Happy Holidays

Last week Terry and I and the boys went into Florence and visited at the IKEA store. We had more fun (meaning I had fun and Terry was patient:).I bought Christmas decorations and ornaments for Brandon and Kristin's first Christmas in Sicily, and some red and white ornaments for our dining room tree (all unbreakables this year in honor of our grandchildren ages almost 1 and 2).I love the simple straw ornaments and the hearts made of red gingham and wool. We also bought two gingerbread house kits to make and some ginger heart cookies to hang on the tree. We , of course, could not leave before eating swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce--a family favorite. Then Saturday we spent the day in downtown Florence, gathering all the last minute things we needed to do an American Thanksgiving here. At Rinascente I found two small wooden and metal ornaments to take home with me...and BEST OF ALL another cookbook by Tessa Kiros! I have her book "Red Apples and Jam" and now "Falling Cloudberries". She lives here in Siena, married to an Italian-mom's finnish, dad's Cypriot, raised in South Africa, cooked in Greece, etc. Our kind of girl!They are great books to read, but better yet, they are full of some of our favorite Greek, Italian, and Scandinavian foods. The first time I opened the book I saw a recipe for meatballs and Lingonberry sauce. I knew I had to buy it (I did recently hear from a friend that theynow sell Lingonberry Sauce at World Market. Thought the price is pretty steep. I'm going to see if they even grow in the States. Anyway, I now have a 10 pound book in my carryon luggage, along with my ceramic lamp I'm carrying on my lap! Happy travels!