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| Easter, circa 1962. Back row: Esther, Rose, Resa, and Jane. Front row: Lois, Judy, Julie, Daniel, and John. |
H O L I D A Y S A N D F A M I L Y T R A D I T I O N S
We loved the holidays, especially Christmas. We would put our tree up in the family room and the minute you walked in the door you could smell the pine and see the beautiful lights. The room had such a warm, wonderful Christmas glow.
My grandson Mark once asked me, “Grandma, what is tradition?” I think the best definition I could give him is it’s the bringing together of the past and the present. It helps us to remember what our parents did before us. During Christmas we had many traditions, like eating spaghetti with the seven fishes on Christmas Eve. The codfish and eel were prepared in so many delicious sauces. There were cheese pies and pies filled with ham. After dinner there was always coffee and dessert. The desserts were always made at home. One of our favorites was Struffoli, little balls of dough that were deep fried and then dipped in honey. My daughter Theresa has carried on this tradition and she still makes Struffoli every Christmas.
The adults would have white wine with their dinner and then afterwards would enjoy a liqueur such as Strega or Anisette. After we ate, we would open our presents and then go to Midnight Mass. Then we would come home and have more dessert with coffee or milk.
After Christmas, St. Patrick's Day was our favorite time of year. Even though the neighborhood was made up of people of all nationalities, everyone loved St. Patrick's Day. We would all go to the St. Patrick's Day Parade and then afterwards to St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue. I remember I would buy a St. Patrick's Day cake later and bring it home for everyone to have with coffee (we rarely drank milk even when we were young). We would sit at the table talking and enjoy the rest of the day.
Easter was also a holiday we would celebrate together. My stepmother taught me how to make Italian Easter bread, which I continued to make each year, and then Theresa took over the task. It takes all day to make the bread because first you have to knead the dough to get just the right consistency. Then you have to let the dough rise for a few hours before you bake it. You add orange rind to the dough, which I think is the special ingredient that makes it so delicious!