Tag Archives: Italian

Typical Josie’s Mother

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Josie Capelli, the main character in my enovel, Towel Dry and a Good Cry, has an overbearing, overprotective, Italian Catholic mother. This scene was taken from the novel. Two of Josie’s brother’s go at it while they are visiting their parents and her mother takes charge of the situation.  Mind you, the brothers are in their mid-twenties!

“Now, boys,” my mother intervened. “Let’s go in and discuss this.”

“And you.” She grabbed Tony’s ear and proceeded to pull him in the house, “Stop annoying your brother.”

“Oww,” Tony squealed.

She let go of his ear when they got to the steps and slapped him upside the back of his head. He looked over his shoulder at me and rolled his eyes. I laughed silently and pointed my finger at him and mouthed, “Ha ha.” At least someone else but me was getting my mother’s wrath. He gave me the finger behind his back.

If you haven’t read, Towel Dry and a Good Cry yet, have a look at the book trailer and check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/toweldryandagoodcry

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Happy St. Josephs Day

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St. Joseph

I’m currently writing the sequel to my first novel Towel Dry and a Good Cry, entitled Towel Dry and an Alibi. In the story, Josie and her family are celebrating St. Josephs Day, a Christian holiday. Here is a direct quote from the sequel, (still untitled!).

There is a Catholic tradition my mother makes a big deal out of every year on March 19, St. Josephs Day. The focus of this holiday is on “St. Josephs Table,” a feast that includes breads, vegetables, egg dishes, pasta and desserts.  It’s like a Catholic Thanksgiving, to me.  Legend has it, during the medieval drought and famine, Sicilians prayed to St. Joseph, the patron of workers and the guardian of family. When the famine subsided, they attributed it to the saint and promised to honor him each year with a feast. The main pasta dish my mother always prepared was a meatless red sauce, (it’s Lent) with anchovies and topped with bread crumbs to represent the sawdust, a nod to the saint’s connection with the working man.

Judy DeLuca’s Latest Novel

Towel Dry and a Good Cry is about a young girl, new to the hairdressing business, that learns all too quick that there is more to standing behind the chair than just cutting hair.  A story full of laughs and tears lies and fears with characters you’ll love, hate or will leave your jaw hanging open!

Available at your favorite ebook store

www.youtube.com/toweldryandagoodcry

www.facebook.com/judydelucaauthor

 

 

 

 

Minestrone Soup

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Fall is upon us. Crisp mornings and cool nights are the beginnings of bunkering down for the approaching winter.  A change of weather, different harvest, different foods.  Makes me think of an afghan, a good book, a hearty soup and a hunk of Italian bread.

This authentic recipe for Minestrone Soup comes from an old woman who brought this way of cooking over with her from the Old Country.  Her generation would be similar to Josie’s grandmother in my novel, Towel Dry and a Good Cry, a recipe that Josie would pass down to the next generation, for sure.

La Minestra

1 cup white navy or pea beans

1 fresh prosciutto bone with meat attached

½ pound pepperoni cut in chunks, or 2 pigs’ feet, drained, rinsed well

7-8 garlic cloves, crushed

1 large Savory cabbage, outer leaves removed, quartered

½ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Dried red pepper flakes for garnish

  1. Wash the beans well, removing any imperfect ones.  Soak overnight.
  2. Soak the prosciutto bone for 6 to 8 hours in a bowl of water in the refrigerator, changing water often.
  3. Boil 6 cups of water.  Gradually add the beans to the bowling water.  Simmer 2 minutes, and remove from heat.  Set aside to soak for 1 hour.  Then rinse beans and strain.
  4. Boil the prosciutto bone and the meat of your choice for 20 minutes.  Rinse and strain.  This will remove any fat residue.
  5. Put the clean prosciutto bone, your chosen meat, and the prepared beans in a large heavy pot.  Cover with cold water to an inch over the bone and beans.  Add 3 cloves of garlic.  When the water comes to a boil, lower the heat and simmer.  When prosciutto meat starts to pull away from the bone (about 30 minutes), shut off the heat.  Separate meat from the prosciutto bone and put the meat back in the pot.
  6. In a separate large pot, cook the cabbage until tender.  Do not overcook.  Strain, reserving some of the liquid.  Put the cabbage in the pot with the beans and prosciutto.
  7. Fry 4 or 5 cloves of garlic in the ½ cup of olive oil until brown.  Add to the cabbage and beans.  If the sauce seems too thick, add some of the cabbage broth.  Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.  Add salt and pepper to taste (be careful with salt, as prosciutto and pepperoni are highly salted).
  8. Remove the pan from the heat and let rest for at least 2 hours so that all the flavors will be well combined.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

It’s excellent with crusty Italian round bread.

Judy DeLuca’s Latest Novel

Towel Dry and a Good Cry is about a young girl, new to the hairdressing business, that learns all too quick that there is more to standing behind the chair than just cutting hair.  A story full of laughs and tears lies and fears with characters you’ll love, hate or will leave your jaw hanging open!

Available at your favorite ebook store

www.youtube.com/toweldryandagoodcry

www.facebook.com/judydelucaauthor

Follow me on Pinterest for beauty info and tips.

 

 

 

The Feast of The Three Saints

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In Chapter Nineteen of my book, Towel Dry and a Good Cry, Josie and her family go to the Feast of Our Lady.  In the Boston area, where I’m originally from, The Feast of The Three Saints is celebrated by Italians and their community, similar to Josie’s experience, over the Labor Day Weekend. The Feast honors three martyred brothers, Saints, Alfio, Filadelfo and Cirino.

The purpose of this feast is to maintain the tradition of honoring the Holy Martyrs of the Christian Faith, to celebrate with family and the community, and to contribute to charities in the area.

Born in the third century in southeastern Italy during the Roman persecution of the Christians, the brothers Alfio, Filadelfo and Cirino were educated in the Christian faith.  As young boys, they witnessed the persecution and martyrdom of their mother.  The Roman Court knew that the Three Brothers were Christians from a noble family and tried to make them turn away from Christianity and worship pagan gods.

The brothers refused and were sent to Tertullo, the merciless governor of Sicily, in Lentini.  Tertullo was ordered to force their Christian faith away from them using any means, including torture.  They were beaten and tortured cruelly while in Lentini, and several times St. Andrew the Apostle appeared to them and healed their wounds.  Tertullo tried in vain to make Alfio and his brothers change their beliefs, but they remained steadfast in their faith.

After several months of beating and torturing, Tertullo became furious and ordered his soldiers to produce the final instruments of death for the Brothers: a pair of tongs to tear out the tongue of Alfio, a gridiron set over a fire for Filadelfo and a cauldron filled with oil and pitch for Cirino.  On May 10th in the year 243 A.D. the Three Brothers were martyred in Lentini. The Romans tied 22-year-old Alfio to a post and tore out his tongue.  Filadelfo, 21 years old, was burned upon a gridiron and Cirino, only 19, was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil.

The story didn’t end there.  During their lifetime and even after their death, numerous miracles have occurred which are attributed to the intercession of the Three Saints, even today.

Judy DeLuca’s Latest Novel

Towel Dry and a Good Cry is about a young girl, new to the hairdressing business, that learns all too quick that there is more to standing behind the chair than just cutting hair.  A story full of laughs and tears lies and fears with characters you’ll love, hate or will leave your jaw hanging open!

Available at your favorite ebook store

www.youtube.com/toweldryandagoodcry

www.facebook.com/judydelucaauthor

Follow me on Pinterest for beauty info and tips.