08/20/2026
STAY TUNED FOR MY CHILDREN'S BOOK RELEASE DATE!!
For those of you who have known me from childhood and now into adulthood, everyone knew my love for baking and cooking with my Nonna was so ingrained in me. I admired her growing up and watching her bake and cooked endlessly.
She had every single recipe in her head, all ingredients and all of the steps. She had a few written down in Italian, but hardly ever used it. As she was teaching me growing up, I would ask her, “but Nonna how do I know how much to put.” She would look at me and say, “my Campagnola girl (her little nickname she would call me which means country girl) you just know like this," and she would measure ingredients with her hands and say a pinch of salt and a handful of this. I would say Nonna, but I need to measure so I can get the exact recipe so it can taste like yours. I would watch her make her homemade sauce, homemade pizza dough and pasta dough with no machine!!!! Just a big table with a big wood rolling pin (which I use now) and cutting each strain of homemade spaghetti one by one. She made it look so easy, it came naturally to her, and she loved cooking for everyone who came over.
Cooking and food were her love language! She had hands of gold. Everything she made was so delicious, even the simplest recipes. Those of you who have had my cooking and baking have told me the same. That I have my Nonna’s hands of gold.
I used to sit down with her on the weekends from growing up until my college and marriage years taking each recipe and literally measuring each item in her hand and writing her recipes down. I knew as the years went on and the older she got, I knew it was only a matter of time she would not be with us. Although it was hard for me, I knew especially as a healthcare clinician that life is never guaranteed. I promised her that I would always keep the traditions alive, especially if I had kids.
My children's book is truly a dedication to my Nonna while building a living bridge between generations and cultures.
