St. Joseph's Bread 2026

I come from a large Italian family. My great grandmother arrived in the United States on the SS Europa in 1910 to marry a man whose family came from the same village she just left. By the time I came along in 1964, she lived with her son and daughter-in-law and as you can imagine, was already quite old and hard of hearing (a problem that runs in our family). When I visited, she would be sitting at an enormous oak table in the front room, a soap opera blasting from the television, playing solitaire. Although she spoke English, she retained a very heavy Italian accent and would lapse into Italian whenever she was excited or frustrated. And I never saw her in anything but plain black or dark dresses, the kind…well, the kind immigrant women wore in the 1920s.

She was of course a Roman Catholic and brought with her all sorts of feast days, observations, and traditions. But the most delicious feast day for us was that of Saint Joseph. There is a special kind of bread that is baked only on this day, Saint Joseph’s Bread or Panne di San Guiseppe. It is tender and sumptuous, more like cake but not sweet, more on the savory side. It was a treat everyone in the family looked forward to all year. I don’t know how many loaves my great grandmother would make but every family got one--she would bake all day and then walk to each home to deliver them in person...so today is the feast day of St. Joseph, the day when she would have delivered these treats.

Anise seed (a very traditional Italian spice that shows up in many national and regional dishes) is what gives this bread a subtle taste. Some traditional recipes call for the addition of golden raisins, but I will say that my great-grandmother never added them. While I am in no way religious (although I am a mystic at heart, which is very different!), I still enjoy this delicious bread.

St. Joseph's Day Bread

5 lb. flour
2 Tbs. salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tbs. baking powder
2 tbs. anise seed
Combine these ingredients in a large bowl
Work in 1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening

In another bowl combine:
4 1/2 cups warm water
3 pkgs. of yeast or 3 tbs. of yeast
Dissolve yeast in warm water
Add 5 eggs, beaten

Add liquid ingredients to flour and shortening mixture. Mix well and knead on floured surface. Place in greased bowl and allow to rise until double in size. Punch down and let rise another hour.

Shape into small round loaves (should yield around 5), and let rise for 30 minutes. Traditionally, the loaves were small and could be made in the shape of a cross, bambino (baby), heart, beard, crown, or staff in honor St. Joseph.

Brush loaves with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame and poppy seeds. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

St. Joseph's Bread 2025

I come from a large Italian family. My great grandmother arrived in the United States on the SS Europa in 1910 to marry a man whose family came from the same village she just left. By the time I came along in 1964, she lived with her son and daughter-in-law and as you can imagine, was already quite old and hard of hearing (a problem that runs in our family). When I visited, she would be sitting at an enormous oak table in the front room, a soap opera blasting from the television, playing solitaire. Although she spoke English, she retained a very heavy Italian accent and would lapse into Italian whenever she was excited or frustrated. And I never saw her in anything but plain black or dark dresses, the kind…well, the kind immigrant women wore in the twenties.

She was of course a Roman Catholic and brought with her all sorts of feast days, observations, and traditions. But the most delicious feast day for us was that of Saint Joseph. There is a special kind of bread that is baked only on this day, Saint Joseph’s Bread or Panne di San Guiseppe. It is tender and sumptuous, more like cake but not sweet, more on the savory side. It was a treat everyone in the family looked forward to all year. I don’t know how many loaves my great grandmother would make but every family got one--she would bake all day and then walk to each home to deliver them in person...so today is the feast day of St. Joseph, the day when she would have delivered these treats.

Anise seed (a very traditional Italian spice that shows up in many national and regional dishes) is what gives this bread a subtle taste. Some traditional recipes call for the addition of golden raisins, but I will say that my great-grandmother never added them. While I am in no way religious (although I am a mystic at heart, which is very different!), I still enjoy this delicious bread.

St. Joseph's Day Bread

5 lb. flour
2 Tbs. salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tbs. baking powder
2 tbs. anise seed
Combine these ingredients in a large bowl
Work in 1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening

In another bowl combine:
4 1/2 cups warm water
3 pkgs. of yeast or 3 tbs. of yeast
Dissolve yeast in warm water
Add 5 eggs, beaten

Add liquid ingredients to flour and shortening mixture. Mix well and knead on floured surface. Place in greased bowl and allow to rise until double in size. Punch down and let rise another hour.

Shape into small round loaves (should yield around 5), and let rise for 30 minutes. Traditionally, the loaves were small and could be made in the shape of a cross, bambino (baby), heart, beard, crown, or staff in honor St. Joseph.

Brush loaves with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame and poppy seeds. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

St. Joseph's Bread 2024

I come from a large Italian family. My great grandmother arrived in the United States on the SS Europa in 1910 to marry a man whose family came from the same village she just left. By the time I came along in 1964, she lived with her son and daughter-in-law and as you can imagine, was already quite old and hard of hearing (a problem that runs in our family). When I visited, she would be sitting at an enormous oak table in the front room, a soap opera blasting from the television, playing solitaire. Although she spoke English, she retained a very heavy Italian accent and would lapse into Italian whenever she was excited or frustrated. And I never saw her in anything but plain black or dark dresses, the kind…well, the kind immigrant women wore in the twenties.

She was of course a Roman Catholic and brought with her all sorts of feast days, observations, and traditions. But the most delicious feast day for us was that of Saint Joseph. There is a special kind of bread that is baked only on this day, Saint Joseph’s Bread or Panne di San Guiseppe. It is tender and sumptuous, more like cake but not sweet, more on the savory side. It was a treat everyone in the family looked forward to all year. I don’t know how many loaves my great grandmother would make but every family got one--she would bake all day and then walk to each home to deliver them in person...so today is the feast day of St. Joseph, the day when she would have delivered these treats.

Anise seed (a very traditional Italian spice that shows up in many national and regional dishes) is what gives this bread a subtle taste. Some traditional recipes call for the addition of golden raisins, but I will say that my great-grandmother never added them. While I am in no way religious (although I am a mystic at heart, which is very different!), I still enjoy this delicious bread.

St. Joseph's Day Bread

5 lb. flour
2 Tbs. salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tbs. baking powder
2 tbs. anise seed
Combine these ingredients in a large bowl
Work in 1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening

In another bowl combine:
4 1/2 cups warm water
3 pkgs. of yeast or 3 tbs. of yeast
Dissolve yeast in warm water
Add 5 eggs, beaten

Add liquid ingredients to flour and shortening mixture. Mix well and knead on floured surface. Place in greased bowl and allow to rise until double in size. Punch down and let rise another hour.

Shape into small round loaves (should yield around 5), and let rise for 30 minutes. Traditionally, the loaves were small and could be made in the shape of a cross, bambino (baby), heart, beard, crown, or staff in honor St. Joseph.

Brush loaves with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame and poppy seeds. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

"Time" by EELS

Well, this must be the season for profound songs...with Guster's lovely "Keep Going," and yesterday's new song "Boys" by Amen Dunes...here is "Time" by EELS. Oh, where do I start... where we come from, who we love, who we must leave behind, how we miss them, our own journey, the limitation of our presence...you'll need a tissue for this.

Time, it's all about time now
Tick-tock I rock, but then I look at the clock
Knock-knock, who's there?
Well, I don't dare...
Open the door

Time, there was nothing but time there
Click-clack riding down the tracks
Never worried about coming back
Anyplace looked good to me
Why not stop and see...
What's there?

Time, there isn't much time now
What's the fear, well, I like it here
With the ones I love so near
Maybe there's just somе way
Dear god...
I can stay

https://www.eelstheband.com/

BEAUTY: Painting--The Family McCaw

I love the fact that the McCaw men all paint...Dan McCaw has two grown sons, John and Danny, and they all share a studio where they each create some wonderful works, many on very large canvases.

Here is an example of Dan's oeuvre:

Top to bottom: Interwoven; Solitude; Standing Figures; Textures

John's work is similar in color palette but completely abstract. I think I like the predominantly black Archetype the best followed by the bold orange Accelerate.

Top to bottom: Accelerate; Archetype; Balancing; Rain On Me

And Danny's works are more figurative abstraction like his dad:

Top to bottom: Activities; Bather; Shapes; Side By Side

And just look at this group of handsome men. It would be fun to own a work by each of them and display them as a triptych!

https://www.mccawcontemporary.com/

https://www.instagram.com/danmccawfineart/

"Horizon" by Cat Power

Wow, this one really snuck up on me.

I am an only child and my parents are gone. This song and video makes me feel there are people, very unlike myself, whose lives--the texture of their consciousness--are populated, there are people nearby, always near even when not physically present, part of the tapestry of their creation. Connections. Humans. Deep connections that surpass "love."

At this point, I feel there is a lot of air around me, space. Historically, there was only ever the three of us, a triumverate, and we were always lonely, always alone. Yes, there are people who are with me now by invitation and their choosing but this type of deeper enfolding that is taken for granted is not part of my heart. And never will be.

"Horizon" by Cat Power--words, sounds, images--touches me on many levels and in many forms.

Mother, I know your face
Father, still hold your place
Sister, I'm around you
Remember me
Brother, I'm on my way
I'm visiting
Little sister, I know from where your brown eyes come
Your face on horizon I cannot see
Your face on horizon I cannot say

Mother, I wanna hold your hand
Father, I need you to be a man
Sister, if there's any help you need
I'm always on my way
Little brother, let's get on to travel
Let's get up to something
Little sister, can I have this dance?

You're on the horizon I cannot stay
You're on the horizon I'm on my way
You're on the horizon
I'm headed the other way
Horizon
Horizon
Horizon
Horizon

https://www.catpowermusic.com/

The Sweeney House

Two years ago, Texas Public Radio spotlighted artist Gary Sweeney and his touching art installation that served as a farewell to his childhood home. I recently came across the article and felt a kinship with Sweeney since I have a house I grew up in (we moved a lot but my Grandmother's house was the place that remained stable) to which I have a very strong emotional connection. Homes are so much more than shelter...they become imbued with life and energy. They matter. Almost as much as the people who lived in them.

Artist Turns Family Home Into Beautiful Art, Then It's Torn Down
By JACK MORGAN • MAR 1, 2016

San Antonio Visual Artist Gary Sweeney has spent some time away from the city to say goodbye to his childhood home. Oddly, even that turned into a very impressive work of art. Gary Sweeney was raised in a place and in a time that in a real sense, has long passed.

"I'm from Southern California, a place called Manhattan Beach...two blocks from the beach."

60-something Sweeney was raised there in the surf-crazy 1960s, so he pretty much lived the Beach Boys lifestyle that people heard on the radio. Sweeney laughed to remember it.

"Yes I did, as a matter of fact! The Beach Boys were from the town just east of us--Hawthorne, California--we kinda thought they were less-than-authentic because we thought they were flatlanders,"

Early life for revolved around that beach and his humble home.

"My mother bought it in 1945 when my father was coming home from Guam from the Navy during WWII, and he became a policeman in Los Angeles and he was making $75 a month."

The young family eked by, and they grew--Gary and his sister were born and their parents built on to the house accommodate.

"They turned a 1-story house into a 2-story house and created an apartment underneath for my grandmother and a garage for the car. That was the second stage. The third stage was my father popped out the back and built a darkroom for himself."

Gary's dad Mike would also serve on the Manhattan Beach city council and spend a lot of his spare time taking and developing pictures.

"My father was a very serious amateur photographer and photographed every aspect of our lives. Every event, every first day of school. Every little league game. Every Christmas. And so he had a cache of hundreds and hundreds of photographs inside of his dark room."

In time, Gary and his sister moved far away and built their own lives and careers. After the rest of the family passed on, the house became rental property. Recently, Gary decided to sell. But he was torn.

"It occurred to me that I was selling our family legacy that was in our family for 70 years, and this is the house that my sister and I were brought home from the hospital to" he said. "My father actually died inside the house. My grandmother died inside her apartment downstairs. Every childhood memory is surrounded by this house."

Sweeney had an artistic brainstorm involving the hundreds of family pictures he found in his father's darkroom.

"I decided to enlarge these photographs and have them printed onto what is called an MDO board, and so I've covered the outside of the house with family photographs that sort of tell the Sweeney family story."

Black-and-white and color family pictures from four to six feet in length paper the entire exterior of the house. From the ground to the eaves, everything but the windows and doors are covered. It's a touching, artistic sight, and clearly a labor of love.

"This idea was just clear as a bell when I started thinking of it. I needed to give it a proper farewell, and I needed a tribute to my father's photography. I wanted to pay homage to the house. And I wanted to tell a story about growing up in Manhattan Beach."

I asked if any one picture tugged at his heartstrings.

"Well the one that seems to represent it best for me is I'm sitting on our wooden porch and I had a Davy Crockett outfit on with a coonskin hat. I'm guessing I was three years old. My mother said I wore that outfit night and day, and it could be the hottest day of the year and I would have that coonskin hat on my hat."

Sweeney has been at the house much of January and February. And re-connecting with old friends. Many friends, and even strangers have stopped by to look, and to talk.

"I had a woman burst into tears and start sobbing. Somehow this struck a nerve with her. It is a very emotional experience. People are really affected by it."

On Sunday the hundred and four pictures came down and March first the house--well, it will, too.

"The house just goes away, yes. I actually had someone ask me if I was going to be there when it was demolished" Sweeney laughed. "I said no of course not. I cry at card tricks; I'm not going to watch my childhood home being demolished!"

But what of all the pictures? They will be trucked back to San Antonio. And the artist's ingenious way of paying homage to those who gave him life, and artistic direction will be gone.

http://tpr.org/post/artist-turns-family-home-beautiful-art-then-its-torn-down

St. Joseph's Bread

I come from a large Italian family. My great grandmother arrived in the United States on the SS Europa in 1910 to marry a man whose family came from the same village she just left. By the time I came along in 1964, she lived with her son and daughter-in-law and as you can imagine, was already quite old and hard of hearing (a problem that runs in our family). When I visited, she would be sitting at an enormous oak table in the front room, a soap opera blasting from the television, playing solitaire. Although she spoke English, she retained a very heavy Italian accent and would lapse into Italian whenever she was excited or frustrated. And I never saw her in anything but plain black or dark dresses, the kind…well, the kind immigrant women wore in the twenties.

She was of course a Roman Catholic and brought with her all sorts of feast days, observations, and traditions. But the most delicious feast day for us was that of Saint Joseph. There is a special kind of bread that is baked only on this day, Saint Joseph’s Bread or Panne di San Guiseppe. It is tender and sumptuous, more like cake but not sweet, more on the savory side. It was a treat everyone in the family looked forward to all year. I don’t know how many loaves my great grandmother would make but every family got one--she would bake all day and then walk to each home to deliver them in person...so today is the feast day of St. Joseph, the day when she would have delivered these treats.

Anise seed (a very traditional Italian spice that shows up in many national and regional dishes) is what gives this bread a subtle taste. Some traditional recipes call for the addition of golden raisins, but I will say that my great-grandmother never added them. While I am in no way religious, I still enjoy this delicious bread.

St. Joseph's Day Bread

5 lb. flour
2 Tbs. salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tbs. baking powder
2 tbs. anise seed
Combine these ingredients in a large bowl
Work in 1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening

In another bowl combine:
4 1/2 cups warm water
3 pkgs. of yeast or 3 tbs. of yeast
Dissolve yeast in warm water
Add 5 eggs, beaten

Add liquid ingredients to flour and shortening mixture. Mix well and knead on floured surface. Place in greased bowl and allow to rise until double in size. Punch down and let rise another hour.

Shape into small round loaves (should yield around 5), and let rise for 30 minutes. Traditionally, the loaves were small and could be made in the shape of a cross, bambino (baby), heart, beard, crown, or staff in honor St. Joseph.

Brush loaves with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame and poppy seeds. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

"A Good Man"

If this doesn't bring a tear to your eye, what will? He is, indeed, a good man.

"StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit whose mission is to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives.

Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected and archived more than 45,000 interviews with nearly 90,000 participants. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, and millions listen to our weekly broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition and on our Listen pages.

We do this to remind one another of our shared humanity, strengthen and build the connections between people, teach the value of listening, and weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that every life matters."

Listen to more stories of people's lives at:
http://storycorps.org/

It's Time, Part Two

A favorite lie the Radical Christian Agenda like to tell is that legalizing gay unions will somehow "destroy the institution of marriage", even though they are very vague on exactly how they think that will happen. If same-sex marriage is legalized, heterosexual couples will still be allowed to fall in love and to marry in either secular or religious ceremonies or both, heterosexual couples will still be able to love and value each other as much as they want, heterosexual couples will still be able to avail themselves of all the rights and protections they have always enjoyed such as tax breaks and hospital visitations; they will NOT be forced to divorce, they will NOT be made to disavow knowledge of each other. In short, NOTHING will change for heterosexual married couples.

Of course legalizing same-sex marriages won't destroy anything for anyone (letting women vote did not "destroy the institution of voting," and letting black men and women eat at the white lunch counter did not "destroy the institution of eating"), but the Radical Christian Agenda have to tell some sort of scary, apocalyptic lie to support their fear-based, bigoted view of forcing and inflicting their personal, religious life plan on the rest of the country, and to distort the truth. And that truth is that legalizing gay unions will only strengthen families, as shown here in this incredibly moving short film, "The Wedding Dance."

The maker of this film, Elliot London, is seeking funding to make a feature about bullying. He intends to give proceeds from the film to organizations that help protect LGBT kids from bullying. Donate by visiting this site:
http://www.indiegogo.com/myfriend