Wednesday
Growing up, Wednesday’s became our regular day with our Nonni. It would be a day full of food, trips to the park, sometimes shopping or a trip into the city and family dinners. Nonna and my Great Aunt would spend most of the day cooking a big feast for the night’s dinner. As we got older and things got busier these nights slowed down, then at some point we just stopped doing them as life just got a bit hectic. Last Wednesday I went to Nonna for dinner- a yummy dinner of spinach and ricotta ravioli with sugo and then her umido (stew) with mashed potatoes. As we were sitting there eating she said to me (in her broken English) once it was a full table and now just two. When she said this I looked over at the dining room table and I had like a flashback of what each Wednesday would look like. From 6pm we would start setting the table and then around 6.45/7.00 Mum, Dad, Zia and my cousins would start to arrive. My Nonno would sit at one end of the table and Dad at the other end. We all had our own spots! As I sat there remembering these nights I looked over at Nonno’s spot and it was like I could see him there, smiling, glowing and his absolute happiest being surrounded by his loved ones. What Nonna cooked changed from week to week, some things she cooked were- Umido (stew) and Polenta, Polpette, Roast, Melanzane, Peperonata, Cotoletta, Pasta-Ravioli, Gnocchi, Tagliatelle (usually with mushrooms), Lasagna, Pasta al Forno (pasta shells baked in the oven with sugo, mushrooms, bechamel and cheese), Risotto, Parmigiana and a whole lot more. Everything she made was always so delicious and I always remember the smells that filled the house as dinner was being prepared. When I smell rosemary and parsley cooking/being prepared they bring me back to those times. We would always finish the meal with salad and cheese. There was always vino and lots of bread on the table! Then dessert and coffee- us kids would get our own desserts usually iced doughnuts or cannoli and then the adults would have something different, that normally was apple pie and lamingtons as they were Nonno favourites.
We had so many birthdays together too where Nonna would order an Italian cake with sponge and custard. There seemed to always be a bottle of Ricadonna on the table too when it was someone’s birthday. Pictured above is one of Nonno’s Birthdays. Every birthday he was 21 again and would always get us to help him blow out the candles on the cake. At everyone else’s birthdays he would be the loudest singer in the room and we would also all be 21 again (even before we had even celebrated our 21st birthday).
Another memory was when we where still little. Mum would drop us off early before work and Nonna and Nonno would have the table set for ‘big fat toast’. Nonno would tell us that he had spent the morning travelling somewhere really far to go and get the bread (sometimes it was Tasmania other times up to Sydney) when really, he would have gone down to the local seven eleven to get it. He would cook each piece for us perfectly and then we would top them with whatever was on the table- butter, jam, vegemite or peanut butter. When he would return home from work, he would come through the back door dressed in his painting overalls and it would be time for ‘a toast’- a toasted sandwich.
Every time we ate there, we would go home very full. And there were always plenty leftovers for the next night’s dinner! When I think about these times I smile and my heart fills with joy. It’s sad that life got in the way and these traditions ended but I can always look back on some really special times.
The positive thing is I now can enjoy dinner with my Nonna one on one. We do do family dinners on the occasion now and I guess because they are less frequent they become more special.