You know your mother-in-law is Italian when

your husband spends six hours on a Saturday afternoon making hand-made tortellini with her. I was there for the last two hours but mother and son make a great team: 1.5 kilos for Christmas dinner. I had planned on being there from start to finish but with the way they were arguing in the beginning, I decided to take my cue from my father-in-law who was sagement reading the paper in the living room.

Today's project: after the wood for the chimney arrives, we head off to the Capucins market. We're on a mission to reserve the main course, two faisan with plenty of carrots, potatoes, and (Thomas' favorite) des navets. I just hope the volailler will clean them this time because the smell of burnt feathers in the kitchen doesn't inspire holiday cheer.

*sagement wisely; faisan pheasant, navets turnips, volailler poulterer