![\"4471E5A3-C8CE-4372-AAA9-73C38E62CE2F\"](\"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/4471e5a3-c8ce-4372-aaa9-73c38e62ce2f-1.jpeg\")
Our winter wonderland…<\/p><\/div>
\nIt is hard to believe that Christmas is almost upon us. It has really snuck up on me this year. Almost ready with ready with the presents, I am worried that the one thing I ordered weeks ago, a Westbrook jersey for my baby, might not arrive in time.\u00a0 If it doesn\u2019t arrive, it will not be the end of the world, but I might be a little disappointed.
\nWe will definitely be having a white Christmas, as there has been snow on the ground for weeks; the temperature barely climbs above freezing during the day. The laundry freezes on the clothesline outside, and we know it is dry when it is finally soft.
\nGetting ready for the holidays, I have been baking up a storm. Every year, I make platters of American goodies, for my favorite neighbors. Fudge, sugar cookies, gingerbread, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate truffles are always a hit. This year I also made some homemade Baileys and vegan pecan bars. \u00a0\u00a0Our neighbors appreciate them and I like baking, tasting and giving most everything away to save me from myself!
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![\"F3CAD909-A2AB-4F6F-B4A9-2DABFFEFA7B1\"](\"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f3cad909-a2ab-4f6f-b4a9-2dabffefa7b1-1.jpeg\")
Time to bake!<\/p><\/div> Frozen asparagus is fine at this time of year…<\/p><\/div> Emmental…aka Swiss Cheese<\/p><\/div> Rolled and ready to bake<\/p><\/div> Ready to eat…<\/p><\/div> It is hard to believe that Christmas is almost upon us. It has really snuck up on me this year. Almost ready with ready with the presents, I am worried that the one thing I ordered weeks ago, a Westbrook jersey for my baby, might not arrive in time.\u00a0 If it doesn\u2019t arrive, it will … Continue reading Tanti Auguri<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recipes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5484,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850\/revisions\/5484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHoliday recitals are also par for the course here as they are in the States.\u00a0 Our two fifth grade classes impressed us with songs sung in four different languages: Italian, French, English and Piemontese.
\nWe always spend Christmas day with Mauro\u2019s family.\u00a0 Last year\u2019s Christmas was the first spent with my family in 16 years.\u00a0 We rotate who hosts Christmas lunch or dinner with Mauro\u2019s cousins every three years and everyone brings something so it is never too much work. \u00a0There will be 21 of us sitting down at Christmas dinner this year and it is always a lot of fun.\u00a0 We will not be doing a traditional dinner. One of Mauro\u2019s cousins is having all sorts of dietary issues, so we will be trying some new recipes that do not include cheese or flour.\u00a0 Because of this, I decided to make one of our traditional Christmas appetizers at home before the holidays. Something that Mauro\u2019s mom always made at Christmas, Involtini di asparagi e formaggio<\/em>, baked asparagus and cheese wrapped in ham, I cheated this year…Served after a bowl of veggie soup, during a busy week, this was our entree rather than an antipasto. \u00a0It is super easy to make, and my kids love it.
\n![\"3AD0F080-F27B-41C2-993D-702F5C60A9E9\"](\"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/3ad0f080-f27b-41c2-993d-702f5c60a9e9-1.jpeg\")
\nSo all you need for this recipe is three ingredients, asparagus, thinly sliced deli ham, and cheese. \u00a0Many people actually make this with formaggio fuso<\/em>, like Kraft singles.\u00a0 They are white here, rather than yellow, but I am not a big fan of pasteurized processed cheese food, so I have changed the recipe. \u00a0My cheese preference is for Emmental or Gruyere.
\n![\"7EE9402D-524A-449C-A16B-C1BDB003E81A\"](\"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/7ee9402d-524a-449c-a16b-c1bdb003e81a-1.jpeg\")
\nThe ham used here is really ham, or what Italians call \u201cprosciutto cotto.\u201d <\/em>Do not use prosciutto crudo<\/em>! \u00a0<\/em>As an antipasto, I make two or three involtini, <\/em>(pieces) per person. For each piece, use three asparagus spears (unless they are super fat) a long, thin slice of cheese and one slice of ham.![\"ECF80351-B561-4EFD-A162-E56C05DBDA08\"](\"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/ecf80351-b561-4efd-a162-e56c05dbda08-1.jpeg\")
\n![\"C6CF69DC-B8E3-4F4A-B582-220B754F82B9\"](\"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/c6cf69dc-b8e3-4f4a-b582-220b754f82b9-1.jpeg\")
\nSteam your asparagus for a few minutes, and let it cool. Once cooled, lay the asparagus spears on the ham, put the cheese on top, and roll it up. Place them in a lightly oiled baking dish and bake for about 25 minutes at 350\u00b0. That is all there is to it. Serve them warm, I like it when they start getting just a little crispy around the edges.
\n![\"EF63E426-AFBB-455C-B27D-C3DEDD977BA6\"](\"https:\/\/lisasdolceitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/ef63e426-afbb-455c-b27d-c3dedd977ba6-1.jpeg\")
\nWherever you are for the holidays, I hope you are with people you love, whether family or friends and have something good to eat.\u00a0 \u00a0Raise a glass and say, “Salute<\/em>!” “To your health!”\u00a0 We don\u2019t really need any more than this, do we?
\nTanti Auguri! <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"