Proserpina's WunderBlog

I love the Christmas season for what it represents, religion, peace, goodwill, family, traditions, songs, poems, food, travel, .....

I plan to explore the above ideas as they apply to my American-Italian roots and I INVITE the WU Family to add a story, a tradition, a memory, a favorite song, anything that applies to you/your family and friends/your roots/....

I also invite those who celebrate other holidays to contribute to my blog's spirit of goodwill to all.





The following paragraphs are copied from the informal "Remembrances" that I am writing for my children and grandchildren. I feel that it is important that they know a little about their maternal roots.


"Despite WWII the Christmas celebrations of my youth were memorable. Mom along with the rest of the Librizzesi prepared special cookies and other foods. Christmas specialties were the torrone, the panuzzi, the crispeddi(crespelle), and the pignolata. The torrone was a concoction of sugar and nuts such as almonds and hazelnuts. The panuzzi were made of a sweet dough in the form of elongated ovals studded with toasted hazelnuts. The panuzzi were prepared for us children and for our cousins. The tradition was for the children to go visit their relatives to “collect” the gifts of the panuzzi. The crispeddi were the result of a complicated procedure which started with flour, yeast, and water. The three items were mixed together and stirred for a long time until it became a soft dough, then the mixture was allowed to rise. When the dough grew to the desired stage, spoonfuls of the dough was deep fried. Some of the dough was deep fried plain and some with a piece of anchovy inside, the plain crispeddi were covered with honey and sugar. Delicious! The cookies were shaped into crescents, circles, pretzels, the letter S, spirals, etc., then they were covered with colorful sugars, and other edible decorations. The pignolata was made with a sweet dough, cut into little pieces, deep fried, piled in a conical shape, drizzled with honey, decorated with multicolored sugars and sprinkles.

The Christmas sweets were just part of the Christmas celebration. For many days before Christmas the town was awakened by the sounds of the zampogna, a folk musical instrument. To announce the coming of Baby Jesus, in the wee hours of the morning mountain men would come down to the town and play the zampogna while walking the streets of Librizzi. Christmas Eve Mass was a big event, the church was decorated with oranges, tangerines, lemons, and garlands of greenery. The citrus scent of those Christmases of long ago still lingers in my mind. The Presepio was the highlight of the church decorations and on Christmas morning all of the children were brought up to the Presepio to see the newborn baby Jesus. Librizzesi specialized in building Presepi in their homes, the multi-level Presepi were creations of imaginary towns, waterfalls, snowy scenes, stars, shepherds, etc. The featured area was the Holy Family in the stable, the Magi along with stable animals were always included. The Presepio was truly a work of art. A few homes put up Christmas trees which in the eyes of the Librizzesi of those times were “odd” but interesting. The few people who put up the Christmas trees had been in America and had brought back the new tradition. Today the Librizzesi celebrate Christmas with the Presepi, Christmas trees, and Babbo Natale (Santa Claus)."

All photos by CARMELO RIFICI



TORRONE



PANUZZI



CRISPEDDI



ZAMPOGNA



TRADITIONAL PRESEPIO



PRESEPIO, NON TRADITIONAL



PRESEPIO, NON TRADITIONAL



CHRISTAMS of 2007, a Piazza in Librizzi


Please visit Carmelo Rifici's website:

http://www.librizziacolori.eu/





Photo by Proserpina, a section of my Nativity Scene.


recipes, songs, etc. will be added later