Mangia Monday!

Hello!

I hope everyone is settling into their weekly routine!

Mondays can be a bit tough sometimes, so I thought that I would provide some bits of wisdom that I received from my Nonna (grandmother) Ida and some favorite foods to get you through the day!

I am calling it Mangia Monday, because mangia was her favorite thing to say!!




Nonna Ida holding my youngest son, Gabriel, as a newborn.


Mangia:

mangiˡare transitive/intransitive verb
eat;
(consumare) eat up;
(corrodere) eat away;
take ‹scacchi, carte ecc›
noun, masculine
eating;
(cibo) food;
(pasto) meal;
dar da ~ al gatto/cane feed the cat/dog

Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary © 2006 Oxford University Press



The one thing that my Nonna Ida ALWAYS said, no matter how she was feeling was, "I love You!" Then she would give you a bunch of kisses!

Now, I cannot think of anything better! She passed away at the wonderful age of 96 last December and I miss those kisses!


Nonna Ida's sauce was to DIE for! I spent many years watching her, questioning her and practicing on my own. Now, everyone thinks I make great sauce, but it still does not taste like hers! It must be her extra love that went into it!

If I could, I would give you that recipe - but there isn't one! Just like Nonna, when I make sauce every week, I use what I have on hand and it always works out!


However, one recommendation that I do make: Use the freshest ingredients you can find!

Such as these tomatoes:




Or this garlic:




Nonna Ida was a magician in the kitchen, she could make something from nothing and it would be DELICIOUS!!! I loved when she stayed at our house and I woke up to the smell of her freshly made coffee - nothing could start my day any better!

However, as talented as Nonna Ida was, she did "GOOF" once that I know of!! She was staying with us and one morning she asked what I wanted for breakfast - well I just wanted plain old "Honeycombs" cereal. She was not very thrilled with that, but she agreed. Well, she let me know it was ready and I sat down to eat - IT WAS HORRIBLE!! Nonna Ida did not know that "Honeycombs" were pre-sweetened and she added MORE sugar to my cereal!!! Let me tell you I love sweets, but it was not a very pleasant bowl of cereal!!

Well, I am sifting through tidbits I have written down while watching Nonna Ida and starting next week I will share recipes!

Have a wonderful week everyone!!!

Ciao!