Mi famiglia.
That’s the most important part of Dina Pugliese’s holiday tradition.
The City TV Breakfast Television co-host and Woodbridge native says all of her favourite Christmas memories revolve around her family.
“When I was a wee one, my sisters and I would sing in the church choir for the midnight mass and barely get any shut eye in anticipation of the early dash down the stairs to see what Santa left under the tree,” she says. “We’d spend the rest of the day surrounded by family, laughing and eating, and eating some more.”
Her family’s traditions are still going strong, and Pugliese says they’re so much sweeter.
“I tend to spend less time running around searching for gifts that no one really needs and more time together with my loving husband and ever-expanding extended family including my wonderful in-laws, my sweet brothers-in-law and our three beautiful nephews — they are the most precious gifts,” she says.
And of course it wouldn’t be an Italian Christmas if a good portion of it wasn’t spent in the kitchen sipping red wine, listening to carols, all the while setting the table for a delicious meal prepared by her parents at Casa Pugliese.
“I really do look forward to just settling in for the night, leaving all of the stresses of life outside in the cold” she says. “It is so cliché to say but it really is the most wonderful time of the year.”