read what her daughter says
about Lucy
the
pied piper of the kitchen
She led.
We followed. The song that lured us into the kitchen was that life is
great, and food is great and they belong together. She taught us by giving
family demonstrations on how to make sesame
seed cookies, taralli, biscotti
and all her other wonderful recipes.
She was
born in Sant'Agata di Puglia, in Foggia, Italy. She came to this country
when she was ten years old. For 80 plus years, she lived in New Jersey,
until, at age 90, she packed up and moved. She came clear across the country
to the state of Washington where my mother and I live. Even though she
recently had her 91st birthday, she jumped into the kitchen on father's
day to make manicotti for the whole family. She would not let my mother
help! Pretty good for 91, huh?
Her cooking
song continued with my mother who was intrepid and daring, and didn't
want her kids to be timid. She cooked mostly yummy Italian foods from
recipes she learned from her mother and her mother-in-law, too. As small
children, we were tasting "baby octopus", snails and whatever
else she could find. She was the generation that started to discover other
cuisines. We went to Chinese restaurants and tried everything on the menu.
When I was about 13, she found Japanese cooking. A loving mother who wanted
to make her children happy, our birthday cakes were custom designed to
the color of our choice. We challenged her skills because we liked loud
colors.
As for
me - I heard my grandmother's song, too. I love food cooked from scratch.
I love simple tastes and flavors, fresh vegetables and meats cooked just
right. Raised on Italian cuisine, I might be making my grandmother's
patat' e
fagioli or meatball escarole
soup one day, then go American and make fried chicken the next.
My husband was professional cook, but he heard her singing, and decided
he had to learn how my grandmother cooks.
Oh, and
by the way, my younger son, now 20, carries on the tradition. He has painstakingly
learned how to make her lasagna with spinach and how to make crepes for
manicotti. I think I hear him singing while he cooks.
ABOUT
MIMI: Mimi works full time in the Boeing Noise Laboratory with
a million hobbies on the side. She is in an old time string band, has
a garden and cats. She is learning Italian in preparation for a trip to
Italy and writes short articles for an Italian newspaper. Miraculously,
she has found time to put up her own web site. Visit Mimi http://www.fiddlelily.com
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