The Genesis of Channeling Nonna
Walking in Camerano. Le Marche, with my dog Luca
Here I am, in my Le Marche, Italy kitchen, spatula in hand, scraping the remaining biscotti dough out of the bowl, rolling it with my hands into a log shape, patting down the top, and placing it in the oven to bake. I peer expectantly through the oven door watching as that log doubles in size and turns a golden brown. Out of the oven the biscotti will sit for a while to cool before being sliced and then returned to the oven for a second baking. The house smells of toasted almonds and chocolate.
For years, I have made several types of biscotti: lemon and anise, chocolate and almond, cinnamon and sugar, parmigiano, and rosemary. My love of baking Italian cookies and cakes started a number of years ago at Christmas when instead of baking the traditional chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies I make only once a year at Christmas time, I decided to seek out some new Italian Christmas cookie recipes, something that would compare to the wonderful cookies I remember from my Nonna Louisa. As a very young child, my memories of Nonna Louisa were sitting in her warm and cozy kitchen and eating pizzelles. The taste of the anise still lingers in my senses.
These days, I bake Italian lemon drop cookies with a tart lemon frosting, brutti ma buoni, anise cookies frosted and decorated with nonpareils, a filled cookie wrapped in an almost filo type of dough that is stuffed with chocolate, lots of the best chocolate. Then there are the tortas: chocolate served with fresh raspberries and whipped cream, orange and almond, a torta made with no flour.
So, now, I think that I am channeling my Italian Grandmother, Louisa, as I watch the biscotti bake. Nonna Louisa always called me Cookie. Maybe she called me Cookie because I ate so many of hers. Or maybe, on the other hand, she sensed that someday I would be obsessed with baking Italian dolci.
While my passion for Italian dolci started at a young age in a small town outside of Philadelphia, it has followed me on my travels. Now, in the kitchen of my Le Marche farmhouse, I look out the window and contemplate. "What will I bake tomorrow?"
I hope you will visit this site often to see what new sweets and breads are baking in my Italian kitchen and the kitchens of friends.
Buon Appetito,
Maree Cemini
For years, I have made several types of biscotti: lemon and anise, chocolate and almond, cinnamon and sugar, parmigiano, and rosemary. My love of baking Italian cookies and cakes started a number of years ago at Christmas when instead of baking the traditional chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies I make only once a year at Christmas time, I decided to seek out some new Italian Christmas cookie recipes, something that would compare to the wonderful cookies I remember from my Nonna Louisa. As a very young child, my memories of Nonna Louisa were sitting in her warm and cozy kitchen and eating pizzelles. The taste of the anise still lingers in my senses.
These days, I bake Italian lemon drop cookies with a tart lemon frosting, brutti ma buoni, anise cookies frosted and decorated with nonpareils, a filled cookie wrapped in an almost filo type of dough that is stuffed with chocolate, lots of the best chocolate. Then there are the tortas: chocolate served with fresh raspberries and whipped cream, orange and almond, a torta made with no flour.
So, now, I think that I am channeling my Italian Grandmother, Louisa, as I watch the biscotti bake. Nonna Louisa always called me Cookie. Maybe she called me Cookie because I ate so many of hers. Or maybe, on the other hand, she sensed that someday I would be obsessed with baking Italian dolci.
While my passion for Italian dolci started at a young age in a small town outside of Philadelphia, it has followed me on my travels. Now, in the kitchen of my Le Marche farmhouse, I look out the window and contemplate. "What will I bake tomorrow?"
I hope you will visit this site often to see what new sweets and breads are baking in my Italian kitchen and the kitchens of friends.
Buon Appetito,
Maree Cemini