Today is my great-grandma’s (who I called Little Grandma because, well, she was little) birthday. She would have been 110 years old. Because of her, I can officially say I used to be bilingual. She only spoke Italian to me, and I understood every word. It’s easy to pick up on language when you’re under five years old. After she passed away, no one exclusively spoke Italian to me, and sadly, I lost it all. Ah well. It was something special I had with her, and I like it like that.
Little Grandma and me many moons ago:
Little Grandma and Nanny (her daughter, my grandma) holding my brother, Alex:
In honor of her birthday, I want to share part of an email that my mom sent me yesterday. It is a list of all of the things Little Grandma used to make me for lunch, including recipes. They aren’t complicated recipes, but they are delicious and bring back the most vivid memories. I can’t wait to feed these to Ellen someday! I’m leaving it in (mostly) my mom’s words from her email. I like it better that way. So if you have any questions, let me know.
Scalodie
Wash at least 2 bunches of escarole, (it shrinks like spinach) and put in a large pot. Not the huge one i make soup in.. like a 5 qt. Barely cover scalodie w water. add a drizzle of olive oil, and garlic. gma always used fresh, i use powder or jar. add a cube of beef or chicken bouillon. The rule for using the cubes is 1 cube per cup of water.. if i use about 3 cups of water i use just 2 cubes.. i dont want to broth to over power. Bring to a boil pushing it down into the water.. you can tell when its done.. it just takes about 5 mins or so. Now gma always drank the broth.. she said all the flavor and vitamins were there, i have to agree :) I served it to you guys like a soup, a little broth with lots of greens :)
Wash at least 2 bunches of escarole, (it shrinks like spinach) and put in a large pot. Not the huge one i make soup in.. like a 5 qt. Barely cover scalodie w water. add a drizzle of olive oil, and garlic. gma always used fresh, i use powder or jar. add a cube of beef or chicken bouillon. The rule for using the cubes is 1 cube per cup of water.. if i use about 3 cups of water i use just 2 cubes.. i dont want to broth to over power. Bring to a boil pushing it down into the water.. you can tell when its done.. it just takes about 5 mins or so. Now gma always drank the broth.. she said all the flavor and vitamins were there, i have to agree :) I served it to you guys like a soup, a little broth with lots of greens :)
Veggie Soup
Boil orzo or alphabets to very al dente. drain. put the noodles in broth (cubes) add cut up carrots or any other veggie u have on hand (cooked)…leave soupy. This was one of your favorite lunches when you were around 3 and older
Boil orzo or alphabets to very al dente. drain. put the noodles in broth (cubes) add cut up carrots or any other veggie u have on hand (cooked)…leave soupy. This was one of your favorite lunches when you were around 3 and older
Rice w Eggs (another one of your favorites)
cook rice as directed on top of stove, just before its done and still has water in it add beaten eggs (1 egg to 1 cup of rice) a little garlic powder, just a dash, a dash of salt. thats it. sometimes if we had left over scalodie, we would add it too. be creative.
Green Pepper Sandwiches
saute green peppers in olive oil with s&p and garlic. pile on top of good bread and drizzle with a bit more olive oil.
If there is any family reading this, and you have any recipes I left out, leave them in the comment section. Happy Italian eating, and happy birthday Little Grandma!
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I have to remind you of this too. You quite often would call her “MA” because you always heard nanny call her that. Little Grandma loved it. She got the cutest smile on her face every time. xo
Jenna, those are awesome memories of your great-grandma…you were blessed to have her for many years. My Grandma used to babysit for Joe until she died when he was 10….he too remembers a lot of things that she taught him and that they shared together. To this day, he calls my mom Barbara, (her given name), not out of disrespect but because he always heard “Gaga” calling her that!
The recipes are so simple and original, too….so many times in those days, they just used whatever they had in the house, and it tasted great to us!!!