Many towns in Sicily annually create elaborate live nativity scenes like this one I saw in 2019 in Custonaci (Trapani Province). These dioramas featuring townspeople acting out iconic moments and everyday activities from past times create a sense of wonder. Presepe Vivente are a reason to visit Sicily during Christmas. (In the future, when it’s…
Tag: christmas
Buccellati: Sicilian Christmas Cookies and Cake
Buccellati cookies and cake (pictured) are made with a filling of chopped dried figs, pumpkin jam, honey, raisins, almonds, orange rind, cinnamon, and Marsala wine. These goodies are synonymous with Christmas in Sicily. Look at the beautiful detail in the cake design!
Naughty Or Nice: La Befana Knows
The visit of the friendly witch La Befana is celebrated on Epiphany Eve (January 5) throughout Italy. La Befana is recognized because of her broomstick, shawl, and sack filled with sweets and gifts for children. Legend is that she originally set out to meet the Baby Jesus, but never found her way to Bethlehem. To…
Live Nativity Scenes In Sicily
Today is Saint Stephen’s Day, a national holiday in Italy. Sicilians and Italians spend the day with family and friends visiting presepi di Natale, or nativity scenes, like this Presepe Vivente that I visited last year in Licodia Eubea in Catania province, where I’ll be hosting our Life in A Remote Sicilian Town tour in…
Cuccidati: Sicilian Christmas Cookies
Cuccidati, pictured, are traditional Sicilian cookies stuffed with dried fig filling. Associated with Christmas, both professional and home bakers make them, and some are more elaborately decorated than others. The filling is made with (This is a common recipe, but not all are exactly the same.) chopped dried figs, pumpkin jam, honey, raisins, almonds, orange…
A Parade Of Good Witches for La Befana
Viva La Befana! The visit of the friendly witch La Befana is celebrated on Epiphany Eve (January 6) throughout Italy. La Befana is recognized because of her broomstick, shawl, and sack filled with sweets and gifts for children. Legend is that she originally set out to meet the Baby Jesus, but never found her way…
Buon Natale! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! Buon Natale! (Palermo, Church of the Immaculate Conception of il Capo Market)
Feast Of The Seven Fishes In Sicily
Merry Christmas! For many in The States, tradition is to observe Christmas Eve with “The Feast of the Seven Fishes,” however, this is not Italian or Sicilian at all, it is an Italian-American tradition! When I asked my cousin Evelina in Bagheria, Sicily about the Seven Fishes, she didn’t know what I was talking about….
Sicilian Style Panettone And Pandoro
Although panettone and pandoro, Italian Christmas breads/cakes, originated in northern Italy, there are some outstanding ones made in Sicily: Specifically in Castelbuono (Palermo province) in the Madonie mountains and in Belpasso (Catania province) at the southern foot of Mount Etna. I can’t wait to open my panettone from Castelbuono (and heat it in the oven)…
Sicilian Christmas Cookies
Pastries made with filling of chopped dried figs, pumpkin jam, honey, raisins, almonds, orange rind, cinnamon, and Marsala wine are closely associated with Christmas in Sicily. There is a larger, round, cake-like pastry called buccellato, which is also made in an elaborate cookie-sized version known as buccellati. Meanwhile, cuccidati, pictured here, are their sister. They…