The Maltese Cross (and an art project)

The Maltese Cross

I almost forgot to post this, life got a little ahead of me there for a minute!  We had a busy day yesterday, my daughter had her final softball game/pizza party/trophy celebration and then we went swimming at Grandma's....ahh, life is good.  Today it's freezing out- go figure.  Anyway, we made this project a few days ago and we were able to incorporate my son's love of sword play into an easy project about the Maltese Cross.  "What is the Maltese Cross?", you ask.  Well, allow me to give you the history of this symbol.

The Maltese Cross (also known as the Amalfi Cross) is a cross symbol with 4 even sides, each side with 2 points.  It is most often associated with the Knights of Malta (a.k.a. the Knights of St. John or the Knights Hospitalier), who controlled and protected Malta from 1530 to 1798. 

Each of the eight points on the cross stand for a different aspect of the moral code they taught and lived by. 

• loyalty
• piety
• bravery
• generousity
• contempt of death
• glory and honor
• helpfulness of the sick and poor
• respect for the church

Nice moral code to live by and a nice symbol to encase them all.  It stands to reason that the symbol is now used by firefighters and other "knights in shining armor". 

My son loves playing "knight" - you know, with the swords and shields and dragons and damsels in distress.  So we made him an honorary Knight of Malta with our next project...

Maltese Cross Shield
For the project you will need:

• cardboard (or paper platter worked perfect)
• red construction paper (or paint)
• glue if using paper ^
• scissors if using paper
• pipe cleaners (for handle)
• tape (to tape on handle)

1.  If using cardboard you'll need to cut out a shield shape.  This could really be any shape.  I had these large paper platters left over from a few projects (Papua New Guinea, Egypt ) and they were the perfect size, shape and color I wanted!
2.  Turn it over and tape one or two pipe cleaners to the back to make a handle. 

3.  Now the hardest part (for me anyway) cut out 8 triangles that when put together will form the cross.  It took me a few tries to get the angles right. If you look at the picture above, I used only the long triangles.  If we had painted the cross on it probably would have been easier, but I thought the triangles made a good geometry project.  Because, you know, geometry is always a good project for 3 year olds :)

4.  Glue the triangles into the shape of a Maltese Cross.  This was also a hard part for us because my son wanted to glue them in a "Batman" shape, but since this whole project was supposed to be about the Maltese Cross, I stifled his creativity for a minute.  I let him take them all off and rearrange them after I took the picture.

 

5.  If you have older kids making the cross, they could write the different morals on the cross or decorate it more.  My son just wanted to get to the playing, so we left it rather simple.

Maltese Food: part thejn (two)

TGIF!!

Boy am I glad it's Friday! Not that I had a particularly hard week but because we have a fun weekend planned!!  And I have a great recipe for you- it's pastizzi time!  They are little puff pastries filled with ricotta cheese, or peas, or in our less traditional variation, ricotta, lemon and honey.  In Malta they are sold in pastizzerias and are a popular snack after church on Sunday mornings or as a late night snack for the nightclub crowd.  Either way they are a tasty, easy to make treat!! 

Here is the recipe (both the traditional and sweet variety)-

Pastizzi ta'I-Irkotta (ricotta filled pastizzi)
For the recipe you will need:

Ingredients for both varieties.  Fillo dough is NOT used- oops!

• ricotta cheese (8 oz.)
• 1 egg
• 1 T parsley- chopped (I used dried)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove crushed
• puff pastry sheets ( 2 sheets in a box)
• egg for egg wash

1.  Thaw the frozen puff pastry.  In the picture I show Phyllo dough.  I thought this would work but I forgot that they are all individual sheets and so I went back to the store and bought this-

2. Thaw the pastry about 40 mins. (or if it's 90° like it is today- 15 minutes).  Preheat the oven to 375° and prepare the filling.
3. Combine the ricotta, egg, parsley and garlic (any spices could probably work) and set aside while the dough thaws.

4.  When dough is soft, cut circles and place on parchment lined baking sheet.  I used a drinking glass and got about 9 per sheet.
5.  Brush one side of the circle with the egg wash.  Spoon about 1 tsp. of filling onto circle and fold over to make half moon.  Use fork to crimp the edges together.

6.  Brush tops with egg wash.  We also sprinkled some parmesan on top to be fancy.
7.  Bake until they are golden brown- about 20 mins.  They puffed up so beautifully and a few popped open but they were still pretty (AND PRETTY DELICIOUS)

We also made a sweet version-

Sweet Lemon and Honey Pastizzi
For the recipe you will need:

• ricotta cheese (8 oz.)
• zest and juice of one lemon
• about 2 T honey
• puff pastry (2 sheets)
• egg for egg wash
• honey for drizzling (optional)

Prepare as above except for the drizzle of honey right before serving.  Serve warm from the oven.....SOOOO YUMMY!!!

A perfect little snack! 

Let's Learn Some Maltese

Do you speak Maltese?

Well, then you can probably skip this post.  Thanks for checking in :)  Those of you still with me, let's learn a couple words and phrases.


The Maltese language is thought to have developed as a variation of Sicilian Arabic.  This form of Arabic hasn't been spoken in Sicily in over 700 years but it stuck with the Maltese and developed into the Maltese language used today.  Because the country was controlled by so many other countries, there are many words that are French, Arab, Spanish, Italian, Latin, German, Portuguese, and English.  In 1800, when the country was governed by the British, they tried to change the official language to English, but when the Maltese gained their independence in 1964, both Maltese and English were given the role of "official language".

Hello- hawn    Goodbye- caw     Please- jekk joghgbok
Thank You- grazzi     Yes- iva    No- le    I love you- Inhobbok

1- wiehed ( WEE-hed)   2- thejn (tneyn)    3- tlieta (TLEE-ta)
4- erbgna (EHR-ba)   5- hamsa (HAM-sa)   6- sitta (SIT-ta)
7- sebgna (SEH-ba)       8- tmienja (tmeehn-ya) 
9- disgna (DIH-sa)      10- ghaxra (AA-shra)

black- iswed    white- abjad     red- anmar      blue- blu
yellow- isfar    green- andar    orange- orangjo   purple- vjola

There, now you know the bare necessities  of the Maltese language.
I could really see the influences of the other cultures in many of the words.  Oh, I forgot one phrase-
L- iklat- tajba!  It means Bon Appetit!  You'll definitely need that phrase for my next post- we're making Pastizzi!!!!

Another picture of BEAUTIFUL Malta!!

On the Menu: Maltese Food

Straight to the food!

Yep, that's how I roll :)  I'm having a hard time finding fun activities to do for Malta week, any suggestions would be appreciated!  So we went straight for the cooking section- everyone likes food right? 

Maltese food has been influenced by many of the countries that have ruled it- Italian, French, N. African, but it's major influence is it's LOCATION!  The beautiful clean waters of the Mediterranean Sea give it some beautiful seafood (not to mention beaches). 

The Maltese love octopus and squid cooked into a stew with some fresh "hobza" (crusty bread) to soak up the sauce.  They also make a fresh cheese from goat or sheep milk called "ġbejniet".  I found a recipe and we might try to make it later this week.  I LOVE CHEESE!  But the most "famous" of Maltese foods is the "Pastizzi", a puff pastry shell filled with ricotta cheese or peas.  I will definitely be making these this week also. 

OK, enough teasing you about what I might make, how about what I did make!!  It was called Beef Olives.  Now from that name you might think the recipe would include olives, right?  Nope.  I guess it's called that because you wrap the beef up into little bundles that (maybe) look like olives?  Who knows?  That's what it's called and here is the recipe to make it.....

Beef Olives
For the recipe you will need:
Sauce-

• 3 T olive oil
• 2 smallish onions- diced
• 5 garlic cloves- crushed
• 1 16 oz. can tomatoes (w/juice)
• 1 cup flat leaf parsley- chopped
• 1/2 cup basil leaves- chopped
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups water
• salt and pepper

Meat-

• 6 thin pieces of round steak
• 3/4 lb. of ground beef, veal, or pork
• 2 garlic cloves- crushed
• 1/2 cup parsley- chopped
• 1 T oregano- finely chopped if fresh or 1/2 T dried.
• 1/2 cup grated ġbejniet (I subbed grated mozzarella)
• 2 eggs beaten
• salt and pepper
• Bacon is pictured because the recipe called for 2 slices chopped.  I forgot to add it :) but found it wasn't missed.

1.  To make the sauce, fry the onions and garlic in the oil until softened and then dump the rest of the ingredients and simmer.  Super easy.
2.  To make the beef rolls, pound the heck out of the steaks to make them very thin.  The kids had fun doing this but I'm sure my brother (who works nights, sleeps days) wasn't very happy with the pounding!
3.  Mix the ground meat, garlic, parsley, oregano, cheese, eggs and salt and pepper to make a filling.
4.  Take a piece of the steak and put a small amount of the filling (about a tablespoon).  Roll it up and use toothpicks to keep it closed.  I wanted the filling to really stay in there so I used toothpicks to close the sides too.
5. Put the meat rolls into the sauce and let them simmer for 1 1/2 hours. 

In Malta, this dish would be served in courses.  The first course would be the sauce served over some pasta.  The second course would be the meat.  That sounds like too many dishes to me, so I served it all together on one plate.  We had a fresh salad and some crusty Italian bread to soak up the delicious sauce.  This dish was some work but it looked impressive and tasted really delicious.  The meat was able to be cut with a fork and really picked up the flavors of the sauce.  The sauce was still a little chunky so if you have picky eaters (like my hubby) you might want to puree it a little so they don't see the onions and tomatoes.  It tasted like it was cooked all day!  I even caught my Uncle who was over for dinner using some leftover bread to scoop the sauce out of the pan!  I would make this again- but probably only if I really liked you since it was pretty labor intensive!!  Enjoy!

Week 41: Malta

Umm, where is Malta?

I'm glad you asked. ;)  Get a map of the world.  Go ahead, I'll wait.  Ready?  Now find Italy (the boot), then Sicily (the rock that the boot is kicking), then look south a little - see that little dot??  That's Malta!  A teeny- tiny little group of islands in the Mediterranean Sea. 


The most Southern country in Europe and also a place more packed with historical sites than possibly anywhere else in the world.  The whole of the capital city of Valletta ( 35.90°N/ 14.51°E) is considered a World Heritage Site.
 

Valletta - Capital of Malta

Since the first people immigrated there from Sicily in about 5,000 BC, the citizens have been raising livestock, growing grains and living off the sea.  There is some evidence, like underwater archways and structures, that support the idea that the legendary city of Atlantis was actually another of the islands in the Malta archipelago! 

The location of the islands and the natural deep harbors made Malta a very prized strategic location for both the North Africans and the Greeks and Romans.   In 1530, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, gave control of Malta to the Order of the Knights of St. John.  The knights built a renowned hospital, churches, fortresses and greatly expanded maritime trade for the islands.  Their reign was considered Malta's "Golden Period".  The Knights ruled the islands from 1530 until 1798, when Napoleon Bonaparte attacked and won control of the country.  Luckily, many of the historical buildings and fortified villages still remain standing for tourists and visitors to see.  

Malta is an interesting country considering it's size.  I'm intrigued to learn more and I hope you are too.  I've got a great sounding recipe to make and a lesson in speaking Maltese.  We are going to make a Maltese Cross, and maybe watch the Maltese Falcon!!
Stay tuned :)