For our friends and family while we are retirement roving ... and maybe some other stuff.
Feste (Festivals): Primavera (Spring) 2025
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"Spring" is the season of festivals. It seems like there is always an activity, special food, or national holiday happening in the period between Carnevale (February or March) and Festa della Mamma (early May). With Carnevale and Pasqua (Easter) being 'late' this year, many of the holidays were close together.
Carnevale
The period of Carnival is celebrated over a long period here. I love when the chiacchiere begin appearing. They are absolutely my favorite Italian holiday treat!
I ate way too many of these!
La Festa di San Valentino (Valentine's Day) fell during Carnevale period this year. That heart cookie was pretty and delicious! I'm not sure how regional this is, but here it's common to eat maccheroni* con sugo di maiale the weekend before Fat Tuesday. Kudos to chef Cristian at Gugliotta Gourmet, who always makes a delicious version of this dish! *I know, it looks like spaghetti, but when it's homemade and thick like that, it's called maccheroni (at least in this region). Yum!
I wrote about Carnevale more extensively in this blog post, so pop over there if you want to read more about this tradition. Our town has a small celebration, mostly for children, but we did see some teenagers and adults dressed up in costumes as well.
A snippet of the parade.
Picnic
During this period, my school sponsored a picnic for the students at a local park in Scafa, a nearby hamlet of Capo D'Orlando. Because this is a place I cannot access by foot, it was extra special to visit there. We had a great day of fellowship, food, and music.
The park overlooks Capo D'Orlando's marina.
The park offers several trails, as well as buildings equipped for large gatherings.
The food! And I didn't even get a photo of all the kinds of grilled meats. Our teachers were so kind to prepare all of this food for us to try.
The people and the music. What a fun day!
30 seconds of music. Singer / guitar player is my Italian teacher, Andrea.
En route back to town, friend Bruno brought me to see the land he has purchased. The top photo will be the view from his living room. Che Bella!
Festa delle Donne and Festa di San Giuseppe
Both of these holidays are celebrated differently in Italy than in the States. I appreciate how Festa delle Donne, or International Women's Day (8 March), is recognized here. In my experience, in the States, one wouldn't even know a day to celebrate women was happening (although friend Nancy reports that in Santa Barbara she sees evidence of the day). Here there is a special flower and dessert. As well, greetings of Auguri to other women are met with a smile and il bacetto (the Italian cheek kiss).
Cakes for La Festa delle Donne. The decorations are made to look like mimosa flowers, with which some of the cakes are adorned.
My treat for the festival. Our local bar was giving a Baci candy to all the women. It was also a pretty March day. So pleasant!
La Festa di San Giuseppe (19 March) is an important festival for Catholics that honors St. Joseph. It is celebrated in many Italian communities around the world. The traditional pastry for this day is zeppole.
Zeppole di San Giuseppe. If you'd like a recipe, click on the link above.
If your name happens to be Giuseppe (Joseph) or Giuseppa (Josephine) or any of its variants, this day is also your onomastico, or "name day": the Saint Day of the saint after which you are named. Some Italians celebrate their onomastico as they would a birthday. I like this tradition! Who doesn't want more birthday?! Giuseppe, by the way, is one of the most common names in Sicily.
In Italy, 19 March is also La Festa del papà (Father’s Day). This holiday has something for everyone!
On Father's Day, we had just returned the previous day from a cruise (which I, of course, have yet to blog about). That was John's present - although he did also get a zeppole. :)
Pasqua
Easter, as you might imagine, is a big holiday here. There are processions and special church services, as well as special foods. We spent Palm Sunday with our friend Corinne, and Emily prepared a special Easter lunch and went to Mass. (She's taken to calling herself a 'cultural Catholic.') In between, we enjoyed some of the special treats of the season.
Enjoying a nice meal together on the balcony.
We enjoyed our day catching up with Corinne and having a meander around town. John was in the hospital having some tests, so he didn't get to join us. Next time.
Friend Grazia brought us some of the traditional Easter basket cookies, le cuddere. They are so cute.
This year we decided to try the special Easter dessert called Colomba. It is a type of bread / cake similar to the panettone at Christmas, but it is in the shape of a dove (translation of Colomba). I went all out and got the fancy, gourmet one from Bar Tentazioni at the end of our street. My decision was probably influenced by the fact that we were smelling them being baked every morning during this period!
Colomba come in all different flavors. I opted for ciocco-pistacchio. When I opened the box, we were all a bit perplexed. I wasn't sure exactly how to utilize the pistacchio crema in the piping bag. Google indicated to decorate as desired after making individual pieces. Yum!
Emily working her magic.
Chicken with Dried Figs and Apricots, Lentil Salad, Fresh Fruit with Honey-Lemon Dip. Recipes below.
Festa della Liberazione
This festival (25 April) celebrates Italy's liberation from fascist rule and Nazi occupation. It is a time, among other things, to honor the partigiani (partisans) of the Italian Resistance.
Our town's main piazza had a display for the holiday. These are some partigiani from Capo D'Orlando.
In my Italian class, we learned about this holiday through the lens of song and literature. We discussed the song Bella Ciao.
Although it originated as an Italian folk song, this song took on new lyrics and popularity in the Resistance. Since then, it has become a protest song utilized in many contexts, including as the theme song of the television series La Casa De Papel (Money Heist in the U.S.).
We also discussed a song called La Guerra di Piero by Fabrizio De Andrè, who my teacher described as a singer similar to Bob Dylan. This song, from 1964, contains similar themes to Bella Ciao. You can read more about the lyrics (translated) here, but for now here is the video.
Lastly, we looked at the poem La Madre del Partigiano by Gianni Rodari. The link has the English and Italian text, and the video is a reading of this short but powerful poem.
All of the pieces share symbolism, especially of a flower that marks the grave of the partigiano. As in some other cultures, the papavero (poppy) is a symbol associated with loss and recognition of those who fought and died in wars. I enjoyed analyzing these pieces and learning about this holiday.
Festa dei Lavoratori
The first of May (International Worker's Day) is a day for recognizing labourers, the working class, and the labour movement. It corresponds with the ancient European celebration of the beginning of summer (May Day). Although the date is different here than in the States, it seems to be celebrated in a similar fashion - a day to spend time with friends and family, perhaps enjoying a picnic or special meal together. We celebrated in the same way. If there were any special foods or desserts, I didn't find them!
A picnic on the lungomare, and John gave the beach a try for the first time since his fall.
Cinco de Mayo (not Italian, LOL!) was just a few days later. Emily was determined to make Mexican food, and she succeeded! She made picadillo tacos and pico de gallo. Piadine substituted for tortillas. I found a recipe for something called a Gin Daisy (since we had some fancy gin from our Cunard cruises last year). Some believe this was the precursor to the Margarita (margarita in Spanish = margherita in Italian = daisy in English). A tasty celebration, indeed!
Festa della Mamma
Mother's Day is celebrated on the same day in Italy as in the States. I had a celebration over several days, with many opportunities to spend time with friends and family.
Friends Linda and Corrine were passing through town and stopped by for a balcony chat.
Friend Francesco was in town for business, so we had a chance to have colazione together. He told us that the practice of eating brioche with granita is from our part of Sicily. I thought it was common throughout Sicily. Aren't we lucky?
Aperitivo at my favorite place, with my favorite people.
Mother's Day Lunch. I made polpette, and Emily honored my request for focaccia. Yum!
One of the most common questions I get asked about our Vagabonding is: Wasn't it hard to let go of things? My general answer is no. However, when we did our final downsize and began Vagabonding, there were a few exceptions, one being my shell collection.
My shell collection
I did keep a small selection of my favorites, which Emily kindly stored for me for these past years and brought to Sicily last summer. For Mother's Day this year, she purchased a dish for me to display my collection on.
Good to see everyone looking happy and healthy. Tell John not to get down on himself. His recovery will take time. I've been there. I saved many recipes from your post. Thank you.
I forgot to write in the blog that the Easter dishes that Emily Vanchella made were from the book of recipes from the time of Jesus. We thought that was fitting for Easter. 🙂 We also watched a contemporary version of Jesus Christ Superstar that was good (Sporty Spice had a beautiful voice as Mary Magdalene).
Benedetta Adamo and Giuseppe Ciacchella This blog is a continuation of my project of balancing up John's tree a bit by attempting to get every branch to the level of 5th great-grandparent (in other words, 4 generations back from the 8 people in the top row of the graphic below, or 128 people). This blog focuses on the 4 ancestors on the left side of the top row. Part 1 covered the Impellizzeri and Milano branches (the 4 ancestors on the right side of the top row), where I identified 60 of 64 5th great-grandparents. Was I as successful in the Ciacchella and Adamo branches? Read on for my discoveries. Sebastiano Ciacchella, father of John's paternal grandfather, Giuseppe Ciacchella For these next two sections, we're moving from Alcamo, in Trapani province, to Augusta, in Siracusa province. Augusta in relation to Alcamo and our town of Capo D'Orlando (blue dot). Unfortunately, there is a big hurdle with research in Augusta. Only civil records are available for researc...
Buon Natale - Merry Christmas! It's our first year not sending any holiday cards, and probably not receiving any either. Very understandable, given our living situation, but it still makes me a little sad. I know I'm in the minority here , but I still love the tradition of sending and receiving cards during the holiday season. It's a lovely - and increasingly rare - experience to receive a handwritten note from special people in one's life. So, this year I find myself reverting to a 'virtual' format. I hope you enjoy our photos and updates, and I hope to hear from you. Happy Holidays! John Probably you all know that this has been a rough year for John, with two surgeries, three transfusions, and months of rehabilitation stays, after falling and fracturing his femur in June. Things seem to be moving in the right direction. Everything looked good at his last check-up in late November. The doctor said to expect a recovery period of 6 more months before 'normal...
Emily made her final decision to leave the States and relocate to Europe while she was visiting in June. So we began the planning of her transfer during her stay. While she was divesting of many things (including a car and furniture), it was still a complicated experience to plan, as she was bringing along two guitars, as well as needing a second pair of hands to close her affairs. The original plan is that John would accompany her by airplane. However, John really wanted me to come along. Some of you may know (or have ascertained from our multiple transatlantic crossings) that I do not do long-haul flights. So, I told him if I was to come along, we would have to make the larger portion of the trip cruises. Everyone agreed that this would be a nice way to break up what would inevitably be a hectic time. So I began the long process of planning a trip with multiple segments: flights for me and John from Sicily to England, and New York to Texas, two transatlantic cruises (our ...
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Good to see everyone looking happy and healthy. Tell John not to get down on himself. His recovery will take time. I've been there.
ReplyDeleteI saved many recipes from your post. Thank you.
Ciao Robert. Glad you found some interesting recipes. Everything was yummy!
DeleteI forgot to write in the blog that the Easter dishes that Emily Vanchella made were from the book of recipes from the time of Jesus. We thought that was fitting for Easter. 🙂 We also watched a contemporary version of Jesus Christ Superstar that was good (Sporty Spice had a beautiful voice as Mary Magdalene).
ReplyDelete