Nonnina

Fish ~ Fava ~ Vino

Please save the date for our next celebration :

FESTA di SAN GIUSEPPE, celebrating the feast day of Saint Joseph!

At Cafe Olli on Monday, March 21, we will be offering two seating times : 5:30 & 7:30pm. Tickets will be limited in order to facilitate the best experience for everyone involved!

Stay tuned for menu details and the link to buy tickets! Can’t wait to fill you in on the stunning menu in the works; but for now, mark your calendars…
duro

Been having a ton of fun with my new piccolo pizzelle maker .pro ❄️🎁
I don’t care if it’s not the holidays anymore, my kitchen smells of anise and tastes of warm pizzelle, bringing a certain brightness to these dark winter days ✨💝

“Hot Italian” necklaces from with mia sorella-amica …
Our Christmas gifts to each other 🔥🇮🇹😂💃🏻💃🏻
Two Nonnas meeting and plotting. Stay tuned!

Auguri di Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!🎄💫🥂
I’m here to let you know that this Wednesday at .pdx, I get to make the dessert! 👏🥧🎉
You’ll be able to order a slice of my version of
”Torta di Lucca” all weekend (also known as “torta di verdure”). It is the traditional cake of Santa Zita, the patron saint of Lucca, of domestic servants and bakers.
In Lucca this is a very popular pie, seen in almost every bakery window and made by every Nonna for a holiday or special celebration. The simple ingredients it is made from would be available in the house of every contadino (peasant): bietola (chard), stale bread, raisins, eggs, parmigiano cheese, pine nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and liqueur (for the liqueur in this, I use nocino that i make every year from my backyard walnut tree).
Interestingly, it is not well known outside of the area. Despite the name and the ingredients, this torta is actually a sweet pie. In other parts of Italy, if you ask for a Torta di Verdure, you’ll be given a savory vegetable pie.
knows, as she is from Livorno, which is in the same region as where my family is from. She and I share similar tastes in desserts, and so I always go to Sorbu when a craving hits! Our Nonnas taught us well 🎁❤️
**Also check out my ancestral home in the hills of Tuscany (where I spend as much time as possible and go for every vacation) for more pictures and food recs in and around Lucca!

🎶🌰Tis the season…for castagne 🌰🎶
Roasted up some chestnuts tonight, one of my most beloved holiday treats! Here’s how I do it, taught by my Nonna: cut an X into each nut with a paring knife on the round side, lay out on a sheet pan, blast in a 425 degree oven for about 15 min, wrap chestnuts in an old kitchen towel and press and roll your hands over the top to loosen/crack the shells, shell each one meticulously when cool enough to handle and pop immediately into mouth, one by one, while still warm. May be shared with a loved one ❤️

~Festa di Santa Lucia menu~

Aperitivo
• Vermouth spritz

Antipasto
• Arancino al b***o e arancino alla zucca (v):
mortadella and squash

Primo
• Insalata di carote e grani (v) :
carrot, whole grain, ricotta salata

Secondo
• Brasato di manzo con cipolla agro dolce:
red wine braised beef
~or~
• Stufato di ceci (v): chickpea stew

Dolce
• Cuccia:
farro, sweetened ricotta

Digestivo
• nocino:
walnut amaro

*Purchase tickets for this event hosted by via this link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/festa-di-santa-lucia-tickets-215866100317?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

📷: Gullo famiglia, .duro’s mother and Sicilian family

Please join us for a collaborative event hosted by , .duro & to celebrate the feast day of St. Lucia, patron Saint of Syracuse, Sicily. Italians celebrate the feast day with food, wine and gathering with family and friends and that is exactly what we are going to do together.
December 13, Monday, 5-9pm, 4 seatings of 25 at the top of each hour 5, 6, 7, & 8pm
$50 ticket price + 20% gratuity = $60 total
Ticket includes 4 dishes (tapas size) + 2 alcoholic beverages.
Because of various traditions associating St. Lucia’s name with light, she came to be thought of as the patron of sight and was depicted by medieval artists carrying a dish containing her eyes. The festival is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year. We hope to continue hosting this series of cultural events produced by Italian-Americans: true feasts for the senses focusing on traditional regional foods and libations, celebrating our heritage while welcoming all people to join in 🇮🇹

On a sunny, summery day in June, mia amica Italiana Radici Siciliane - Sicilian Roots and I engaged in some potion making together. She told me to wait to strain the amaro until All Saint’s or All Soul’s day, which was longer than I had ever waited before for that step, and so I remembered and heeded her instructions and it felt extra powerful to me. We made some batches with the addition of red wine and some with white wine, always starting with a base of spirits. Star anise, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, clove, coffee beans, lemon and orange peel were all added in. Almost a decade ago, I made my first batch of nocino, inspired by the huge walnut tree in my (then new) backyard and my friend . I’ve had plenty of hobbies and interests that have come and gone, but this one seems to have stuck around. Looking forward to sipping this at Christmas time with some loved ones, as it’s not quite ready yet…aging only makes it better, it sweetens and gains depth the older it gets. Kind of like us, eh Marybeth Bonfiglio? 😉🪄🧙🏻‍♀️🧪🥃🖤

Today, November 1, is La Festa di Ognissanti (All Saints’ Day), both a Catholic feast day and a national Italian holiday. Tomorrow on November 2 is Il Giorno dei Morti (The Day of the Dead). Both are focused on honoring the dead and feasting with family and friends. Cemeteries are flooded with people bringing flowers and candles to their deceased loved ones and people all over Italy are celebrating life and honoring death.
Though beginning to be overshadowed by Halloween, both days are deeply embedded in Italian culture with roots in ancient folk traditions from around the world. In pagan times, many believed autumn was a liminal period, when the veil was thin and we could connect with the departed. I’m feeling closer right now to my dearly beloved and departed family members 🖤
1. Nonna (Luigina Scatena Fanelli) and Mom (Janice Ellen Parks Fanelli) with my siblings (L to R) Joe, Carla, Dan, Andrea, me
2. Nonna and me, First Communion
3. Mom and me
4. Aunt Corinne Fanelli (siblings high to low: Dan, Tony, me, Andrea)
5. Aunt Teresa Fanelli and me
6. My Mom (nursing me alongside her Mother, my Granny Helen Talaiko Parks, and her grandmother, my Great Grandma Talaiko)
7. Grandpa Albert Parks and me

Portlanders are so lucky to finally have access to a few excellent Italian bakery options, unlike years past, and is very happy to partner with them and bring you a full Tuscan meal experience from start to finish. My fellow little Nonna friend Michelle made these soft garlic herb breadsticks to pair with the polpette (meatballs), specifically to dip in the sauce and clean your plate. She also made her delectable Amaretti for the cookies this time around, which are always included in the Italian feast option! Thanks as well to both who has been my tireless top biscotti provider so far and who has fired off focaccia for me more than once! Love and gratitude to you all, i miei amici! ✌🏼🇮🇹
Deliveries coming at you tomorrow vía 🚚! Thanks for the support always! XOXO

Happy 1st Birthday to Nonnina! 🎊And to celebrate, I’m making polpette al sugo for the October meal. Meatballs in red sauce is an obvious Sunday supper classic choice for most Italian American families; every Nonna has her own spin on this classic and I want to share mine with you and your family. Oh and fun add-in: Bella’s Italian bakery, my favorite local Italiana baker, is making some big soft breadsticks to soak up the extra sugo with🥖
I started Nonnina exactly a year ago, in October 2020, mid pandemic, while missing my family back in Chicago and finding comfort and solace in my Nonna’s cooking. When Covid hit, I went from front of house pro to back of house novice and embraced my job as a personal chef at Full Belly Fare - Handcrafted Dinners Delivered, bonding with the crew while most of our friends worked from home or were experiencing unemployment. We laughed, we cried, and we cooked. We fed people. And that’s how we got through this last year.
Tanti Auguri a Nonnina! 🎉 Grazie a tutti quelli che mi hanno sostenuto quest’anno passato 🙏❤️

*Order by Thursday (tomorrow) at midnight. Follow link in comments to order the family feast (includes free delivery) or DM me for details on ordering just the entree.

Friends who share those vibes for that Nonna lifestyle are soul-filling friends 🙌🏻
& had and myself over for dinner and we all shared such a wonderful time together! Jim’s heartwarming creations included olive oil cake with plum jam, backward-spatchcocked roasted chicken, pepperonata, radicchio salad, nettle fritters, pan con tomate, and vin de noix. We left with full bellies and sore cheeks from laughing so much. Lucked out further and got to tour Judith’s dressing room filled with stunning vintage clothing, purses, jewelry, hats…and even played a bit of dress up. This is the kind of evening out I enjoy best, with the kind of people who feel like home. Thank you Judith, Lane and Jim for making this gal feel like a million bucks tonight and for the thoroughly indulgent experience ❤️