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By ‘JOAN KINGSBURY
Staff Correspondent
" Through the efforts of College
World program held last Saturday, I
enjoyed a morning filled with the
sights and legends of Christmas in
Italy.
A’ Window On The World, funded
by a Phaedrus Grant from the
Pennsylvania Humanities Council
and supported in part by the
National Endowment for the
Humanities, is a joint project spon-
sored by College Misericordia’s
631, Shavertown. Lee Williames,
Ph.D is Project Director while
Louis Maganzin, Ph.D is session
coordinator.
Christmas in Italy is very much a
religious holiday. According to Dr.
Magazin, who is Italian by birth, the
~ holiday begins with a Novena, nine
Eve.
In the southern part of the coun-
try and in Sicily, puppet shows and
part of the Christmas tradition. On
the feast day of Santa Lucia, Dec.
13, it is believed this saint brings
gifts to the children. Dressed in a
blue-star sprinkled coat and accom-
places a gift in the child’s shoe.
which have been placed on the
dren leave a little straw in their
‘shoes for the donkey.
Along the Adriatic, St. Nikolo,
similar to our Santa Claus, brings
6. The children leave hay, carrots
and water in their shoes which are
The Befana, an old woman
dressed in black and carrying a
broom, brings gifts to children in
the areas of Rome and Florence on
Little Christmas, Jan. 6, the feast of
The Three Kings. j
According to legend, the Befana
Melchior and Casper, when they
passed her home in search of Beth-
lehem. They explained that they
were directed by the bright star,
the child. Although they invited her
to journey with them, Befana
delayed.
When she began her trip, Befana
was unable to catch-up to the Wise
travel carrying a bag of gifts in
search of the Christ child. She
leaves a gift at the home of each
child in case she may find the
Christ child in that home.
Mrs. Florence Howanitz gave an
outstanding performance as the
Befana while Thomas Kotch, Jody
Pallante and Andrew Yencha por-
trayed the three Kings.
Among the exhibits and demon-
strations in Merrick Hall, the Foods
of Italy display showed how to make
homemade pasta and polenta.
Depending on the area, these two
food items are used as we would use
potatoes. Since the preparation of
homemade ravioli was demon-
strated and since ravioli is a popu-
lar holiday dish for many Italian-
Americans, I have included a recipe
for ravioli in this column.
Use either a ravioli rolling pin or
pasta machine to make your ravioli.
To cook, drop freshly made or
frozen ravioli into a large: kettle of
boiling salted water. When it
returns to a boil cook gently, stir-
ring occasionally until tender. Top
with your favorite sauce.
FILLING FOR RAVIOLI
2/3 1b. pork chops, cut 4» inch thick
1» 1b. boneless beef chuck, cut 1
inch thick ,
1 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 sprigs fresh parsley
4 t. ea. dry rosemary, thyme
leaves and salt
Dash pepper
1 Ig. bunch fresh spinach (1 1b.) or 1
pkg. frozen, chopped spinach
2 T. butter or margarine
1 or 2 eggs
2 T. grated Romano or Parmesan
cheese
To make filling, cut pork from
bones, reserve bones for sauce.
Trim off excess fat and any gristle
from pork or beef. Cut meat into 2
inch squares. Heat oil in a wide
frying pan over mediumhigh heat.
Add meat and cook until browned
on all sides. Add garlic, parsley,
rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.
Reduce heat to low and cook, uncov-
ered, stirring occasionally, until
pork is not longer pink when
slashed, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile wash fresh spinach,
drain, and discard stems and course
inch boiling water for 5 minutes;
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squeeze spinach with your hands to
remove as much moisture as possi-
ble.
Melt butter in a frying pan over
medium heat. Add spinach and
cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Using
‘food processor or the finest balde of
a meat grinder, very finely chop
meat mixture. Finely chop spinach
as well, but do not puree. In a bowl
combine meat and spinach. At this
point you may cover and refrigerate
until next day if made ahead. Let
mixture come to room temperature
before continuing. Beat 1 egg and
stir into meat mixture along with
cheese. If mixture seems stiff, beat
another egg and stir into mixture.
Use to fill ravioli.
OLD FASHIONED
RAVIOLI PASTA
2 c. all-purpose flour
21g. eggs
3-6 T. water
ing and cutting
Mound flour on a work surface, or
in a bowl make a deep well in
center. Break eggs into well. With a
fork, beat eggs lightly and stir in 2
tablespoons water. Using a circular
motion, begin to draw flour from
sides of well. Add one more table-
spoon of water and continue mixing
until flour is moistened. If neces-
sary add more water a tablespoon
at a time. When dough becomes stiff
use your hands to finish mixing. Pat
dought into a ball and knead a few
times to help flour absorb liquid.
work surface.
If you plan to use a pasta machine
first knead dough by hand, sprinkl-
ing with flour if needed, for 3 to 4
sticky. Then proceed with pasta
machine.
If you plan to use a rolling pin,
knead dough by hand, sprinkling
with flour if needed for 10 minutes
Cover and let rest for 20 minutes
then proceed with rolling pin.
With pasta machine or rolling pin
roll out a fourth of the dough at a
time to desired thinness. Keep
unrolled portion covered. When all
dough is rolled, cut strips into
desired shapes by machine or by
hand. ‘Machine-rolled dough makes
about 4 cups cooked pasta when
machine-cut into medium noodles or
about 32 pieces lasagna. Yield of
hand-rolled noodles may vary.
Foods of Italy
Elizabeth Williames,
% Off
PLUS RED TAG SPECIALS
THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE STORE
Merry Christmas from
BACK MOUNTAIN
LUMBER & COAL
HARDWARE & GIFT STORE
FORALL YOUR GIFTS & HOME NEEDS
MAIN HIGHWAY, SHAVERTOWN
PHONE 675-2127
Shop Wed., Thurs. & Fri. 8 A.M. to 9 P.M.; Sat. (Christmas Eve) 8 A.M. to 4 P.M.
Christmas Clearance Sale Starts Monday, Dec. 26th, 8 A.M.
7% Coppa
% Salame
% Mortadella
¥% Prosciutti
7% Capocolla
% Westphalian Ham
#% Kielbasa
+ Pastrami
— SMOKED MEATS —
— and —
Domestic Meats
dinner catering.
% Antipasto
¥% Italian Potato
#% Chicken Wings
Petrosini
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