Well, it's already St. Joseph's Day in Italy so I figured we can start celebrating, too.
As some know, St. Joseph's Day is a big deal (though we obviously don't celebrate on a St. Patrick's Day type scale) for Italian-Americans and Sicilians (both in America and in Sicily). It's especially a big deal to those of us with family members that have Joseph in their name. In southern Italy, your patron saint's feast day is like another birthday for you. My Grandmother, for example, is named Josephine (Giuseppina) so she celebrates St. Joseph's Day. She's also my Sicilian Grandmother so it's an even bigger deal. St. Joseph is believed to have helped prevent a famine so that's why this feast is so important. My Grandmother was also born ten days after St. Joseph's Day so this is a triple wammy for her.
It's also celebrated as Fathers' Day in Italy (and other countries).
Anyway, this has basically become the Italian response to St. Patrick's Day and our version of the Irish potato - Zeppole - is in my signature.
