Without question for an Italo-American of my generation, Christmas Eve was the best meal of the year. As far back as when I was a youngster to 25 years ago. It ended 25 years ago when my wife and I divorced. Lisa still works at it. However not the entire meal. Her main course tonight will be a pork roast. We rarely ate pork back when because it could cause illness. Today, not so.
When my grandmother, my father’s mother, was the primary cook and then my mother to my wife, they were all the best! The same meal prepared to perfection.
My last such meal was 20 years ago. It pains me to even say it.
The women cooked for weeks preparing. It began with Christmas cookies. My wife used to make tons of them 3 weeks prior to Christmas Eve. Then freeze them in huge jars. The reason therefore was because me and our children would devour them well before Christmas Eve. So good!
The meal itself. A huge spaghetti bowl of snails. My recollection remains fixed. Watching them crawl up the sides of the bowl. Broiled lobster tails. Shrimp served 3 ways. Raw, stuffed and a third way I cannot recall. Stuffed artichokes. A macaroni. Generally linguine. Plus I cannot recall what else. A feast!
My last home was huge. A mansion. The dining room bigger than big. The dinning room table large. Nevertheless, not everyone could fit at the table. The overflow ended up in the kitchen. The table handled 10 comfortably. We pushed it to 14-15 Christmas Eve. Age determined whether the dining room table or kitchen one. My daughter Lori was 26 and a lawyer before she qualified for the dining room.
The dining room was active all evening. People would stop in to wish us a Merry Christmas. Actually to eat the leftovers. They were that good.
The cookies were the hit of hits.
In the days just before Christmas, Italian women would visit each other and exchange a small dish of the cookies. All looked and tasted the same. A tradition.
Came midnight and the women left for Christmas Mass. I went to bed.
The time came when except for Lisa, my other 3 children were married. They would return Christmas morning to gouge themselves again on the left over foods. Many tasted better cold.
Once before I die, I would enjoy the Christmas Eve meal again. One year, I visited the chefs at Antonia’s, La Trattoria and a couple of other restaurants trying to put the meal together. Failed! A Cuban cannot cook an Italian meal as well as an Italian.
Christmas would not be Christmas without mentioning Christmas carols.
I attended Blessed Sacrament Grammar School. Taught by Brown Franciscans. They were our second mothers.
There were few Italians in the school. Few Italian families in the neighborhood. In my first years at Blessed Sacrament there were only 2 Italians in my class. Me and one other.
It was at Blessed Sacrament with the the nuns that I learned Christmas carols. Silent Night, Jingle Bells, I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas, Deck the Halls, O’ Little Town of Bethlehem and more.
I cannot help but wonder how many gifts will be shared at Donald’s Mar-a-Lago this evening. More than two to most I am sure. Especially the children.
I remind you again of Mark Kelly. He would make a formidable President.
Merry Christmas one and all! Enjoy!