditions/Christmas Changes) and New Year’s Eve. Initially when the grandchildren were quite young the adults had their meal after the children were in bed. For years our dinner was divided into two parts: a fish course and a cheese course. Our seafood dishes included crab legs in butter, smoked trout with apple slices and creamy horseradish spread, or sautéed shrimp. After another glass of wine, we would move on to an amazing, exotic selection of cheeses given to us by close friend and longtime Convito cheese supplier Sofia Solomon through her amazing company Tekla. We always delighted in the many fantastic and unusual cheeses Sofia gave us: like Saint-Marcellin, a soft French cheese; Humboldt Fog Goat cheese; and Sottocenere al Tartufo made with truffles and wrapped in an ash rind. It was always a generous treasure trove of delicious and delightful surprises.

Candace making chili

As the children grew older and could stay up a little later, Candace would organize themed dinners more appropriate for the whole family. Our last two years featured a make-your-own-baked-potato buffet complete with a huge selection of veggies and condiments, and a Chili Dinner featuring my son Rob’s (very) spicy and delicious ground beef and sausage chili and Candace’s yummy vegetarian chili.

Candace’s Vegetarian Chili
(Serves 6-8)

½ large white onion chopped coarsely
2 large carrots sliced in thin rounds
2 cups frozen corn
1 ½ cups frozen peas
12 oz can (or box) kidney beans
12 oz can (or box) cannellini beans
12 oz can (or box) black beans
12 oz can (or box) pinto beans
26 oz box or jar of passata tomato purée (Pomi or Mutti good brands)
26 oz box of strained tomatoes (Pomi is good brand)
26 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato paste
32 ounces of vegetable broth
extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp paprika
½ tbsp tbsp chili powder
¼ tsp dried mustard
¼ tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream

Coat bottom of large stock pot with extra virgin olive oil, heat on medium for 3 minutes. Toss in onions, cumin, lemon pepper, paprika, salt and pepper and sauté on low medium heat until soft about 10 minutes. Add carrots and more olive oil and sauté for 5 minutes. Add ½ cup water continue to sauté until carrots are softened about 5 minutes. After water has absorbed to carrot, onion and spice mix, add dried mustard, chili powder, and garlic powder. Stir. Add strained tomatoes, passata and diced/crushed tomatoes to pot and simmer on medium for 10 minutes. Add all beans, stir and continue to simmer for 5 minutes. Add vegetable broth, stir and turn up heat slightly and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste, and add more chili powder, paprika if you want more spice. Add more salt and pepper to taste if needed. Can leave on stove on low to simmer until ready to eat.

Sprinkle with shredded cheddar and sour cream to taste.

*Add other vegetables if you desire, like steamed broccoli or roasted peppers.

*Use different beans (like butter beans) to stretch the recipe.

After such a festive month filled with so many events and parties, January always comes as a respite month for me – my “steeping time” where goals can be reviewed and plans for the coming year finalized. I revel in this quiet time, but in my family I am pretty much the only one who feels that way.

Candace, Rob and their Dad in Colorado

Both Candace and Rob grew up going to Colorado with their father and friends to spend a week enjoying the fresh mountain air and the challenges of skiing. Most resorts offer great snow conditions from late December to early March and my family usually went in January or February. I never caught the ski bug (ski lifts are totally incompatible with my fear of heights) so I stayed home and took advantage of the time to think about last year and make plans for the next one.

Over time my son committed himself to always spending some time in the mountains and decided to spend his first year after college living as a ski bum in Steamboat Spring, CO. He eventually returned to the East Coast where he went to college and soon started dating his now-wife Angie. They would rented a modest little ski house in southern Vermont every year so they had a base for skiing. After they were married and had kids, they bought a home in the Hudson Valley area where he now spends many a winter weekend skiing in the Catskills with his two daughters who have also caught the ski bug.

Neko, Rob & Isis in the Catskills

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By the time New Year’s wraps up, the unrelenting parade of parties has exhausted most people, so social events go on hiatus for the remainder of winter. If I feel like entertaining, I usually do it on a small scale by hosting intimate dinner parties with good friends. However, one year I decided to throw a big party for my Convito staff as a way to say thanks for all their hard work over the holidays and to fight off everyone’s winter doldrums.

Bob deals Blackjack

Wanting something memorable and fun, I decided to stage a gambling party and turned my house into a casino complete with roulette, blackjack, and poker tables! My then-husband, Bob and my brother-in-law Jeff acted as croupiers distributing gambling chips and working the tables with help from other gambling-savvy staff members.

It was a perfect winter party – lively and fun. We served cocktails and beer throughout the night and took an intermission from gambling for a classic British pub buffet serving everything from Shepherd’s Pie to Bangers and Mash (pork sausages and mashed potatoes) to my favorite – the Ploughman’s. This traditional lunch of British laborers can be as simple as a plate with a few hunks of aged cheddar cheese, some

Jeff showing that the house always wins

fresh bread and some sort of chutney or pickled onions (my favorite is called Branston Pickle).

I even made Scotch Eggs that night! These boiled eggs wrapped in sausage and coated with breadcrumbs then baked in the oven were something most of my guests have never even heard of, but there were none left at the end of the evening.

But probably the most unlikely hit of the night was a simple bowl of nuts I placed at every table in an effort keep all the gamblers sated (and at least a little sober)!

Sweet, Spicy, Smoky Nuts

1 cup pecans
1 cup cashews
1 cup almonds
1 cup walnuts
1/3 cup dark rum
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon chili pepper fakes

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a small fry pan over medium-high heat, add rum, bring to a boil, then reduce to about 2 tablespoons. Remove from the heat. Add brown sugar, butter, rosemary, salt and chili pepper flakes and combine. Return to heat, bring to a boil and cook for one minute more.

Combine nuts in a bowl. Add the warm rum combination and toss until well coated. Spread nuts in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow nuts a few minutes to cool then serve warm or later at room temperature.

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The official end of Winter comes with the vernal equinox on March 20^th, but I like to think of the seasons in neater three-month sections that correspond to calendar months. So for me – and this blog – winter begins December 1^st and ends on the last day of February. But before I start putting away my sweaters and getting ready for spring, February offers two more days for me to celebrate: Valentine’s Day (probably my favorite non-Christmas holiday) and my birthday! In fact since my mother’s original due date for me was February 14^th, I have occasionally celebrated those two events together, despite actually arriving three days late.

As a girl I celebrated my birthday with my family, and would always get to choose the menu for my birthday dinner. Invariably I chose steak, french fries and my mom’s German cheesecake. Most kids, like my sister Karen, preferred sweeter cakes like chocolate, angel-food or a white cake with chocolate frosting, but I loved this rustic cheesecake with a graham cracker crust that was creamy and never overly sweet. It was my father’s mother’s recipe and though she passed away before I was born, I heard many wonderful stories about her, especially about her legendary baking skills.

Maud Brussat’s German Cheesecake

Crust
3/4 cup butter, softened
9 ounces (1/2 package) of graham crackers, crushed *
3/4 cup powered sugar
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

Filling
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 pound cottage cheese
3/8 cup flour
1 1/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix butter, graham crackers (original recipe used Zwieback), powdered sugar and graham cracker crumb in a mixing bowl and combine. In a spring form pan with a center hole, press the crust mixture into the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides to about 1/4 – 1/3 thickness. Place in refrigerator to cool while making the filling.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, salt, lemon juice and rind, vanilla, cottage cheese and flour together. In a medium bowl, whip cream then fold into the filling mixture.

Carefully pour or spoon filling onto cooled crust within 3/4 inch of top of the pan (depending on pan size there maybe extra filling). Sprinkle (almost cover) the top with graham cracker crumbs. Bake for 1 hour. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in oven to cool for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and release the spring from sides of the pan. Carefully remove sides of pan

Serve cheesecake on the base, warm from the oven or chilled.

Adult birthday celebrations were often fancy dinners or the occasional party with close friends. They were all nice events, but it was after my kids left home and began their own relationships and families that I began to look forward to the types of celebrations that I genuinely enjoyed – small gatherings with good food, time spent with loved ones and perhaps a bottle or two of great wine. I usually went to one of their homes to celebrate my birthday, but every so often I left town to celebrate. When I look back at those trips it’s notable that even when I did actually leave wintry-Chicago, I never once ended up at a beach or other warm destination, but instead traveled to another chilly locale. I guess my love of coziness and the comfort of winter indulgences overruled any need to warm up!

For my 40^th, my partners, Paolo Volpara and Wanda Bottino treated me to a Medieval birthday weekend in a handsome – but very cold – castle. Castello Pomerio is of ancient origins and is located in the countryside and the quiet hills of Branza, not far from Milan. Upon arriving we spent the afternoon roaming the freezing castle grounds, but eventually retired to our private quarters where we were welcomed with a roaring fire and a plethora of flickering candles that brought warmth to the imposing stone and brick castle walls

It is amazing how candles can light up and give warmth to even the gloomiest of rooms. I use them in every season, but especially in winter. In doldrums of February the gentle flicker of a candle flame somehow produces a feeling of well-being and transforms a certain seasonal desolation into an atmosphere of cheerful optimism. Plus, soft candlelight is flattering for both the old and the young, so what is not to like?!

My castle birthday with Paolo (to my left) and Wanda (across from me)

Another wintery out-of-town birthday location I remember fondly was planned by my daughter Candace. My kids and their spouses took me and my close friend Nancy Harris (another February baby) to New Buffalo, Michigan, a quiet beach town just 70 miles from downtown Chicago that Candace and her husband Rob knew quite well from Warner Family vacations nearby. After settling in to our charming cottage, we bundled up and spent the afternoon strolling the icy shores of Lake Michigan. To commemorate our snowy outing the Robs (my son and Candace’s husband) created a funny, soused snowman who very casually slumped on a bench outside our cabin with an empty Jack Daniels bottle in hand. I wasn’t sure if he was there to protect us or vice-versa, but he gave us a laugh every time we passed by him.

Nancy Harris, me, Angie, Rob and Candace on the Lake Michigan shoreline

That night we had a lovely dinner, but my favorite part of that birthday evening was spent hanging out next to a roaring fire, playing games and enjoying a birthday cake topped with what both Nancy and I determined was way too many candles. Someone must have made a mistake with their math!

Cold weather and candles remained a through-line of my birthday when one year I decided to celebrate it in Manhattan during the artist Christo’s “Gates” installation – a massive installation made up of twenty-three miles of saffron-flagged pathways winding throughout Central Park. The installation was only up for two weeks and my birthday fell right in the middle of it. I invited family and a few close friends to join me for yet another cold February stroll through the “Gates” and then rewarded them all with dinner at one of my favorite Manhattan restaurants – Felidia. We all sat in the front of the restaurant basking in the warmth of chef Lidia Bastianich’s candle-filled room and savoring steaming bowls of her perfectly sauced pasta. We toasted that magical day (and yet another of my birthdays) with tall glasses of fine Italian Prosecco. It was a magical weekend.

with my sisters Karen and Joan at The Gates in Manhattan

New York is one of my favorite places in the world and I have spent two other out-of-town birthdays here. The first one was in East Hampton at a lovely house rented for the occasion with my kids and their families as well as sister Karen and my brother-in-law Jeff. My birthday was spent walking snow-covered paths near the beaches of Montauk, followed by a glorious dinner culminating with a beautiful cake baked by my talented grand-daughter Neko and some very original games invented by my clever sister Karen.

with family in Amagansett, NY

My last New York birthday was in the Hudson Valley at my son’s home in Tivoli, NY. Most memorable about this birthday was the meal – a return to my roots – where we dined on steak and French fries, something I had not had outside of my restaurant in many years. Another highlight was a cocktail introduced to me by my daughter-in-law Angie.

She created her own version of a Paloma, this one made with Mezcal mixed with a sparkling pink grapefruit drink. I liked it so much I added it to our Convito cocktail list and named it, of course, “Paloma Angelina”.

Paloma Angelina

1 ½ ounces Mezcal
4-6 ounces sparkling pink grapefruit (we use the 6.8oz bottles of Fever Tree)
rosemary sprig
ice

Over ice combine mezcal and sparkling grapefruit in a highball or rocks glass.

Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

As winter wanes, Valentine’s Day sneaks up on us to close out the season. Originally a pagan holiday dating back to Roman times with a dark history of beheadings and other morbid crimes, it has slowly but surely shed its dark history and become a day celebrating love and romance. Roses are sold by the millions, chocolates are given to lovers, and dear friends and family express all kinds of positive emotions. To me it is the perfect winter holiday for an intimate dinner party and just two years ago I held one where I think I outdid myself thematically. I lavished an opulent centerpiece with what must have been 20 different shades of pink and made sure that each and every dish I served had a deep red or a soft rose patina to it.

We began with a cup of roasted tomato-basil soup piped with a crème fraîche heart floating in the center of each cup.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

6# ripe plum tomatoes cut in half lengthwise
1 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons kosher salt
3 teaspoons pepper
4 cups chopped onions
4 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon chili pepper flakes
6 cups canned diced tomatoes
3 cups chopped basil leaves
2 teaspoons thyme
2 quarts vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
crème fraîche (if desired)

Combine plum tomatoes, ½ cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons kosher salt and 3 teaspoons pepper. Spread in one layer on a baking sheet. Roast in 400-degree oven for 45 minutes.

When roasted tomatoes are out of the oven, heat the butter with the other ½ cup olive oil in a large stockpot. Sauté onions, garlic and chili pepper flakes for 5-10 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, basil, thyme and chicken stock. Add the roasted tomatoes and their juice. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Using in inversion blender or cuisinart, coarsely blend the soup, but leave some chunks for a mixed consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in bowls with fresh basil and crème fraîche piping.

The next course was a pasta dish invented by my son-in-law Rob for his wife Candace’s birthday. She loves to find an excuse to celebrate and so Champagne naturally comes to mind. And since lobster is one of her favorite foods (she has good taste like her Mom), the combination of these two indulgences makes for an extravagantly delicious Valentines meal.

Fettuccine with Lobster Sauce
Serves 4

2 fresh whole lobsters, about 1 ½ pounds each
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup rum
1 pound dried fettuccine
1 cup onions, chopped
2 gloves garlic, minced
5 ripe Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
¼ to ½ cup heavy whipping cream
salt to taste

Bring water to a boil in an extra-large pot (or in two separate pots if you don’t have one large enough for two lobsters). Add live lobsters to the boiling water and cook for 9-12 minutes (shells will be bright red and the meat will be white, not clear). Remove the lobsters with tongs and submerge them in cold water. Save 2 cups of the cooking water for the next step.

When the lobsters are cool, place them on a baking sheet. Cut the claws and tail open, and extract the meat. Cut the lobster meat into bite size pieces, place them in a bowl, cover and set side (reserve the little claws and vacated shells for stock later). Strain and reserve the remaining lobster pieces on the baking sheet.

Melt ½ cup of the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the rum. Add 2 cups of the reserved lobster cooking water, the reserved little claws, the shells and the strained juices. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Uncover and boil gently until the liquid has reduced to ¾ cup, about 20 minutes. Allow the reduction to cool and then remove the claws and shells with a slotted spoon. Strain the reduced stock over the reserved lobster meat. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Heat a stockpot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Meanwhile melt the remaining ¼ cup butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add the onions and cook until lightly browned about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook 5 more minutes. And the stock, lobster meat and cream. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Drain pasta, toss with the lobster in a large bowl. Serve immediately.

Winter never fails to top the list of complained-about seasons. “Why is it so gloomy, my feet are frozen, when will the snow melt, for god sakes…when will spring arrive?!” Sure, our winter admittedly overstays its welcome even for me, often reaching its cold icy fingers into late-Match and once in a while bringing us a surprise April snowstorm. But those late-season snowstorm are all the sweeter for the knowledge that soon the Blue Bells will be poking their heads through the frosty ground. I try to enjoy those final flurries and recognize that these last vestiges of winter make the inevitable warmth and renewal of spring all the more lovely

So when dark, gloomy days settle over the skies for what seems like weeks on end, take a little time to remember all the good things that winter brings us: momentous holidays that encourage celebration and family reconnection, incredible sporting activities that require snow and ice, and a season devoted to love and romance! Whenever I tire of the season I’m in, I always remind myself how lucky I am to live in the Midwest where the dramatic change of seasons always keeps me on my toes.