Saint Joseph's Day

On March 19th, many Italian-Americans celebrate St. Joseph’s Day. St. Joseph is the patron saint of family life, hand-labor, and carpenters. It Italy, it is the feast of their Father’s Day. This holy day is celebrated rather privately in homes and neighborhoods across the United States. Although my family no longer celebrates St. Joseph's Day, I do keep to tradition and plant my cucuzza seeds on this day because that is when my Aunt Frances always planted hers.

A cucuzza is a long, green Italian squash. It is pronounced "ku-koo-za". The inside is a firm white flesh, similar to that of eggplant. The taste is a little sweeter and nuttier than other squash. It can be cooked like any other squash. My aunt used to grow these in her back yard when I was a child. She would slice them, dip them in an egg mixture, then in bread crumbs and fry them in olive oil. She would serve them along side her Sunday spaghetti dinner during the summer months. I use cucuzza in tomato sauce, breads, cakes, pies, and relishes.

The cucuzza grows like a vine and needs full sun and a trellis to support it's weight. The vine can grow up to 2 feet per day and the squash can grow up to 10 inches per day.

I've been selling my cucuzza seeds on Etsy and I still have several more packages left. I hope that people who have never had cucuzza will grow their own and give them a try.

New Clutch Pattern

Today I took a trip to the fabric store, mostly to get out of the house, but also to look around and get some new ideas. I've been searching for a new pattern for a clutch, but with no luck. Well, no luck until today that is. I was so excited about finding the pattern, that I decided to look for some new fabric. I didn't find anything that just jumped out at me, so I decided to go home and look in my craft closet for some fabric or scrap fabric. As I was searching through the stacks of fabric and bags of yarn... there it was! I found some scrap material which I had used for a bag recently and as I reached for it I hoped that there would be enough. Luck for me, there was. It's a black cotton fabric with white roses. The lining is black and white stripe. I cut it out immediately and started to sew it up. However, I didn't have a zipper, so I will go tomorrow and get one. The original clutch pattern doesn't have a flower on it, but I think it would be cute to add one, so I will.

EDITED - I finished the bag and I'm posting a picture. I think it turned out great!

I finished the baby blanket!

Well, I finally finished the baby blanket I was making my step-kid's new baby brother. Although it's been just over 4 weeks, it actually didn't take all that long because I didn't work on it as much as I had planned. I was very pleased with how my first baby blanket turned out and the pattern is really pretty. Their mother loved it as well.

Our trip to Los Nortenos

It was a beautiful warm and sunny day here, so my husband and I decided to take a little drive. We love a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Bryan, Texas called Los Nortenos. It's about a 45 minute drive from our house, but well worth the trip! The restaurant has been there for years and I first learned about it from my sister, who went to Texas A&M. They serve authentic Mexican food. I have two favorites when I eat there. The first is their migas, which is the best I've ever had. They are served with refried beans, guacamole and warm, fresh tortillas. My other favorite is their tamale plate, which is served with rice and beans. Their salsa is delicious too and it has huge chucks of stewed onions in it. Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts used to eat there years ago when they were dating or married. If you are ever in the Bryan/College Station area you MUST stop there for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You won't regret it!