The holidays have come! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year!
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| Friday night I went out to dinner with Matilde and Simonetta's families. |
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| The Fudge turned out great. |
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| Saturday, my older host brothers Luca and Bruno came home in time for lunch. (Giogio and Luca) |
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| Davide and Zia Graziella |
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| Giogio cooking and Luca eating. |
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| Bruno and Anna |
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| Silvia and I. |
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| In Sicily, for big family meals, it's typical to start with a pasta dish and then move on to a meat or fish dish. I think I have had pasta for every single meal since Davide got home. |
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| Bruno with the cannoli. |
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| One of the things I love about my experience in Ragusa, is the family dynamic. My grandma, aunts and uncles (and cousins now that they are home for the holidays, Anna is the youngest so it's been just her) live in the same apartment building. It's perfectly normal to walk into each others apartments, with out knocking, at any point in the day. In this picture Zia Graziella, Anna, Ana, and Michella (one of the older cousins) walked in while we were having lunch. |
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| After lunch I went downstairs to make a Brazilian carrot cake with Anna and Ana. |
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| While the cake was in the oven, the sun set, and the first night of Hanukkah began. I had my mini menorah and we lit the candles. (there should be an H at the end oh hanukkah...) |
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| For dinner we all met at the beautiful country house! In Sicily, instead of celebrating christmas the morning of the 25th, it's typical to have a big celebration the night of the 24th. Gifts are opened at midnight. |
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| The whole family! |
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| The table. |
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| The typical appetizers include a wide variety of focaccia e scaccia. Scaccia is a very typical to Ragusa, its a thin dough folded and layered with tomato sauce. Most Italian food is just a combination of starch tomato sauce and cheese. The meal also included a a few Bakala ( a typical fish) dishes, one was of course a bakala spaghetti,, and sausage with potatoes. |
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| Serving the pasta. |
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| The crazy number of gifts we opened at midnight. |
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| After gifts we moved on to singing and dancing! |
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| The dancing. |
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| Luca, Silvia and Michella watching the dancing. |
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| The family party was over around 2am, but that didn't mean the night was over. All of the young people met up in one of the many squares to celebrate with friends. |
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| The 25th was a much calmer day. After some much needed sleep we drove to Scicli( a town about 25 min from Ragusa) to have lunch with Pino's side of the family. I forgot my phone in the car, but here is a picture of the sunset in Scicli. |
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| A very dark picture of me and my four host siblings in the car. |
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| When we got home I went to celebrate the second night of Hanukkah with the Francone's. On the 30th I am cooking a Hanukkah dinner, but sadly they won't be able to make it. |
It has been a great time celebrating the holidays in Ragusa. I missed my family back home, and our traditions but it just makes next year even more special. Sending love to you all!
Posted at 3 am! Wow, you are becoming Sicilian! You have described a wonderful family dynamic, especially around the holidays. The food looks scrumptious and your extended host family seem fun and wonderful. We missed you terribly, but, as you say, that makes next year even more special! Love to you and your wonderful family.
ReplyDeleteThe walking in and out of each other's houses sounds wonderful as does all of the food, dancing and singing. You are welcome to bring some Sicilian traditions home to Mn.
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