St. Joseph's Day

Before I moved to Rhode Island in 1990, I had never heard of St. Joseph's Day. But in RI, St. Joseph's Day (March 19th) is as big, if not bigger, than St. Patrick's Day which falls two days earlier. St. Joseph's Day is a day of feasting on the Roman Catholic calendar and is celebrated as Father's Day in countries like Italy and Spain. Here, SJD is celebrated by wearing red and eating an Italian pastry called a Zeppole. Pictured above, zeppoles are similar to donuts with fried dough and filled or topped with whipped cream. They often have a cherry on top. I've seen recipes with chocolate or savory zeppoles with anchovies, but I've never seen these zeppoles in a Rhode Island bakery.

People often have a traditional Italian dinner on St. Joseph's Day. Karen made mashed fava beans (very traditional on SJD) and pasta with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Some grilled olives and white wine were perfect accompaniments.

An Italian friend told me years ago that it is good luck to plant something on St. Joseph's Day. I searched the Internet, but couldn't find anything to support this. The closest came when I found a quote that said to plant peas on St. Patrick's Day. Not wanting to tempt fate, I prepped a bed and planted beets today. I also found a quote supposedly from the Farmers Almanac that says if St. Joseph's Day is clear, you will have a bountiful garden. Today started out cloudy, but by afternoon it was sunny. So I guess we're in for another good growing season!