Easter

                                      Easter  Bread

We were blest to have the four grandchildren and their parents over to celebrate Easter.  It was a wonderful day!

                                   Joseph, Clara, Noel and Patrick with Uncle Tristan.


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.

                              Clara, six-months old

 

Pizza Friday/Pumpkin Party

Our family gathers together every Friday evening for Pizza Friday. This week, we dressed the grandchildren in pumpkin jammies and hats. It was a riot trying to take a group photo of them. We had to bribe Joseph and Noel with a cookie to get them to even appear on the sofa. Clara's jammies were so big, her daddy tied the bottom in a knot. She is only ten days old in the photo.

Life is grand.

SOON

Any day now, I will become a Nonna for the third time. My youngest, Jessica and her husband, Paul, are only hours or days away from the birth of their first child. It is all I can think about.

Jess, being Jess, has had everything ready for weeks. Paul has completed all the work on the baby's room. Now, we just wait.

Dear Baby,

We all are waiting for your arrival. You have been loved and cherished, even before we knew you were growing under your mommy's heart. We all are so anxious to meet you in person.

Love,

Nonna

Welcome!

My name is Rosemary, also known as Nonna to my family. I come from an Italian-American family, born and raised in the USA. I married a man who was born into an Irish-American family. We moved to Canada almost 42 years ago, and have raised a family of four. (two boys, two girls) My wonderful children have given me loving daughter-in-laws, great son-in-laws, 2 grandsons, and there are two more grandchildren on the way! Life is good. I praise God for the gift of my family, and I hope to share the joy they give me with you.