Villagers st Sonnino

This is a very old picture of villagers from Sonnino that I found on this webiste:
http://www.romeartlover.it/Pinelli1.html

Here is the text that follows the picture:

Picturesque Brigands

In 1587 a medal coined by Pope Sixtus V announced that "Law and Order" was re-established in the Papal State: it portrayed a pilgrim peacefully resting at the foot of a tree and the inscription Perfecta securitas.

This pope and his immediate successors implemented policies to stop assaults and robberies along the roads leading to Rome. The popes pursued their objective by a series of actions: a) a small army chased the brigands in their sanctuaries in the woods; b) rewards were paid to those who provided information on the hiding places of chief brigands; c) brigands who had committed only minor crimes were offered enrolment in the Catholic armies which fought in the Thirty Years' War (1618-48).

Order Sonninese olive oil

This is a Sonninese olive oil producer called "Madeccia. I haven't tried their olive oil before but they are the first Sonninese producer that I've found that has an english language site. It looks like you can contact them to order olive oil. If anybody has tried them please let me know. The link to their website is below.



http://www.madeccia.com/home.php

Sonninese Holiday Sweets: Cannelicchi

Someone recently left a comment looking for Sonninese holiday sweets/cookies. I talked with my cousin in Sonnino and she said that "Cannelicchi" are a traditional dessert. The ingredients are in Italian with an admittedly poor English translation below them (I used a free translation service. Enjoy!


Ingredienti:

4 uova
circa 1/2 kg. farina
un barattolo di miele
olio
fogli di limone o piccoli cestini di carta


Preparazione:

Impastare le uova con la farina, fino ad ottenere una pasta abbastanza consistente, ma non tropo dura.
Lavorare la pasta e tagliare a bastoncini della grandezza di un mignolo. Ritagliare come piccoli gnocchi.
Friggerli nell'olio ben caldo e scolarli.
Versare il miele in una padella, scioglierlo al fuoco e, unire i cannolicchi. Amalgamare bene il tutto fino a quando non si sente il profumo del miele.
Togliere dal fuoco e disporre i cannelicchi in piccole porzioni sulle foglie di limone, precedentemente lavate e asciugate oppure dentro cestini di carta o ancora tutti insieme dentro un piatto (v. foto).
---

Ingredients:

4 eggs about 1/2 kg. flour a lemon of sheets oil honey of can or small baskets of card

Preparation:

To mix the eggs with the flour, until to obtain an enough pasta consisting, but not hard metaphor. To work the pasta and to cut small sticks of the size of a pinkie. To clip like small gnocchi. To fry them in the quite warm oil and to drain them. To pour the honey in a pan, to dissolve it to the fire and, to unite the cannolicchi. To amalgamate well everything until does not hear itself the perfume of the honey. To remove from the fire and to arrange the cannelicchi in small portions on the leaves of lemon, previously washed and dried or inside baskets of card or still all together within a dish (v. photograph).

Restoration of San Michelle Arcangelo

This a book my family sent along about the restoration of San Michelle Arcangelo. They did a beautiful job on the church and you should check it out if you visit. I'l be posting pictures of the inside of the church soon.

Zio Nicola and family

Here is another picture of my great-uncle Nicola who passed away this week. In the picture from right to left is my cousins Matteo, Mauritzia, Matteo's wife Kai, my great-aunt Adele and Uncle Nicola. This picture was taken this past Christmas. He will be dearly missed.

Pescrai - post crass

The Sonninese dialect is a living, breathing language with adaptations and inventions. My relatives in Sonnino have been a great resource in helping me understand the unique characteristics of Sonninese.

"Postcrai" is an example of a word that has ben adapted by Sonninese speakers. It means in 3 days in Sonnninese but in Latin really means in 2 days . Click below to listen.

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Le Torce 2008...

This was our view coming down the mountain toward Sonnino Scalo.

Nganiaturo per la pittia: Pasta board

The Sonninese word for the board that you use to roll out the pasta is "nganiaturo per la pittia". My spelling is probably off. I have my great-grandmothers pasta board that I use when I make my own pasta. Click below to hear my cousin Maury.

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Sonninese wine in Tennessee?

Yes indeed. The Ippolito family, who are origionally from Sonnino, own a B&B and winery in Tennessee. They make a wine called "Sonnino Sunset". CHeck out their website below. They have information about ordering their wine.

http://www.coreyippolitovineyardbandb.com/our_wines.htm

Book of Sonnino postcards

This is a great book of Sonnino postcards that my cousins sent me a few months ago. There are some wonderful classic pictures of Sonnino. If people are interested I can try to find out where the book can be purchased. They sent along a few other books that I'll best posting about.

Video of religious procession (the Madonna) in Sonnino

I found this video in a Google search. It's a nice little montage and has some good pictures of Sonnino. Click on the link to view the video.

Ogni sette anni - la processione della madonna delle grazie di Sonnino

ogni sette anni - la processione della madonna delle grazie di sonnino

Sonninese recipes from Candido's website

I recently noticed that on Candido Paglia's Sonnino website their is a hard to find section that has local recipes. This is something I've wanted to compile and put on the blog for a long time. He's done a fantastic job so please click on the link and check it out. And as always, please send me any Sonninese recipes that your family might make...I'd love to post them on the blog.


www.sonnino.info/ricette/past_mandorle.php

Sonninese Sign Language: Part 1

I asked my Zio Nicola to demonstrate some of what I call "Sonninese sign language". These are the hand gestures you see all throughout Sonnino. This first one is a classic and maybe the most common. This is the gesture one uses when you like what you've just eaten. If somebody asks, "do you like the carchofi (artichokes)", this is how you respond.

Cannateglio -nod off

This is a very usefull work to know. With all the eating I do in Sonnino...this has word has come in handy. Click to listen.

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Nommera (nicknames) in Sonnino

In Sonnino it seems that everyone has a nickname. Somtimes the nicknames are for an individual and other times they are for a whole family. With the number of Antonio's and Giacamo's in Sonnino, this makes sense.

My family is known as "the butcher". Place that at the end of any first name and you have a "nommera". Other people I meet had nicknames based on family history or family attributes. Do any Sonninese out there care to share what their "nomerra" or family nomerra is?

I'm hoping to get some more examples from my family that I can post.

The newest Sonniese bambino

On September 7th, my wife Margie and I welcomed Rafael Corcoran into our lives. He is happy, healthy, and looks like a nice little Italian boy! Zia Annunziainta even made him a beautiful "Buona Notte" blanket. Pretty soon, his Italian will be better than mine!

The Lepini people

I took this picture on the grounds of the Fossanova Abbey, which is in Sonnino scalo. I've been seeing these signs around the Sonnino area for the past few years. I asked my cousins about about the structure on the sign.

The area around Sonnino is called the "Lepini Plain". The Lipini are the ancient people of the Sonnino area. This structure is a rendering of what their dwellings looked like. My cousins also mentioned that in the hills right behind Sonnino there are still ruins of ancient Lepini homes. Has anybody seen them?

The giving of the torches

This is a video I took in the church after the priest had blessed the torches for "Le Torce" and sprinkled them with holy water. They were then given to the four leaders of Le Torce to carry.

Song: Sonnino Bello

I was having dinner with some family in Sonnino in May and we began to talk about some songs I had heard people singing. Zia Lydia and my cousin Antonio were kind enough to lend their beautiful voices and sing me a few. They said this one is very old and is called "Sonnino Bello". Zia Lydia is in this photo on the bottom-right. Here are the words and the recording. Bonus points if you can translate it!:

"Sonnino e bello, Sonnino
e fatto a ferro, di cavallo
non te ne incarica.
Di cavallo cesta la giovenio col sangue bello, non tene
incarea."

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Friends from Sonnino

This is a picture of some friends from Sonnino. They took me on a fantastic trip to a little called Serrmoneta. It has a beautiful castle which I'll write more about in future posts. From left to right (Eliza, me, Roberto, Luca, Milcho(sp?). This is also a great way to get them to read the blog!