The Holidays in my home away from home. Part 1

This Christmas wasn't like my normal Christmas celebrations in the US. On Christmas Eve, Cinzia and Lello (my host parents) had a party at their place with Mario-their son, Angela-his wife, her parents and of course the cutest little girl Cinzia. We ate pasta with fish eggs, another pasta with sea snail (Yes, sea snails. Not that bad. ), a special fish dish, vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, pepper with olives, then dessert was struffoli, which are like little balls with sprinkles and a sugar covering, and caramelized oranges. Everything was so good. Another Italian tradition is to place a baby Jesus figurine in his cradle at midnight. After the party Cinzia thought it would be a good idea to just open our presents that night. Of course I bought things for Cinzia and Lello as an expression of my gratitude for all they have done for me. Anna, their daughter, was there also and I bought her a gift as well for Christmas.

      The next day all of us went to Nonno's (Grandfather's) house for lunch. Other family members included were Laura-Cinzia's younger sister, her twins-Mafalda and Claudio, Cinzia's older sister and her two sons. We ate pasta with a special Neapolitan tomato sauce, roast beef and sausage, broccoli leaves, mushrooms, peppers and desserts. I really loved this dinner. Also I've come to be very close to this family. 

    The day after there was another lunch, but this time at Lello's sister's home. After two days of heavy feasting/eating, Italians eat a smaller meal which is usually composed of a soup with a vegetable which literally translates into prickly lettuce. I've never seen it in the US, but still it's very good. It is made of slow simmered chicken, meatballs and broth. After that we just ate some beef and peppers, accompanied with fruit. We got to the house at 2:00 PM and left at 9:00 PM if that gives you any idea of how much time we spent there.

Italian teens go out almost all day on Christmas Eve. I went with Laurel and a few of her friends to watch a movie. 

Lovely Mamma Cinzia on Christmas Eve. 

Mamma Cinzia at Nonno's house. 

This is the soup especially made for the 26th of December. 

I'm just throwing this in, but this is a normal Italian breakfast: a glass of milk, cookies (biscotti), and a Italian version of fruit cake, panettone.