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It's Befana Day!

"It's Befana Day!" hollered the Wombat when he climbed out of bed at 5:35am. I was in the middle of my third 1-minute plank and sweat was pouring from my brow. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh....I hissed. People are still sleeping. "You're not sleeping, Mommy." True. Just be quiet, okay?

He came downstairs clutching our tattered copy of The Legend of Old Befana, curled up under a down blanket, and watched me finish my workout.

As soon as I was done, he burst, "Mommy, I need to check and see what Befana brought for us!" Okay.


According to Italian folklore, Befana is a woman on a broomstick, enticed by gifts of wine, who brings treats for all the girls and boys on the eve of the Epiphany. A baking, tipsy witch. Sounds like my kinda gal.

So to usher in the Epiphany AKA Befana Day in our household, I baked some brioche - recipe post to come! - and we slathered it with homemade marscarpone and Aunt Jenn's cherry jam. But Dylan was only concerned with what Befana left him. This year: a bottle of aranciata, a spongata, and some organic pork jerky. Buona Befana!

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