only backgroundI'm a wife, mother and grandmother. I'm opinionated. I contradict myself frequently. Most of all, I love my kids. I believe in them. I fight for them. They're weird and wonderful. If you want to know more, here's a bunch of other stuff from my old site.
St. Joseph Day Recipe
- by Marisa
- March 19, 2008
Today, March 19, is the feast of St. Joseph in the Catholic Church. St. Joseph is the patron saint of workers.
Since as far back as I can remember, we celebrated this day with specially made donuts that my dad or my Aunt Jo would make. Served drenched in honey or sprinkled with powdered sugar, they’d be waiting on the table for us when we got home from school. I still remember the year we returned home to find the donuts on the table, my dad looking very sad and my mother nowhere to be found. My grandfather, my mom’s father, had died that morning. In retrospect, it was an appropriate day for PapPap to meet his maker since he was a very hard working man, a coal miner before there was a Union, who had escaped from Communist controlled Croatia to find a better life. He’d raised 6 children during the Great Depression and ended up with Black Lung disease. I loved my PapPap.
The recipe for St. Joseph Day donuts comes from my dad’s family. I realize now that Italians, or at least the ones I call family, love to celebrate holidays. We tend to celebrate a few more holidays than most other people and always with special food. If anyone else celebrates this feast day (or any other, really) please comment and let me know. And if you try our family recipe for St. Joseph Day donuts, let me know that, too.
St. Joseph Day Donuts
March 19
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
- 2 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 cups oil for frying
Beat eggs well in water. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture. This should be the consistency of pancake batter. Cover and allow to rise in warm place for about 30 minutes. Heat oil. Drop by Tablespoon, 2 at a time, into oil. Fry until golden. Coat with honey or dust with powdered sugar.
Enjoy!
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I can’t remember the donuts that day, but I remember being served a plate of S.O.S. at the kitchen table by Daddy, and he was standing at the stove, and then he told me, and then I couldn’t eat it, and I ran upstairs to our room and just cried and cried and cried. And I thought pleading hard enough with god would work to get Grandpap back; if He only understood how desperately I needed and loved him. Such is the mind of a 10 year old.
I love Grandpap so much, still.
I wish I had a picture of him holding me like that.
How interesting that I remember the donuts but not the S.O.S. I remember the sadness mostly and then nothing until the funeral home. And how one of the uncles (Joe? Ivan? Sonny?) came in and hugged Grandma so tight that it hurt her ribs.
We’re so blessed to have come from a family with so much love and generosity.
Oh those sound good
I’ll have to give it a try.
So sorry for your loss, even though it happened quite some time ago.
The donuts look interesting and very easy to make.
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.
All kinds of things are coming back to me now.
I remember being ecstatic about the S.O.S. because it was my favorite food at the time. But then Daddy told me, and I couldn’t eat it. And I remember Daddy saying he should’ve waited until after I ate to tell me. And I remember him being so sad to tell me. You know how he gets.
)
But I also remember going to the funeral home to see Grandpap – and having gone to that same funeral home just months before to see Chiconda Harris and her family. That was the first time ever for me at a funeral home, and I literally got sick and light-headed when I saw her; she didn’t look like her – remember? And we were just little kids, to see our friend in a casket, and not even looking like herself because of the car wreck – it was awful! Well, it was Grandpap who walked me outside so I could breathe again. It was like he knew to be watching because he knew it’d be bad. I can still see that – him walking me outside, him next to me, like protecting me.
So when I went to see him, I didn’t have trouble breathing.
You got me all crying here.
I remember when Chaconda (Chiconda?) died, too. I remember grandma telling us not to go in because it didn’t look like her but I had to go. And it didn’t look like her. She had an angular face, a slender nose and high cheekbones but they had to reconstruct her face for the showing and she was very “rounded” or something. I always see her in Tammie’s face for some reason. Tammie reminds me of Chaconda. A lot.
I didn’t remember Grandpap being there, just Grandma. How interesting that our memories are like two sides of the same coin.
“She had an angular face, a slender nose and high cheekbones but they had to reconstruct her face for the showing and she was very “rounded” or something.”
Yes! Exactly!!! That’s what made me feel so sick.
I love donuts! It looks easy to prepare. I will try it. Thanks for sharing!
I remember the day that my grandparent’s passed away it was a very sad day and I still miss them very much.
Thank you for the recipe I look forward to prepare them I also enjoy donuts and I alway’s wanted to make them.
Take Care