Pumpkin Seed Brittle

On top of busy workdays and finishing essays, we're starting to celebrate the holidays in small ways around here. This is one of them.

We made this pumpkin seed brittle as a gift for two of J's teachers, along with an amazing roasted vegetable curry from the Moosewood Simple Suppers book. J's voice teacher and voice coach have really gone above and beyond this semester, so we wanted to find a small way to repay them.

We had never made brittle before, but I found the recipe on smitten kitchen and it looked easy. It was. More importantly, it was absolutely fantastic. The texture is hard, but kind of chewy at the same time, and the flavour is more than pure sugar: it's dark and complex, tasting of browned butter with salt, almost like toffee. It's really intoxicating, and I think it will become a Christmas-season staple.

In other news, we're going away for Christmas this year. It's a completely unexpected trip - we were planning a small, quiet Christmas in Edmonton with J's brother and his wife. Instead, Christmas in Rome with my entire family is how we'll be spending the holiday. It's unbelievable really, and even though we're leaving in a few days I haven't exactly realized that yet. We've never been to Italy, and I'm sure it will be amazing. Apparently it's a fantastic country for celiacs, with gluten-free products available everywhere. I'm excited to discover some new ones.

Before we leave I hope to post the rest of my stories from our summer European adventure - since it's now time for a new one!