Think I’ll have lobster and steak. Again.
My Italian cousins by marriage make chicken pepperoni on Christmas Eve.
Our family has a tradition of pizza—the more pepperoni, then better—on Christmas Eve. We will eat buffalo wings, however.
Ping!
The first Christians were fishermen, so fish is appropriate.
Great memories.... My off-the-boat Italian Gandma would spend every Christmas Eve with us. She came from poverty around Bisceglia, Italy, and her life in the States was pretty poor, too.
The only fish she ever made for Christmas Eve was salt cod. Which we kids never touched.
We had homemade pizzas, some filled with cheeses and eggs, onion pies; the “tadads” and “frisades”....
Christmas morning was ALWAYS and still is fried dough.
Dinner was lasagna with meatballs, sausage, etc, antipasta, roast beef or ham, trimmings, baskets of garlic bread, and the kids would get soda mixed with wine :)
and once we fell asleep all over the house the adults would play cards, drink wine, coffee and cocktails, eat roasted chestnuts and cakes, talk in Italian, smoke til the window had to be opened...
Oh my heart..... the best of days for all, I am certain. Sure miss my family....
BUT, hey, I found this web site some time ago, looking for the semolina noodles Grandma would make for turkey soup. Give it a look, he’s got authentic recipes here:
https://spaghettisauceandmeatballs.com/
No Italian editors at the AP? It’s “vigilia” (vigil) not “viglia”.
The vigil of Christmas was a fast day for all Latin Catholics before the 1960s: no meat, and only one full meal. This year though it’s on Sunday, so I’m guessing no fast even for us traddy types.
Keep the Mass in Christmas.
That’s right baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had it once and it was AWFUL. Try spaghetti with olive oil and garlic. Ummm
Ping!
We still celebrate the feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve. We usually have muscles, calamari, shrimp, crab cakes, clam chowder, and shrimp scampi with linguini. It isn’t a sit down dinner but more of a bunch of appetizers. We are from Rhode Island so we all grew up loving seafood. My children have carried on the tradition and the grandchildren look forward to it ever year.
My grandmother used to make homemade head cheese from a pigs head every Christmas eve. I am glad my family has lost this tradition.