Did you say Nutella??

I am sure most people know about the chocolate spread called Nutella. If you have not, drop what ever you are doing, go to the grocery store, and buy 10 jars of it  (you will eat all 10). Growing up Nutella was a special treat to have. It was very hard to find but now you can find it almost everywhere.

In my house, we buy the jumbo size of Nutella. I swear it is like bringing crack into a crack house. It is spread onto anything that it can be spread on. In less than a week, it is either gone or close to it! My dad will eat it till the sun goes down (and probably even after as a midnight snack).  He is normally the one to polish off a jar. When this happens, it is so depressing!  Nothing is more upsetting than when you get a craving for it and go to have some and find an empty jar.

While some people may think Nutella is the hip new trend, it is something that I grew up with. For instance, Nutella is more used in Italy than peanut butter.

The Pope and The Church

We all know that Catholicism is very prominent in the Italian culture. Growing up there was always an endless supply of holy water and rosaries in the house.With Easter approaching and the importance of the pope election, religion has been a hot topic. 

Picture from Nonna Maria

If you go in to my nonnis (grandparents) home, you can find many religious artifacts all over the house.  From candles from religious ceremonies, holy water, palms, paintings of angels or saints, and so on are everywhere! You can't really escape without finding some sort of religious object in the house. 

For a brief amount of time I lived at my grandparents house. I remember when it was time for bed, the religious paintings used to scare me to no end! Even though my grandmother would tell  me it was a type of "protection and safety" it still used to scare me in the middle of the night when you would look up and see a pair of eyes looking down at you!

Home Remedies Galore

Whenever we were sick growing up, Nonna always seemed to have some sort of trick to help us out. Whether it be a tooth ache or a head ache, she always had some trick up her sleeve. Nonna would never pop a Tylenol in your mouth and tell you to "Vai a dormire" (go to sleep).

Whenever there was a sore throat, trouble sleeping, or just trying to wind down after a long day she would suggest Chamomile tea. When she said the name, however, it sounded like she was saying "gagumila". This got me very confused when I was older when people would talk about this kind of tea since I was so used to how Nonna would say it. I'm sure I still slip and say it according to how Nonna would say it.

Oil, plants, and alcohol were the next tools used by Nonna.  For ear aches she would suggest heating up a spoonful of olive oil and pouring the hot liquid into the affected ear. It was the most uncomfortable feeling, but worked! Got a sun burn? No problem! Just go into Nonna's porch where she has an Aloe Vera plant year round. This was very useful in the summers. The next useful tool was putting some sort of alcohol on a tooth ache. I think that the only way this helped was by intoxicating the child to make them forget about  the pain.

Nonna was very resourceful on what she could use to make us feel better.  I guess when you grow up on a hill in Italy, you have to be resourceful in the remedies you use. There was no "dottore" (doctor) you could see easily.

Who needs a farmers market?

Picture from Nonna Maria's Facebook Page

For some people a garden might consist of grass, some flowers, and maybe a few shrubs. In an Italian household, however,  the garden is really a farm. When it comes to a garden we don't mess around.

As a child, I used to love going to my Nonnos garden. It was like a jungle to explore in. As time has gone on, the garden has not lost its integrity and still amazes me even as an adult. There are tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, herbs, beans, figs, the list could go on forever.

In order to keep the garden running, my Nonno has a specific system. He uses spare wood to make stands to tie the vines against in order to make sure they don't fall over. He uses recycled water to water the veggies. Everything he needs is lined up and ready to use when it is needed. He has taken caring for his garden as an art.

Nonno takes a lot of pride in his garden. There are so many vegetables that sometimes we have to get creative on what to make or he pawns them off to people that live around him.  If people go to visit his house, they leave with a doggie bag of produce from the garden.