A Message from the 1st Vice President

Sisters and Brothers:

I hope this edition of the “Il Leone” finds you all well and safe.

While Ken and I were in Italy, we met a wonderful, young tour guide. Francesca took us on an eating tour of Rome. It was a good thing we walked, or I could never have eaten all the foods she brought us to try.

When we left Rome to go to Catania, it was March 8th. As we know now, COVID 19 was rampant in Northern Italy. The South was not as bad, but the government closed the entire country shortly after that.

Soon after we got home, I got a message on my Facebook account from Francesca. She knew we were going South and was concerned that we might not have gotten out of Italy. We now follow each other on Facebook. The reason I am sharing this with you is because the other day she made my favorite dessert, Cannoli and posted pictures. I asked her to share with me her recipe and she did. I’d like to share it with you now:

15 Shells

• 1 cup flour
• 1 ounce or 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 pinches salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Red wine enough to mix into a compact dough (1/4 to 1/2 cup)
   
• Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
• Rub butter into the flour.
• Make a well in the center, pour in some wine and mix.
  (She likes to use a blunt knife for this, less surface for the dough to stick.)
• Add more wine as needed. Mix together with your hands until a compact dough forms. It shouldn’t feel sticky.
• Wrap in film and leave overnight in the refrigerator for the best results.
  The wine will slightly ferment with he flour and this will produce the crisp blisters.

You will need cannoli tubes about 5 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. Bamboo can also be used, in fact, it is traditional in Sicily. Just cut appropriately thick bamboo canes into lengths.

• Roll out to thin setting with a pasta rolling machine, or by hand.
• Cut into rounds, about 4.5 inches in diameter.
• Roll into tubes slightly greased with butter.
• Seal overlap with a dab of egg white on the underside of the overlapping bit.
• Fry in hot vegetable oil or lard.
  Lard actually does give the best results, drier and leaving no taste.

Filling

• 1 1/3 pounds sheep milk ricotta
• Just under a cup of sugar
• Work well until smooth.
  You can flavor with some cinnamon, bitter chocolate, and/or chopped up bits of candied orange.
• Fill the Cannoli just before eating.
  ​You can dip the ends of the cannoli in chocolate chips, chopped pistachio or chopped hazelnuts.

That’s all for today. Let me know if you try it.

Remember to reach out to the Sisters and Brothers in your Lodge and make sure they are doing alright.

Please stay safe until we can be together again.

Thank you for all you do to keep our Order strong.

Till next month

Fraternally
Barbara