You make it sound like a book worth having Ivonne. Seems everyone has special memories of grandmothers regardless of which culture one is born into….and they all seem to involve food.

My maternal grandmother was the cook in our family, and I have strong memories of her padding around her large Brooklyn kitchen, creating the most wonderful life-sustaining food. But, now that I think of it, I don’t ever remember her making dessert! We were — and still are — a fresh fruit kind of family, no cakes or pastries, which I guess is why I grew up to be a bake-o-phobe. But a walnut cake with no flour — that sounds like something even I can make.

Wow, I’ve just recently seen this type of “cake” although the one I saw was called a brownie pie. hehe All egg whites, toasted pecans and graham cracker pieces, oddly enough. I want to try both of these now! =)

I wish I could have met your grandmother, she sounds like an amazing woman. And the funny thing about that statement is that she probably would have scoffed at being called amazing as grandmothers of that time did what they had to do without the modern conveniences we have now and they thought nothing of it.. that’s just the way it was.

I enjoyed this post very much, thanks sweetie =)

xoxo

very interesting cake, and very interesting book. Sounds like one I would read cover to cover too!

This book sounds very interesting, specially to me coming from an Italian family as well. I hope to get hold of it someday. As for your nonna, she sounds a lot like mine. Sometimes when she tells me about her days growing up in Italy and all the hardships her family endured, it kind of seems like a novel, yet that was her life and even as a child she did so much for her family. I think most grandmas have that special way of nourishing people instinctively… and if we are talking about a nonna, no one will ever be hungry if she has anything to do with it! haha

I can totally agree with you, I myself also being raised in an italian family have been eating chicken pastina, amaretti’s, and baked ziti since I was a baby. I often laugh and think, instead of being given cheerios to chew on as my teeth grew in, I was given bits of pizzelles. Love the blog, beautiful pictures, and stories! A definite new favorite!

I had a gluten allergy for a few years (which I am almost rid of now thank goodness!) so I used to do a few no-flour cakes. This one looks superb!

What lovely memories you have of your grandmother–formidable, indeed! She sounds amazing–as does this book. For me it’s always the stories behind the food that I find most interesting. I look forward to checking this one out. Thanks!

I read your post like I would read a novel, so I can only imagine reading the book.
Thanks for sharing your memories of food and of your grandmother. Boy, do our grandma have a prominent place in our cooking genetics?!
My first memory of food was a bite of my grandmother apricot tart and a taste of champagne…and I was about 3!
Beautiful post. I wonder if Cathe needs more people to try the book…

Oh Ivonne, you just made me miss both of my grandmothers so much…

Thanks so much for co-hosting this event with me — I can’t wait to see what our stories our blog and blogger friends will share with us!

I love this article. The way you describe the new book is very interesting. I would love to have a look at the book later.

what a great post Ivonne!

Oh, Ivonne! It’s beautiful here. I love the new design. It feels warm and inviting and I can practically smell the delicious pasta and cookies and walnut cake. Oh, love this blog.
And the flavor of the month is right up my alley. I love tea time. You must try rehydrated sundried tomatos and bacon bits with a bit of mayo on little triangle shaped white bread.

No flour seems interesting indeed!

As soon as I visited your blog today I thought - YUM - that crust looks awesome … I wonder what it is. I love stories about grandmothers - I’m sure she’d be proud of you! Can’t wait to hear about the good things from this blog event.

What a lovely and inspiring post. Reading about your choice of recipe, it reminded me of a sort of soft pie I baked at my mum’s last year.no flour. egg whites, a bit of breadcrumbs and some other bits.Can be seen here:http://trembom.blogspot.com/2006/12/torta-de-nozes-com-baba-de-moa.html
i haven’t translated it into English yet. Going back to your book, I am very, very curious to read it. And its recipes..and all the iddferent friends. Thank you for sharing all these wonderful things with us, and the family memories..have a lovely week.

I can’t wait to see the new book~ I have emailed Faith awhile back~she is an extremely talented person. Those readers off to Itlay should enroll in one of her market tours in florence~i want to make tis cake, just to crunch on the crust!

I guess I missed this one while traveling.
This should be an amazing event; the book sounds incredible.
This “cake” sounds really interesting. The crusty looks super good. I think grandmothers are fantastic women!

I, too, think this is an amazing event and I’m honored to be part of it. I’d like to thank everyone who participates–readers, cooks and those who contribute thier food memories. Beginning on July 9th I’ll be traveling in the U.S. (my schedule is on my website) on my book tour. I’ll be without a laptop, but I’ll join in as often as I can.

a presto

[…] of Cream Puffs in Venice and Catherine of A Blithe Palate joined together to host a food blogging event in celebration of […]

[…] many of you who stop by here regularly know, a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of telling you about Faith Heller Willinger’s newest book, Adventures of an Italian Food […]

Che Bella!
My grandmother served a cake much like this one; she’d sprinkle it with confectioners sugar and serve it family style after Sunday dinner.
Now that this book is out, I obviously need to add it to my collection!