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…
Tag: christmas
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…
Christmas Presepio In Sicily
Scene from a Christmas presepio created by Zio Lillo (Uncle Lillo) in Sant’Angelo Muxaro.
Saint Stephen’s Day 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 one pictured, made by Zio Lillo in Sant’Angelo Muxaro, north of Agrigento. Even more elaborate are ones presented by actors or townspeople dressed as the Holy…
Merry Christmas from Experience Sicily
Merry Christmas! Buon Natale! Peace and joy to you and your loved ones. Pace e gioia a te e a tutti i tuoi cari. (16th century sculpture photographed in the Duomo di Siracusa, attributed to Domenico Gagini)
Sicilian Precepio for Christmas
Scene from a Christmas presepio created by Zio Lillo (Uncle Lillo) in Sant’Angelo Muxaro.
Sicilian Christmas Cookies
Oh, right about now, I want one of Maria and Angelo’s buccellati cookies, like this one I photographed in September when our Experience Sicily group visited their bakery in the mountain village north of Agrigento, Sant’Angelo Muxaro. Buccellati are very closely associated with Christmas in Sicily. They are pastries often stuffed with chopped dried figs,…