The Legend of La Befana

The Legend of La Befana

A Christmas tale from Italian Folklore retold by La

La Befana was an old woman who lived in a small village in Italy. She was known throughout the village for her wonderful baking and the cleanliness of her kitchen. She was often seen sweeping the area in front of her home. And many had heard her say that she was so busy baking and cleaning that she rarely had time to do anything else.

One winter day, while La Befana was sweeping in front of her home, three travelers stopped to ask her for a drink of water. They told La Befana that they were astrologers (they were often called the three wise men) who were following a star to the birth place of the Christ child. She kindly gave them water and then invited them to dinner.

After dinner the astrologers prepared to continue their journey and asked her if she would like to come with them to see the Christ child. La Befana shook her head saying that she could not possibly take the time needed for such a journey. She was secretly itching to get back to her cleaning and cooking. She stood at her door and watched them leave.

La Befana went back to her sweeping. But hours later she began to feel that she had made a mistake. Maybe she should have gone with the 3 astrologers to see the Christ child. La Befana decided to follow them.

She quickly grabbed a basket and filled it with baked goods of all kinds. She then put on her shawl and with her basket and broom hurried off into the night practically running to catch up with the wise men.

La Befana traveled through the night but never caught up with the wise men. It is said that she ran and ran until she and her broom were lifted up into the air!

Ever since that night, La Befana is believed to fly through the night or run over the roofs in Italy on Epiphany eve. She stops at the home of every child, leaving them treats in their stockings if they are good and a lump of coal if they are bad.

She hopes that one of the children she visits will be the christ child.

Copyright LLL, Storyteller/Storysinger

Story originally posted at TheStoriesLaTells.blogspot.com

The name Befana is said to be a mispronunciation of the Italian word epifania which stands for epiphany. La Befana still visits the children of Italy on the eve of January 6, Epiphany. She fills their stockings with candy or a lump of coal. It is also believed that she sweeps the floor before she leaves. Many households leave her a small glass of wine and a small plate of goodies.




Biscotti - twice-baked (biscottare means to bake twice) biscuits
Biscotti are a traditional italian sweet that La Befana might have baked.

The following is a very simple biscotti recipe that "cheats" just a little.

Ingredients:
1 box dry cake mix (your choice of flavor)
1 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 stick melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla (or your preferred flavor)

Optional:
¾ cup chopped nuts, dried fruit or chocolate pieces

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
Pour your cake mix and flour into the bowl of a stand mixer.
Add the eggs, butter and vanilla.
Mix on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in nuts or chocolate if desired.

This dough will be very stiff but will not stick to the bowl when properly mixed. The consistency will be like children’s play dough.

Divide dough into two halves.
Roll each half into a log, and place on a lined 11” x 15” x 1” baking pan.
Gently press the top of the cookie log into a rectangle, about 3 inches wide.
Repeat with the second half of the dough.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove cookie pan from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

Do not turn the oven off.

Remove cookies from baking pan and cut into 1 inch piece logs.
You will be cutting this on the width.

Place cookies on their cut side on the lined baking pan.
Place pan back into the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove cookies to cooling rack to cool completely.
Store cooled cookies in an airtight container.

Biscotti are delicious dipped in hot chocolate or coffee.
Bon Appetit!!

Pssssssst!! Here are a few biscotti variations:

yellow cake mix - chopped red and green dried cherries - almond extract.

butter pecan cake mix - sliced pecans - maple extract.

golden cake mix - sliced dried apricots - toasted slivered almonds - almond extract.

vanilla cake mix - sliced dried cranberries - almond extract.

spice cake mix - walnuts - grated orange zest

spice cake mix - sliced crystalized ginger pieces.

chocolate cake mix - chocolate piece or chips, freeze first so they retain their shape during baking.

lemon cake mix - toasted slivered almonds.

german chocolate cake mix - chopped hazelnuts - semisweet chocolate - 1/2 Tsp. ground cinnamon.

devil's food cake mix - white chocolate chips - chopped dried sweetened cherries - almond extract.

The Sparrows Holiday

Mr. and Mrs. House Sparrow hopped round the garden looking for crumbs.

But alas! Nobody threw any crumbs for the sparrows that day:

At last Mr. Sparrow said:

"All the people must be away on holiday."

"Then why don't we go away on holiday?" chirped Mrs. Sparrow.

Mr. Sparrow cocked his head on one side.

"Yes, we will have a holiday. We will go into the country to visit our cousins, the Hedge Sparrows."

"Hurrah!" chirped all the little sparrows.

They flew over the houses and the chimneys, and soon they came to the fields, which were full of golden corn. There were lots of brown sparrows pecking the grain.

"These are our country cousins," said Mr. Sparrow.

"How do you do!" chirped the Hedge Sparrows. "We are very pleased to see you."

They all had such a happy time in the fields. There was plenty to eat, because the corn was ripe. Indeed, the little sparrows ate so much that they felt fast asleep among the corn.

Too soon it was time to go home. So they said "Goodbye" to their country cousins, and away they flew, over the fields and hedges, back to the houses and chimneys. But they did not forget the kindness of their country cousins. When winter came Mrs Sparrow said:

"We will invite our country cousins to spend Christmas with us. There will not be much to eat in their part of the world now."

So the Hedge Sparrows came to spend Christmas among the houses and chimneys.

And they all had a jolly time. There was plenty to eat, because in winter everyone puts out crumbs and titbits for the birds.

So in winter, when you throw out crumbs for the birds, do not forget to throw a little extra for the country cousins too.

Super Simple "Crumb" Cake

Ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup water
5 Tbsp. butter, softened to room temperature
.
For the Crumb Topping:
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup very soft butter (soften for 2 hours at room temperature)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.

Combine cake mix, eggs, sour cream, water and butter in a large mixing bowl.
Beat until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes.

While cake is baking, make the crumb topping:
Combine flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
Cut in butter until mixture becomes crumbly.

Sprinkle crumb topping over half-baked cake.
Return to oven to bake another 20-23 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

The Little Round Bun.....a Russian Folktale

Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman who were very poor and had nothing at all to their name. And they kept getting poorer and poorer till there was nothing left to eat in the house, not even bread, Said the old man:

"Do bake us a bun, old woman! If you scrape out the flour-box and sweep out the bin, you'll have enough flour."

So the old woman scraped out the flour-box and swept out the bin, she made some dough and she shaped a little round bun out of it. She then lit the oven, baked the bun and put it on the window sill to cool. But the bun jumped out of the window and onto the bench outside, and from the bench onto the ground, and away it rolled along the road!

On and on' it rolled, and it met a Rabbit coming toward it.

"I'm going to eat you up, Little Round Bun!" called the Rabbit.

"Don't do that, Fleet-Feet, let me sing you a song instead," said Little Round Bun.

"All right, let's hear it!"
"Here it is!

"I was scraped from the flour-box
And swept from the bin
And baked in the oven
And cooled on the sill.
I ran away from Grandpa,
I ran away from Grandma,
And I'll run away from you, this minute I will!"

And off it rolled and away. By and by it met a Wolf coming toward it.

"I'm going to eat you up, Little Round Bun!" called the Wolf.

"Don't do that, Brother Wolf, let me sing you a song instead."

"All right, let's hear it!"

"I was scraped from the flour-box
And swept from the bin
And baked in the oven
And cooled on the sill.
I ran away from Grandpa,
I ran away from Grandma,
And I'll run away from you, this minute I will!"

And away it rolled.

By and by it met a Bear coming toward it.

"I'm going to eat you up, Little Round Bun!" called the Bear.

"Don't do that, Brother Bear, I'll sing you a song instead!"
"All right, let's hear it!"

"I was scraped from the flour-box
And swept from the bin
And baked in the oven
And cooled on the sill.
I ran away from Grandpa,
I ran away from Grandma,
And I'll run away from you, this minute I will!"

And away it rolled and away!

By and by it met a Fox coming toward it.

"I'm going to eat you up, Little Round Bun!" called the Fox.

"Don't do that, Sister fox, I'll sing you a song instead."

"All right, let's hear it!"

"I was scraped from the flour-box
And swept from the bin
And baked in the oven
And cooled on the sill.
I ran away from Grandpa,
I ran away from Grandma,
And I'll run away from you, this minute I will!"

"Sing some more, please, don't stop!" the Fox said. "Hop onto my tongue, I can hear you better."

Little Round Bun jumped onto the Fox's tongue and began to sing:

"I was scraped from the flour-box
And swept from the bin-"

But before it could go on, the Fox opened her mouth and - snap! -she gobbled it up.



Simple Tea Cakes/Buns

INGREDIENTS
4 eggs
1 cup butter flavored shortening
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS
Cream together eggs, butter, sugar and baking powder.
Stir in the flour.
Dough will be stiff.

Shape in walnut sized balls and flatten with the bottom of a lightly floured glass.
Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8 minutes.
If you brown them, you've overbaked them.
(This recipe can also be rolled out and cut with cookie cutters.)


Simple Cookie Frosting

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
assorted food colorings

DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth.
Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy.
If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.

Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity.
Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

Frosting dries hard, smooth and shiny.


story and Nesting Doll picture found at Russian-Crafts.com