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LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - NOVEMBER 27, 2016
Meatball Cookies and Shortbread
Tom MacPherson grew up
in LeRoy in the 1960s. His
mother was Lena O’Geen
and his father was Mickey
MacPherson, so Tom grew up
in two distinct cultures - one
that enjoyed Italian meatball
cookies at Christmas and the
other that savored Scottish
Shortbread. Several years
ago, Tom contacted the
Historical Society, looking
for genealogical information.
He was embarking on a
fascinating project. Tom is on
the faculty at SUNY Geneseo
and is an artist who paints
with egg tempera. For quite
a while he had focused on
portraits of his family. These
are not ordinary portraits,
because they are filled with
symbols and details that
reflect the personality of the
subject. As Tom learned
about his family, he gathered
stories and notes that he has
crafted into a book: “Crossing
Cultures: A Sicilian and
American Family in Western
New York.” It is a very
interesting story, even if you
don’t know the people.
“Christmas at Grandma’s
House - On Christmas Eve,
Grandma would start cooking
for the feast that followed
Midnight Mass. She would
make one of her famous-
Sicilian-style pizzas that had
a thick homemade crust, that
was seasoned just right with
a combination of oreganos,
garlic,
onions,
cayenne
pepper and her fabulous
sweet tomato sauce topped
with Romano cheese. There
would be homemade pies,
apple and pumpkin, plus all of
the Italian cookies one could
eat, and of course some Asti
for toasts. Sometimes Aunt
Ida from next door would
send over a plate of breaded
veal cutlet or her delectable
cannolis with little bits of
chocolate and almonds in the
custard filling that everyone
would fight over. But the treat
of all treats was Great Uncle
Tony Argana’s Homemade
Italian sausage, both sweet
and hot. He would only make
his special recipe sausage
during the Christmas season,
and he always sent Grandma
her ration.… As soon as Mass
was over, my cousin, my
aunts, relatives and friends
made their way to Grandma’s
house, where a fabulous feast
would take place. When I got
to be a teenager and really
understood the value of good
food, Christmas with all of its
trappings was a real let down.
The presents were nice, but
Christmas Day couldn’t hold
a torch to the good cheer and
feeling of goodwill that was
felt in the house. By 2:00 a.m.
the party would be winding
down and the dishes would
be finished. As people got
old and others past on, the
tradition was abandoned to
the detriment of all. There was
a feeling that the Christmas
season just wasn’t the same
anymore, and it wasn’t.”
Tom’s book is available
at the Jell-O Gallery shop
for $12. It will make a very
good Christmas present.
There will also be copies
available at LeRoy House
during the Candlelight tours
on December 3 and 4 at 4
p.m. and 7 p.m. each day.
Tom will be joining us on
Sunday, December 4 for
both performances and will
be willing to sign copies of
his book. He’ll be sitting
at the 1944 kitchen table
playing cards with the other
men, enjoying a little home-
made wine and some of Aunt
Mananna’s Meatball Cookies.
(The recipe is in Tom’s book.)
We also have some Italian fig
cookies to share with folks on
the tours.
If you are partial to
Scottish shortbread, some of
those treats will be available
in the 1918 parlor where you
will hear the story of Tom’s
Aunt, Kitty MacPherson,
who served with the Queen
Alexandra’s Royal Nursing
Corps and spent eighteen
months with the British
Expeditionary Forces in
Belgium during World War
I. An excerpt from Tom’s
book: “In retrospect, women
like my great- aunt stepped
out of their roles preordained
by society that kept women as
homemakers and second-class
citizens. They blazed the trail
for women to be considered
in a wholly different light.
Women had been nurses in
previous wars. But they were
never part of the military.
This war was different. The
military provided this avenue
for them to break free of
societal gender barriers. They
were responsible for hundreds
of patients and they saw the
grim realities of war. Women
were patriotic and were
encouraged to be tough, and
they broke the stereotype of
a woman as a delicate mother
or housewife.”
For tickets to the Candlelight
tours, call 768-7433, or
stop by the Jell-O Museum
10 to 4 Monday through
Saturday and Sunday 1 -4.
There are 40 tickets for each
performance - $5 for adults
$3.50 for students.
"The Conversion of Great-Aunt Catherine", 2011
Egg tempera on panel by Thomas McPherson
This is a tribute to Kitty McPherson. The background
is a Scottish landscape which represents her proud
Highland heritage. The dove and hands represent,
in Catholic iconography, the Holy Spirit and God
the Father, and were borrowed from a Verrochio
painting, entitled “The Baptism of Christ."