Holy Rosary Italian Street Festival returns to Indianapolis June 14-15, 2013

Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 520 Stevens St., Indianapolis, will once again open its hearts and grounds to the festival lovers of Indiana. Having to cancel last year's event, the parish released a statement promising to come back this year with the beloved event.

And they are fulfilling that promise.

Located in the Fletcher Park neighborhood, the little parish that could is rolling out the red carpet with its annual fundraiser.

The family friendly event offers a mini-Midway alongside the parish and includes rides and games. You can find rubber ducky games, dart-throwing and basketball tossing. Rides include a carousel for the little ones as well as older kid's rides.

Families, friends and strangers will come together to raise much-needed money for the tiny church through food, drinks, snacks, games and rides.

Every year dedicated volunteers roll up their sleeves (figuratively and literally) in the 90+ degree weather and the scorching sun to dish up meatballs, spaghetti and cannoli. No good Italian festival is good without Italian beer and wine, however, and there wills plenty of beer chilling on ice and wine being uncorked.

This year, two stages are added for musical entertainment in the form of the The Indy Nile Band and Cooking with Nonna on the main stage. A side stage will feature Theotokos.

The best part of this festival is the spirit of the people who hold it and those who attend. Everyone's spirits are high and welcoming, joking and laughing while they dish up hundreds upon hundreds of their goodies for those wanting to capture the flavor of the Italian cuisine and culture.
Hours: Friday , June 14: 5-11 pm; Saturday, June 15: 5-11 pm rain or shine
Website: www.HolyRosaryParish.org
Note: The Italian Street Festival is held the 2nd weekend of June annually.

Photos: Elizabeth J Musgrave

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated fine-living, travel columnist, freelance writer and photographer, and performing arts and restaurant critic for Gotta Go. Read Infused, her spirits, wine & beer lifestyle column, at www.GottaGo.us and www.FoodDigital.com and catch her as Indy’s Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC. Gotta Go is published on www.Gottago.us, www.BroadwayWorld.com, and in print. Follow her on Twitter @GottaGo, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Thanksgiving: Sugar Cream Pie and Jewish Mom's Cake

Thanksgiving means counting one’s blessings, family and food. Food in the form of traditional family favorites and new recipes found while searching for something different than the traditional family favorites. These, in fact, often become more family favorites.

Jewish Mom's Apple Cake with Butter Rum Sauce

Cookbooks, numerous calls to friends and surfing the web brought two choices, a suggestion by a friend and a staple of Indiana.

Jewish Mom’s apple cake is an old-world style cake with layers of stiff batter and sliced apples. After finding several variations, I chose the one which required a Bundt cake pan. With a trip to the orchard, I was set with McIntosh apples, I also stopped and bought some cinnamon and a bottle of rum.

Rum? Yes, rum.

After eyeballing all the recipes, one thing stood out in common. None suggested a glaze, icing or frosting. No drizzling, sprinkling or spreading of a topping was even suggested. Although I respect the traditions of baked goods of the Jewish culture, we in the Midwest, as a rule, like our food covered. Sorry, but it’s true. We want our potatoes, meatloaf and desserts topped with something – anything.

With that in mind, I remembered a bread pudding a couple of years back I had enjoyed, most notably, because of its butter rum sauce. After peeling, slicing and layering the apples and batter, I baked the cake for an hour and ten minutes. The butter rum sauce, infused with cinnamon, complements the cake nicely.

The other dessert choice is sugar cream pie. Although I have, naturally, heard of the item (I am from Indiana) I had never tasted or baked one. I found more than a recipe; I found its history, or lack of history would be more appropriate.

The pie’s origins are hazy at best. Showing up in cookbooks as early as 1816 (the year of our statehood) clears the Amish as instigators. Quakers and Shakers are also noted as possible creators.

However, one thing stands firm. To be considered a true sugar cream pie, whether it is stirred by spoon on the stove top or by finger in an unbaked or baked shell, it must not contain eggs. Basic staple ingredients make up this dessert. Fresh eggs were rare in the old days and so this pie is made with sugar, butter and cream.

We will see in a couple of weeks if these new recipes will become family favorites. I bet that one will and the other, well...we'll see. Perhaps next year I will find a recipe for Italian wedding cake or rum-soaked fruit cake since I now have a bottle of rum which needs to be used.

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated columnist, travel writer and theater critic. Catch her as Indy’s Arts & Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC and follow her on Twitter @ejmusgrave1 and Facebook.

Photo credit: Izzy Evans

Gotta Go is published in the following newspapers: South Sider Voice,  Indiana Weekender, West Side Community News, New Palestine Reporter, West Indianapolis Community News, Pendleton Times Reporter and Fortville-McCordsville Reporter.

My Little Baby's All Grown Up, and Getting Married

Looking as if she had just stepped off a wedding cake, my lovely daughter, Britani Nicole, floated down the aisle this weekend into the arms of her prince, Simon, standing at the altar. When your baby has found The One, you know your own life is changed forever.

Held at Community Church of Greenwood, the small, intimate affair had a dreamy effect through the use of candlelight and plum calla lilies. My princess’ gown with rum-pink bead work gently sprinkled across it and the handmade veil were reminiscent of a bygone era. Her dark tresses were curled and flowed gracefully down her back. Certainly, Walt Disney has never created for his films a princess as beautiful as mine.

I attempted, before the ceremony, to describe to her in a mother-daughter moment, how much love I felt for her and found it ironic that as someone who writes weekly about strangers, I could not find the right words for this so-personal situation. I hope she understood my heart’s meaning, anyway.

I was honored, and humbled, by my child’s request that I walk her down the aisle. I now know how a dad feels when walking the last walk with your little girl. It was over so quickly, and yet memories of her childhood were able to race through my mind at a lightning speed.

Arriving into this world in 20 minutes flat, the 9-pound, 12-ounce bald baby let me know right away I would for- ever be twisted around her long elegant finger. With memories of stitches from a bike fall, dead pets (hermit crab), the American Girl sleeping bag incident, science projects, PTO meetings, talent contests, proms, boyfriends, moving to college, and now the wedding flooding my thoughts, I was overwhelmed with a bitter sweetness. Would I be on the sidelines now, forever watching from the bleachers as she steps boldly, as she always does, into her new life? Were these steps down the aisle the last steps I would take with her?
She smiled at me as she started to leave after the reception, and that smile said it all. “The last step in my life? Not likely, Mom. You are stuck with me, and we are just getting started with the really good stuff.”

So I know that although she has moved far away physically, she will always be right here with me. And one day, Princess Britani will contact me via her cell phone, announcing through an ultrasound photo, that she will be giving me a grandchild. Until then, I will be content to know that God chose me, and no one else, to be her mother and share this joyous ride of her life.

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated fine-living, travel columnist, freelance writer and photographer, and performing arts and restaurant critic for Gotta Go. Read Infused, her spirits, wine & beer lifestyle column, at www.GottaGo.us and www.FoodDigital.com and catch her as Indy’s Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC. Gotta Go is published on www.Gottago.us, www.BroadwayWorld.com, an in print. Follow her on Twitter @GottaGo, LinkedIn and Facebook.