But sometimes happy isn’t what somebody is feeling.
I’m not talking about the tired, stressed feeling that is usually felt by anyone who’s in charge of taking care of meals, gifts, accommodations for guests and peace keeping that are needed during big holiday events.
During the year life happens, and sometimes life feels like a kick in the gut.
And it’s impossible to ‘just shake it off’ and get into a party mood.
And that’s perfectly normal.
I mean, who said we have to put on an act?
Say ‘Italian Food’ and people automatically picture pizza, pastries and pasta.
Well, there’s a fourth P item that every Italian, and Maltese, reaches for when needing a bit of comfort.
Pastina.
Pastina just means small pasta.
But when we picture pastina it’s a steaming bowl of chicken soup with tiny pasta.
A bowl of pastina was our first solid food.
Our mothers made it whenever someone was coming down with a cold or looking sad.
It’s called the Italian Penicillin.
A bowl of pastina is comfort, love and peace in a bowl.
It’s easy to make, and like any ancient recipe, there are variations.
I’m posting a few, as well as a recipe for Pasta e Fagioli Soup, a comforting, cheap, filling meal that's handy when the bills start coming in January.
It’s been said that man does not live by bread alone.
Well, sure, a bit of butter is always appreciated.
Panettone, a traditional Italian Christmas bread, is a soft, buttery, sweet bread filled with citrus and raisins.
There's a legend about Italy’s Christmas bread, Panettone.
It was created in Milan by a young nobleman named Antonio, who was in love with a baker's daughter. He went to work for the baker, whose business was failing. Antonio added butter, sugar, candied fruit and eggs to the bread dough.
People loved the new creation: Pane di Toni or Tony's bread.
Soup and bread.
Take some comfort from where ever you can.
Hints:
These recipes feed four to six. You can make a double batch and freeze half.
Many stores carry boxes of ditalini, orzo, alphabet or tiny star-shaped pasta which are perfect for pastina soup. If your store doesn’t, use elbow macaroni.
The Parmesan rind adds a rich flavour.
If you don’t have a rind, you can add 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce to the broth.
After the pasta’s cooked crack an egg into the pot and stir gently to create egg ribbons.
Before serving the soup, taste and season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with chopped fresh parsley (or dry), grated Parmesan cheese and a small pat of butter or a drizzle of olive oil.
A dash of lemon juice or lemon slices adds a nice flavour, too.
Serve with warm crusty bread.
About the Pastina with Fresh Tomatoes Soup…
You can add chopped chicken, diced carrots, peas and a small can of tomato sauce.
About the Pastina with Cannellini Beans Soup…
White or red kidney beans (actually any canned beans) would be fine.
This leftover soup thickens. Add broth or water when reheating to bring it back to the right consistency.
About the Pasta Fagioli Soup…
if you don’t have pancetta you can use diced pepperoni, bacon, ham or pork or make it without meat.
About the Panettone…
When kneading do not add too much flour.
Basic Pastina Soup
Place in a large pot
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Heat over medium heat.
Add
1 small yellow or white onion, diced
1 Cup carrots, peeled and diced
1 Cup celery (about 2 stalks), diced (optional)
2 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
Stirring, sauté until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Add
5 Cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 Cup water
1 Parmesan rind
Bring to a gentle boil.
Stir in
1 Cup pastina
Reduce heat slightly and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove the Parmesan rind.
Ladle into bowls and garnish.
Pastina with Fresh Tomatoes Soup
Score a small X on the bottoms of
6 cherry tomatoes
Place them in a bowl and cover with boiling water.
Let sit for 2 to 3 minutes, then drain the water.
When they’re cool enough to handle, peel the tomatoes, then chop them.
Place in a large pot
6 cups chicken or veggie broth
Bring to a boil over high heat.
Add the chopped tomatoes to the simmering broth.
Stir in
1 1/2 Cups pastina
Reduce heat slightly and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.
Turn off the heat and stir in
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Ladle into bowls and garnish.
Pastina with Canned Tomatoes Soup
Place in a large pot
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Heat over medium heat.
Add
1/2 Cup diced onion
1 Cup diced carrots
1 Cup diced celery
3 garlic cloves, minced
Stirring, sauté until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Add
5 Cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 (14.5 ounces) can diced tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon oregano (optional)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Bring to a gentle boil.
Stir in
1 Cup pastina
Reduce heat slightly and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.
Ladle into bowls and garnish.
Pastina with Spinach Soup
Place in a large pot
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Heat over medium heat.
Add
1 small yellow or white onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
Stirring, sauté until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Stir in
2 garlic cloves, minced
Sauté for 1 minute.
Add
6 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
Bring to a gentle boil.
Stir in
3/4 Cup pastina
Reduce heat slightly and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes
Stir in
1 handful baby spinach or kale, chopped
Cook just until wilted.
Ladle into bowls and garnish.
Pastina with Parmesan Ribbons Soup
Place in a small bowl
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Beat to combine.
Place in a large pot
2 Tablespoons olive oil or 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
Heat over medium heat.
Add
1 small carrot, finely grated or diced
1 garlic clove, minced
Stirring, sauté 2 to 3 minutes.
Add
6 Cups vegetable or chicken broth
Bring to a gentle boil.
Stir in
1 1/2 Cups pastina
Reduce heat slightly and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.
While stirring, slowly drizzle in the egg mixture.
Let simmer 1 minute, then remove from heat and stir in
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped or 1 Tablespoon dried
Ladle into bowls and garnish.
Place in a large pot
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Heat over medium heat.
Add
1 small onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
Stirring, sauté until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Stir in
2 garlic cloves, minced
Cook for 1 minute.
Add
6 Cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 (14.5 ounces) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 ounces) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
Bring to a gentle boil.
Stir in
3/4 Cup pastina
Reduce heat slightly and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.
Ladle into bowls and garnish.
Pasta e Fagioli Soup
Dice
4 ounces pancetta
1 medium onion
3 plum tomatoes
Place in a large pot
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Heat over medium heat.
Add diced pancetta
Sauté for 7 to 10 minutes, until the fat is mostly rendered.
Add diced onion
Cook 5 minutes, then stir in
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Cook 1 to 2 minutes until garlic is golden.
Add
6 cups of water
diced tomatoes
3 (16 ounces) cans cannellini beans, drained, not rinsed
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 Parmesan rind
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and gently mash some of the beans with a wooden spoon for creaminess. (optional)
Add
2 cups pastina or small shells
Reduce heat slightly and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.
Stir and add more water if needed.
Remove the Parmesan rind.
Ladle into bowls and garnish.
Panettone
Grease a deep round pan (a 2 1/2 quart pot would be fine)
Heat to scalding
1/2 Cup milk
Let it stand until it is lukewarm.
Place in a small mixer bowl
1/2 Cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 Cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Beat until creamy.
Pour into a warmed mixing bowl
1/4 Cup warm water
Add
1 Tablespoon yeast
Stir until the yeast is dissolved.
Let sit 10 minutes.
Add the warm milk and the sugar / butter mixture and stir well.
Add
2 large eggs, beaten
2 Cups flour
Beat until smooth.
Blend in
1/4 Cup seedless raisins
1/2 Cup mixed candied fruits
1/4 Cup toasted almonds, chopped
1 Tablespoon lemon extract
Add enough flour to make a soft dough, about 2 cups.
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface.
Knead until dough is smooth and elastic.
Put in an oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it with oil.
Cover with a damp towel and let stand in a warm place away from drafts about 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in bulk.
Punch down the dough and turn out on a board.
Cover with bowl and let rest 10 minutes.
Shape dough in a round loaf and place it in the greased pan.
Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Cut an "X" in the top.
Preheat oven to 375º F
Combine
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon cold water
Brush egg mixture over the loaf.
Bake 1 hour or until brown.
Remove from oven and let cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes.
Remove bread from pan and return bread to rack to cool completely.
~~~
For another broadcast of our CKUW radio program ‘2000 & Counting’ we talked about past Christmases.
Our show was hosted by seniors who had gone through the usual types of life experiences, some good and some bad.
But we had gotten through them all.
Wishing you peace, joy, health and everything good in 2026.
I wish you all a very happy holiday season full of peace, health, joy and love.
And, of course, favourite foods.
Let's not forget television specials and Christmas music.
For those who don't know the story, the Christmas carol Silent Night was written in the nineteenth century because of a problem.
In a small Austrian church the organ was broken and couldn't be repaired in time for the Christmas Eve Mass. So, in a couple of hours, Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber created a simple song that could be played on the guitar.
It was called the song from heaven.
On Christmas Eve in 1914, the German soldiers singing Silent Night brought a touch of humanity to World War l. The British soldiers responded with another carol, The First Noel. For a few hours, peace returned, thanks to music.
The first year I was on the CKUW radio show 2000 & Counting, Older and Wiser I prerecorded our two holiday shows. That year the holidays occurred on Tuesday, the day we usually broadcasted, and we wanted to be home.
I taped each person telling a story and their favourite Christmas carol recording.
The segments filled the two hours easily.
Normally we did our shows live and, as our listeners knew, we did make mistakes.
With prerecording, we were able to edit them. We sounded pretty good.
Maybe that's the problem with modern life.
We hear recordings and see shows that have had dozens of retakes.
Sometimes they show the bloopers.
It's pretty funny to see that even big stars make mistakes.
But, most of the time, all we only see a smoothly running show where everyone always says the right thing, the dinner is cooked to perfection and all problems are resolved with everybody hugging each other within a half an hour.
It can leave one feeling like he's been cheated, or that he should try harder.
The first Christmas was a stinker. Being in a big city with no available rooms is not fun. Add to that Mary was about to have her first baby in a barn with just a carpenter there to help.
I don't think any Christmas has ever gone according to plan.
And maybe Christmas just isn't supposed to be perfect.
A first Christmas away from all that's familiar can be rough.
Our first married Christmas was a big change.
Paul and I are originally from New York City. Tons of people.
I came from a huge family - a first generation immigrant family.
My parents and their siblings couldn't get enough of each other.
But, there we were in 1972, all alone in Surrey, British Columbia.
The two of us in a basement apartment watching Perry Como's Christmas Special.
It was something from home for us.
This was in the days before Skype. We hadn't seen our relatives for six months.
When we watched Perry Como, it was good to know our folks were watching it, too.
For an hour, we were all together.
Then we went to bed for a long winter's nap.
The next morning we awoke hearing our puppy happily yelping and splashing in water.
No, he wasn't in a basin or a tub.
Surrey in those days was very rural.
There were open drainage ditches running along the lengths of the residential blocks. The ditch in front of our house had gotten plugged. The rain had soaked our lawn and was seeping through three walls of our apartment. We were rapidly being flooded.
We piled things onto our bed.
The folks upstairs helped us carry everything else into their apartment.
Within a half hour water covered about two feet of our first Christmas tree.
We were safe and dry upstairs, sharing a cup of coffee.
Then we heard our phone ringing.
My folks had said they would call on Christmas Day.
If we didn't answer they phone, they would worry.
This was in the days before cell phones.
Our only phone was on the table in our apartment.
Our flooded apartment.
We braved the icy water and the risk of electrocution to answer the phone.
We wished my folks a Merry Christmas.
Keeping our teeth from chattering, we made small talk.
No mention of of our apartment suddenly becoming a wading pool.
What would've been the point of worrying them?
Living in British Columbia is just a memory.
Perry Como's Christmas specials are just a memory.
My parents, also, are just a memory.
But thanks to memories, we can enjoy a Christmas from the past.
During the holidays people often feel a bit down.
If this is your first Christmas after a major loss or change, be gentle with yourself.
Forget 'the rules'. Do what will make it easier for you.
It won't be perfect.
So what?
It will be real… another Christmas memory.
