We were blest to have the four grandchildren and their parents over to celebrate Easter. It was a wonderful day!
Joseph and Noel (Nonna, too), love gnocchi.
Brendan and Nonna made homemade gnocchi, which is both a messy and some what dangerous chore. (Recipe is here
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gnocchi-101335
The main ingredients are hot, riced potatoes and flour. First, you risk getting burned removing the skin from the still, hot potatoes. Then the muscles in your arm get a good workout ricing said hot potatoes (which tend to fly out of the ricer and land on your skin).
After all the ricing, you get to Nonna's favorite ingredient....flour. (note the sarcasm, here).
Nonna and flour are a dangerous combination. (kind of like Nonna and glitter). We already had flour in every corner of the kitchen, due to Nonna making the Easter bread pictured at the very top of this post. Making the gnocchi just pushed Nonna over the limit in the flour department. Kneading warm, sticking potatoes and flour...well it is a tactile experience everyone should experience.
After the dough is well-kneaded, you break off a small hunk and use your hands to work it into a snake or rope shape.
You cut little pieces off of your snake,
and give them a push down the gnocchi board (which give the gnocchi fancy lines).
If you don't own an gnocchi board, than you can use a fork or create gnocchi without pretty little lines on them.
All the while you are rolling, shaping and making pretty lines, you pray that the whole lot of gnocchi don't disolve into a globby mess when you are cooking them in a pot of boiling water.
This is another great opportunity to get burned. as you cook and remove a few gnocchi at a time, while standing over the pot of boiling water, fishing them out with a ladle or spider utensil.
All in all, it is a good amount of work, the product of which is gobbled up in thirty seconds. That is ok, though, as Nonna loves seeing The Littles eating their favorite food.
I leave you with a photo of Clara in her Easter dress, and a few photos of Easter decorations.
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