My Christmas Story
Every year around the beginning of the Fall season, I begin to
think of years gone by...of my mom, dad and sisters...and of Christmas!
What a warm and wonderful time of year. Even though it was New Jersey
and often bitterly cold, it felt safe, warm and secure. Christmas never
meant presents to me, we were fairly poor and each got one gift and some clothes.
It wasn't the decorations or the tree. Mom would give us $2 or $3 to go out and
buy a tree...and we would hide the bald spot in the back and fill it out with a lot
of tinsel. But what a joy it was to be sitting around the kitchen table sipping hot
chocolate with people you loved.
Poor or not, our family celebrated that holiday with a feast fit for
a king. Afterall, we were celebrating the birthday of the King of Kings.
I remember going with Mom and Dad to Mulberry Street in Newark, NJ. It
was lined with small shops in those days...butchers, bakers, produce. We would
go in and out of our favorite stores, buying chickens and chestnuts, cookies and
fresh produce..all the ingredients needed for that wonderful Christmas Day meal.
What would have been a chore to most, was pretty exciting to me. I didn't mind the
heavy bags full of food we toted to the car. I didn't mind the cold and sometimes
snow we had to navigate. It was fun! It was soon to be Christmas! There was
always an air of anticipation waiting for that big day to arrive.
A few days before the holiday, mom would make her special "ribbons" of pastry
dough flattened and deep fried then drizzled with honey and powdered sugar. She
would make these ribbons and fry them for hours on end until a large cardboard box
that was carefully lined with waxed paper was full of the golden delights. Most of
the time I would watch the ribbons in the large pot of oil and turned them while
she rolled out and cut more of them. She also made another deep fried goody that
only certain people will like. These were balls of dough filled with anchovies and
deep fried until golden brown. Believe me that was delicious and I can taste them
even now though its been at least 12 years since I had such a treat.
Christmas Day was most wonderful. The house smelled of all those
delightful foods and there was laughter and happiness. It seemed no matter how
early we woke up, mom would already be puttering about the kitchen as though she'd been
there for hours. By lunch time, people would start to visit and a stream of friends,
neighbors, postmen, deliverymen came in and out all day long, the table remained set
with dishes and food kept appearing and disappearing all through the day. Nobody was
ever turned away and nobody ever went home hungry.
Yes, every year around the beginning of the Fall season I think of years gone by.
I'm alone now except for my son and my cat. Mom and dad have passed on and sisters
have moved away and have families and interests of their own. Still, around that time,
when I sit at my worktable painting wreaths or Christmas tree pins, I find myself humming
Christmas carols and I feel like we all just got back from shopping on Mulberry Street.