Rastime: Te Pozzeno Da No Lampo!

As I have writen before, "rastime" are old Sonnninese sayings that, while sounding rude, are said with love.

This weeks rastime is : Te pozzeno da no lampo

This translates to "I hope you get struck by lightening"

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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A sad passing

Two days ago my great-uncle Nicola D'Angelis passed away. When my wife and I first visited Sonnino, Nicola was one of the first relatives we met. He threw his arms in the air and gave us huge hugs and then immediately told us that we had to come over for lunch! He told us stories of working in the butcher shop with my great-grandmother when he was a child.

Every time we visited Sonnino we were greeted by that same excitement. Spending time with Uncle Nicola was something we always looked forward too and will miss profoundly.

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.

Sonninese word: Alluccare

I found this very interested. We often hear about the Latin roots of english word, not the other way around. My cousin Maurizia told me that the Sonninese word "Aluccare" comes from an adaptation of the english "to look". She said that this started being used when Americans were in Sonnino during WWI. Click on the button to listen to the pronunciation.

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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

Alley in old Sonnino

I took this video so that people could get a real-time experience of what it's like walking through the historical section of Sonnino. This is one of the longer alleys...it was tricky trying to video and walk down the the smooth cobblestone steps at the same time!

Sonnino's on Priceline.com

Who knew. I recently typed in "Sonnnino, Italy" into Google and saw that about 7 links down there was a link for "Hotels near Sonnino". If you click on the link Priceline does indeed provide a list of hotels near Sonnino...I've even stayed a few of them. Give it a try.

NMR and statistical study of olive oils from Lazio: A geographical, ecological and agronomic characterization

If you have some time it's about olive oil from the region Sonnino is in.

ScienceDirect - Food Chemistry : NMR and statistical study of olive oils from Lazio: A geographical, ecological and agronomic characterization

Market day in Sonnino

Yummy picture from Jim Epolito

Jim recently visited Sonnino and had lunch with his relatives. According to Jim, this is a picture of the best lasagna ever, made at Teodoro Ippoliti's home. I can't vouch that it's the best lasagna ever but I will try to find out the next time I'm in Sonnino!

Sonninese Expression of the Week

I made good use of my digital recorder on my last trip to Sonnino. Here is recording I made of an expression I heard many youngish people using. They said it's Romano. I magine it's spelled something like "A-ou" and it's used to get a person's attention. Have a listen:

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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.