Is there a Santa Klaus?
+ Parmigiano savory cannoli recipe to reuse leftovers
I will tell you a true story to answer the bizarre title question, which is more relevant than most adults guess.
One September evening in 1897, Virginia O'Hanlon of Manhattan, New York, asked her father if Santa Claus existed. Sitting in her comfortable armchair, he was reading the New York Sun and told her to ask for the newspaper.
Young Virginia wrote this letter.
Dear editor, I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, If you see it in the Sun, it's so. Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
Amazingly and, in my opinion, fortunately for us, the editor entrusted the response to F.P. Church, an investigative and experienced journalist who, though puzzled, accepted the assignment.
The quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial on Sept. 21, 1897. But the work of veteran newsman F.P. Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial. The article moved America and was published annually until the paper closed in 1950.
When, as nowadays, skepticism, indifference, and individualism prevail, it is more necessary than ever to remind ourselves that Santa Claus exists and that keeping that light burning in our hearts has precious meaning.
Don't let darkness prevail over light. Don't let skepticism, indifference, and distrust prevail on faith, poetry, and love.
Is there a Santa Claus?
"Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love, generosity, and devotion exist. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus? There would be no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.
You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus.
The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.
Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever."
F.P. Church
Fondazione Pasta Vincenzo Agnesi
I wrote a Christmas-themed essay for No. 6 of La Rivista della Fondazione Vincenzo Agnesi, dedicated to Christmas food traditions of the past and present and making some guesses about the future.
How long have people celebrated Christmas at the table? What did people eat in the Middle Ages? When did soups and lasagna appear on our tables?
The article is in ITALIAN.
You can read the article for free if you click on the cover below.
Savory Parmigiano cannoli
The nice thing about leftovers is that they can change form and substance. Anything can be chopped with a knife or blended meat, legumes, and cooked vegetables mixed with one or more other ingredients to create a perfect mousse for filling savory Parmigiano cannoli.
The cannoli are made with a small amount of grated cheese.
The process takes just a few minutes, and this appetizer/aperitif will make you look good.
Meat or legumes
You can blend or finely chop them with a knife, then mix the mince with mashed potatoes, or ricotta, or mascarpone. Finally, you can also add some cheese, such as sweet gorgonzola.
Cooked vegetables
These are best finely chopped with a knife to prevent them from making the mousse too watery. Then, combine them with a puree of legumes or mashed potatoes, or mix with ricotta or fresh mascarpone or with a cheese such as sweet gorgonzola.
RECIPE
4 servings
Ingredients
30 g grated Parmigiano for each cannolo
Method
Spread 30 g of grated Parmigiano with a metal spoon, keeping a round shape as much as possible, on the bottom of a nonstick pan. You can make 4 at a time.
Place the pan on a small stove over medium-high heat and melt the Parmigiano for about 1,5 minutes.
Turn off, wait a minute, scoop out the Parmigiano wafer with a spatula, and lay it on a cutting board.
Then, without burning your fingers, roll the still-soft Parmigiano wafer on itself, forming a cannolo. You can help yourself with your hands, a metal cannoli tube, or the handle of a fork.
Let cool completely before filling.
Fill the savory cannoli just before serving.
Fill them using a disposable pastry bag or a spoon.
Wishing everyone a Christmas of measured abundance and boundless joy 💫
Don't look too far; what makes us happy is often before our eyes. Merry Christmas!
That is the last newsletter of the year. See you in 2025!
x, Monica
Let’s keep the conversation going.
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