The Feast of St. Joseph ~ Pasta Con Sarde

Being of Italian descent, there are many traditions and customs that all revolve around food.  You know, an amazing bowl of pasta with a fresh marinara sauce, savory meatballs, or crispy homemade biscottis. 

Well, today is a special holiday that taps into my Sicilian side, the Feast of St. Joseph.  Joseph, Mary's husband, is known by many Sicilian's as their patron saint.  According to legend, there was a severe drought at the time, and the people prayed for their patron saint to bring them rain. They promised that if he answered their prayers, they would prepare a large feast to honor him. The rain did come, and the people of Sicily prepared a large banquet for their patron saint.  

Because the feast occurs during Lent, traditionally no meat is allowed on the celebration table.  Foods are traditionally served containing bread crumbs to represent saw dust since St. Joseph was a carpenter. 

Since my grandfather, father, brother, and varied uncles and cousins all share Saint Joseph's name, my family has celebrated this feast with a traditional Sicilian dinner.  I wanted to share my favorite dish from this important feast.  



Pasta Con Sarde (Pasta with Sardines)

This recipe uses a sardine seasoning mix for this pasta con sarde.  There are many recipes out there, but this one is easy.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 can of Cuoco

1 large sweet onion

1/2 cup virgin olive oil

1 pound of Perciatelli #15 pasta (this pasta looks like spaghetti, but has a hole in it)

1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

salt & pepper to taste 

grated parmesan cheese

 

 

Preparation: 

 

-Pan fry breadcrumbs in olive oil and saute until light tan/brown.  

-Boil water for pasta.

-Saute onion with olive oil and season to taste with some breadcrumbs.

-Add can of Cuoco and mix, breaking up the fish. 

-Drain pasta and top with sauce.

-Top with grated paremsan cheese and more breadcrumbs.

 

 

You may not be a fan of sardines before eating this dish, but I'm sure you will feel differently when you try it!

 

Happy Feast of St. Joseph's Day!

Alexis

Holiday Traditions ~ A "Hand" Painted Tree Skirt

The countdown to Christmas keeps getting shorter and shorter....I'm trying not to freak out about how much I still have to do...

This tradition is one of the top ones on my holiday list each year.  Our tree skirt.  I know many people just have a regular beautiful tree skirt around their tree, but mine means a little more.  Our skirt has the boys' handprints from each Christmas.  

I started the tradition in 2005 when "Little Ricky" was only 10 months old.  He was so little...  And in 2006, "The Nag" was only 3 months old...it was really hard to keep his hand still.  

Now they are so big and getting bigger by the minute.  **sniff, sniff**

I add the handprint to the skirt each year and write their names and the date. 

I can't take complete credit for this...I stole this idea from some room moms that I had 11 years ago and combined it with an idea from my husband's cousin.   I absolutely love it and love to see how much the kids have grown.

Maybe when the boys are older with a family of their own, I will cut the skirt apart and give each of them their own hands.  But for now, it's our family memories and a tradition that we look forward to each year.


Alexis

Holiday Traditions ~ Family Ornaments & Giveaway

The holiday season is a time for traditions.  No matter the holiday that you celebrate at this time of year, everyone has traditions.  In this wonderful time of the year, I want to share some of the traditions that we have as a family....some that we have had since we were little, and some that we have created since we have been married.

Ornaments for our Christmas tree have been a family tradition since before I can remember.  Anywhere that someone travels to, instead of bringing back a t-shirt, we bring back ornaments.  I have long loved this tradition and look forward to opening the box of ornaments each year.  Decorating the Christmas tree takes longer in my house because I sit and reminisce about each one.  

I have taken this tradition and put a little of my own spin on it.  Since I have known my husband, I have purchased a personalized ornament for us.  Now that we are a family of 4, we have our family ornament tradition.  I've even begun buying them for other family members.  

Our yearly family ornaments

While at a craft fair in 2004, I found these adorable handmade, personalized, mini clay ornaments made by Cynde's Minis.  Since then, I look to Cynde to buy my family ornaments each year.  (Maybe I feel connected to her since she is a former elementary teacher!)  Each year Cynde adds a new ornament to her collection.  They are all so cute, it's hard to choose!

Cynde's Minis also has clay minis for other holidays as well.  And wait until you see the wedding cake toppers...if only I knew about them 9 years ago....

This year's newest addition to our tree! LOVE!

Do you want a personalized ornament from Cynde's Minis?  You can win one here!



a Rafflecopter giveaway


What holiday traditions does your family have?  I'd love to add new ones into my celebrations!

 
Alexis

Passing Down Tradition ~ Italian Knot Cookies with Recipe

When I was little, I remember my grandmother letting me help in the kitchen.  One of my favorite things to help with was her knotted cookies.  She would let me mix the ingredients and mold the dough.

Unfortunately, my kids were never able to meet my grandmother, but today,  I passed down that same tradition with them.  We worked together to recreate those same knotted cookies.  



Italian Knotted Cookies with Sugar Glaze


Ingredients:

Cookies:
1/2 C sugar
3 C flour
2 TBL Baking Powder
3 eggs
1/2 C oil
1 TBL vanilla

Glaze:
1 C of confectioner's sugar
3/4 C water
vanilla, lemon or orange extract


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Sift all dry ingredients together.  Slowly fold in wet ingredients.
Blend ingredients together to make a dough.  (If very sticky, add flour)


Take about 1 TBL of dough and roll into logs.  Twist logs in knots.


Bake for about 15-20 minutes.  The cookies will remain light in color.







Glaze:
Blend all ingredients together.  The glaze should be a syrupy type consistency.  If too runny, add more confectioner's sugar.


Glaze cookies once they are out of the oven.  You can add sprinkles for decoration.


Unfortunately, our attempt was nothing like the cookies that my grandmother made.  They actually look more like piles of poop and they came out too big...but the taste was still there.

Do you have any memories of cooking with your grandparents or parents?  Have you passed down that tradition to your kids?




Alexis

Christmas Traditions ~ DIY Treeskirt

The holidays are FULL of traditions!  I think that's one of the reasons that I love it so much.  Traditions that have been passed down to me and new ones since I've started my own family.

I have a tradition that I started with my boys when "Little Ricky" was born.  Each year as I begin decorating my house for Christmas, I have my kids use fabric paint to place their handprints on our treeskirt.  Then I write their names and the year using puffy paint. 

Now that we have made it to our 7th Christmas, you can really compare the handprints. 



Alexis

Pebbles...Our Family Elf

Does your family have an "Elf on the Shelf?"  How come I never thought of this?  I could be making millions!!  What a behavior modification tool!!!  All I have to say is, "Pebbles is watching you" and my kids fall in line like soldiers!


For those who aren't aware of this magical little tool, Elf on the Shelf is a book written by Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell.  Along with the book, comes an adorable little elf.  Each elf looks differently, so you have to choose one that will be part of your family.



HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:
The kit comes with an elf doll and a book. The book explains that Santa has sent an elf to watch over the children and the elf reports back to Santa each night. The kids get to decide the name for the elf together - this is a tough decision! You read through the book with your child, it explains all the rules, then each night you move the elf to a new spot. One of the rules is that the children cannot touch him - this is a great rule because although he's a sturdy doll, I think he might get loved too much too quickly if they were allowed! The author was so thoughtful to think of all these helpful rules.

Rules:
* The children cannot touch the elf or he will lose his magic
* The elf can listen to what the children tell him, but cannot talk back, that's Santa's law.
* The elf flies back to the North Pole each night and tells Santa what he has seen - when he comes back he goes to a new spot in the house.

The kids start searching for the elf immediately when they wake up! Knowing Santa is watching has definitely motivated them to be a behave a bit better! This cute little tradition makes the Christmas season more fun. It's a very special tradition in our house.


 

Our elf, Pebbles (don't know why that's his name...) leaves notes from time to time around the house, along with some type of mess or mischief.

"The Nag" was EXTREMELY naggy one night and got in trouble.     Pebbles was watching!!

You never know where Pebbles will turn up next!

For more ideas for your family elf, visit Blossom Bunkhouse.  Here you can find 101 ideas for your Elf on the Shelf.  

You can also visit the official Elf on the Shelf website!




Alexis