Video of the view from Sonnino (click twice to play)

This is the view from the backside of Sonnino. You can see the sea and the town of Terracina in the distance.

My first batch of pasta

Inspired by Lydia and Annunciantina Bernardini, I tried my hand at making fresh pasta last week. I went on a website called Craigslist.org where people buy and sell things they don’t want or need. I was able to pick up an Atlas pasta machine for $25. The women who sold it to me even threw in a ravioli attachment. With help from my wife Margherita and friend James, we were able to make some delicious artichoke ravioli and tagliatelle. Margherita made a white wine sauce with butter and garlic that was fabulous. I’ve never had so much fun or had such fresh ravioli. On top of that, the pasta machine gave me quite a workout. I’m hoping that as I get better at making the pasta, I’ll be able to cut down on the time.

All this leads me to a request or a request for recipes. I would love to create a place on this blog where family recipes can be shared…so start sending them in. You can even take a picture of the dish! My next batch of pasta is this weekend, wish me luck.

Sonninese Word of the Week

Since I come from a family of butchers I figured this would be a good one to add to our Sonninese dictionary:

Butcher in standard Italian: Macellaio

Butcher in Sonninese: Maceglio

Thoughts and Prayers please

My grandfather, Angelo Bernardini, starts chemotherapy tomorrow. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. On a happier note, I was able to do some oral history recording with my grandmother and him over Christmas. Once I figure out how to post audio clips, I'll post samples.

Me and Giovanni with "pertecas"

 

This is a picture of Giovanni and me shaking our "pertecas". As I learned during my last trip to Sonnino, a perteca is used to knock the ripe olives out of the tree. Giovanni and Anunciantina were nice enough to take my wife Margherita and me to the campania (countryside). Each family has a plot where they grow olives, lemons, oranges, figs, pomegranates, etc. Giovanni and Annunciantina have a beautiful plot and a great outdoor brick oven.