Saint Nicholas

Growing up, we celebrated the Feast of Saint Nicholas on December 6th right along with the American Christmas. The Montenero (Catholic) perspective of saints is that they were human beings who set an example of the best of what a life on earth could be in terms of serving God and our fellow human beings. Every saint had its day (literally) and if not named after their grandparents, children were named after saints.
The stories about St Nicholas and his generosity are known world-wide. Montenero celebrated by making a special meal, Sagne San Nicola; Noodles of Saint Nicholas. This tradition honored the story that Nicholas wanted to feed as many hungry children as he could, so the noodles are made simply with flour and water, and added to a sauce made of garlic aioli (olive oil cooked with garlic).
My great-grandma, Ida Colella, would have 'Open House' (after Mass, of course) and people would stop by all day for a bowl of the sagne.
To commemorate this special day from my childhood, the kids in my neighborhood came by after school for the story, some pasta, and of course, cookies. Their Moms enjoyed a sip or two of Bellinis. I made the pasta a bit more up-to-date with farfalle (bow tie shaped), carrots, and broccolini, but kept the traditional aioli, which everybody loved.