March 19, 1994

St Joseph's Day. St Joseph is the patron saint of Italy, and his feast day falls on March 19. In this country, that means he is way overshadowed by the feast day of St Patrick, two days earlier. St Joseph is the patron of many other groups and causes, including bakers of pastries. As a result, the tradition among Italians on this day is to eat special pastries- typically a zeppole filled with cream or custard. No way I could find any of these out in Carbondale, and I wasn't an expert enough baker to make these myself. So I decided to try another classic Italian dessert (another recipe from the book I got at Christmas), an Italian cheesecake. The big difference is that it's made with ricotta instead of cream cheese, and my recipe called for raisins and pine nuts. I actually made it the day before, and brought it to the Glove factory on the 19th, giving a hunk to anyway who came through the 2nd floor. I think I also distributed some around my apartment complex. A tasty item that I would make again.