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Christmas time is finally here.
It always seems like a long time coming. In our house, we usually start to decorate early because we have family visiting around Thanksgiving that we generally don't see before the big day. Our tree was put up, (this year two of them) and because we moved recently, we needed to go through all the decorations and find new places for them, which is always a fun time.
Opening boxes of decorations is always a trip down memory lane for me because the sight of these things brings back many memories of those who have given them to us over the years.
We have few decorations that we bought and mostly have hand-me-downs and those created by my very crafty wife and children. A curated collection of decorations always makes my Christmas personal.
What I especially love about Christmas is all of the traditions that are seemingly wrapped up in the season. For us in the Upper Ohio Valley, we have many traditions, and one of the ones I am most familiar with is a visit to the Steubenville Nutcracker Village and Christmas at the Fort.
These events are relatively new on the scene, only 11 years old, but welcoming folks to downtown is always fun. Working at Historic Fort Steuben, we have thousands of visitors through our doors at this time of the year.
It is so rewarding to see the happy faces of families when they visit. I also love to hear the stories from visitors about their traditions of the past. It seems that always the Hub makes the top of the list for places people remember most fondly around the holidays, and with good reason. That store was an experience all on its own. Folks remember a lot about the store, especially visiting with Santa and window shopping.
For me and my family, baking is a big part of what makes the holiday special.
My wife makes all of these sweet treats, and I do very little, but I do help make our favorite Italian cookie, the pizzelle. Every family seems to have their own pizzelle recipe and we are no different.
Really the recipe is pretty standard with eggs, flour, sugar, butter or oil and flavoring. I prefer anise and vanilla. A good recipe to follow can be found in a local cookbook called "The Table My Mother Set," by the late Theresa DeCaria.
Theresa was a Weirton resident and a schoolteacher and was devoted to recording her family's foodways and traditions.
Her family operated the International Market located in downtown Weirton for many years. This market was on Main Street and was in business for more than 50 years, according to her book. Her collection of recipes and stories are wonderful and a great look back at our immigrant ancestors and how they worked hard, made a life in America while still honoring their roots.
Another local resident of our area who honored his traditions was Chip DeMarco. Thanks to Charles "Chip" DeMarco and his wife, Helen, Steubenville residents, we have the electric pizzelle iron.
This past week when I was operating the hot iron, I was reminded about how thankful I am that these Steubenville innovators made this appliance possible. I don't have a DeMarco iron, although I keep a watchful eye on eBay. I use a C. Palmer Iron from West Newton, Pa., and it's the best to be sure. The cookies bake in less than 60 seconds, and it can make many in a short time.
I remember my grandparents and parents spending many days making this cookie.
Typically, we used the traditional flavoring, but I have tried others. Many may remember Walter Ehnes, a Weirton resident and veteran of the Korean War. He was known locally as the Pizzelle Man, and he was more adventurous with his flavors. Walter was just about at every event and festival throughout our area, and I am sure his pizzelle iron was constantly hot. I won't forget his offerings, to be sure.
Eating fish on Christmas Eve is a tradition passed down by both my mother's Italian and fathers' Polish family. On my Polish side, we celebrate the Wigilia, or the Christmas Eve Vigil supper where we pass the oplatek.
These are thin wafers with religious scenes baked into them. We pass out the oplatek to each family member and each breaks off a bit of each person's wafer. This represents unity and togetherness at this most special time of the year.
How each of us experiences Christmas is unique and varied. Our traditions seem to keep us grounded from year to year. I find much joy in experiencing the holidays in a similar way as those who have come before in my family.
The ability to pass these traditions down to my children is important and combining them with traditions from my wife's family makes many special days.
Newer traditions too, like attending our local festive events, make for special memories as well.
Christmas is beautiful here in our valley, from visiting local events to sharing a cookie or a meal, our community is rich when we come together.
Merry Christmas dear readers.
(Zuros is the executive director of Historic Fort Steuben)