Brisket Update...

Well...(drumroll please), it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got the cut of meat right - though a little on the fatty side so next time I'll have to specify I want a leaner part. I substituted the cranberries with (thawed) frozen wildberries and they did the trick well. Only unexpected part was that halfway through cooking, my house started to smell like my childhood and I got choked up.

I accept this Brisket Making Award on behalf of my mother, whose recipe I stole, to her butcher who sent the diagram of cow parts out for Italian analysis, to my girlfriends who happily took part in my berry obsessing, and to my husband, who (luckily for him) showed just the right amount of enthusiasm and awe at dinner last night.

:::::polite applause:::::::

A year ago today...

The Repercussions of a Long Coffee Day (plus Musings on Brisket)

If I ever write an autobiography, that's number 1 on the viable title list. Lately I have become coffee-obsessed.

Anyway.

The worst part about living in a foreign country is, of course, having to miss out on your traditions. But the best part is making up news ones! So, in honor of Rosh Hashanah, I am on a mission to (a) figure out which part of the Italian cow is the brisket cut, (b) figure out how to replace cranberries in the brisket recipe and (c) um, cook one. I'll let you know how/if/when it comes out...maybe even take a picture for posterity.

Happy New Year all...make new traditions this year!