61 Comments
Apr 23Liked by Domenica Marchetti

I love reading your letter every week. It comes from the heart and always reminds me of something

in my past. My girls, now 36, grew up looking at cookbooks. They would oooh and awww over pictures. Their godmother loved cookbooks as well and it was always a pastime when we went to visit her. How sad, this generation now has everything they need on their phone or Instragram. There is something so satisfying about that "old" recipe held in your hands and the memory to go with it. Have a great week.

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I love discovering my mom and dad's old recipe, although they are not as good as your mom's. I also love that all of those wonderful, bombshell Italian actresses - Claudia Cardinale, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, have gifted us their pasta recipes.

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This is such a sweet post, Domenica. I love that you dip in to the treasures in your Mom’s recipe box now-and-then to savor the treasures and memories of your Mom and Aunts. I love 8 1/2! Love the name “Bombshell Spaghetti” and Daniela’s illustration is a Wow! 💣 🍝

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Apr 23Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Do Sophia next! This looks both delicious and refreshingly simple. Also, OMG Claudia in Il Gattopardo is so delectable.

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My mother made cream puffs & they were delicious. We were in a small village in N Italy with friends. We arrived late and found the one restaurant in the town. Luckily it was still open. Sparsely populated at this hour, but locals yelled at us to get everything, so we did. Course after course came to the table. It was all fine, but not necessarily cooked at a star level or with fineness. Still I was quite full and expected to say no to dessert...I heard the cart behind me & readied to say no politely when I saw the cream puffs. Of course I said yes. So lovey to eat them and be connected to my mom. Thanks for you post, D., and for all of them.

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Apr 23Liked by Domenica Marchetti

I loved this post Domenica! And yes I'm of a certain age, so relate to all of it including the PA Dutch design! The spaghetti sounds good and easy too!

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Lovely post, thank you. I am reminded of a visit to Rome many years ago to a place where I ate dishes named and possibly invented for famous actors and actresses, not far from Harry's Bar. Taverna Flavia, I seem to think. It had Insalata Veruschka and I suspect there was Spaghetti alla Claudia Cardinale on the list too. Although my Cardinale was the alcoholic variety. Maybe that place was the source of the recipe? Who knows?

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Apr 23Liked by Domenica Marchetti

What intrigued me most about the photograph of your mom’s recipe box was the books on your shelf. I recognized some of them and wonder how you organize your cookbooks? My small space does not allow all of my cookbooks to be together. But I still maintain a system.

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Apr 23Liked by Domenica Marchetti

I will happily be making your Mom’s pasta recipe as soon as fresh, local basil comes to market. And was anyone more beautiful than Claudia Cardinale in “The Leopard”? PS. The answer is NO!

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Apr 29Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Ash, family memories! I cherish the old recipes I've been given over the years and while I may not make them very often, just seeing my mom's handwriting always brings tears to my eyes. I came across a little recipe booklet that came with my mother's Sunbeam electric mixer that I remembered. And there in all it's glory was the heavily stained recipe for the Devil's Food cake I made all the time....

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Apr 26Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Love the bombshell image!

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Apr 24Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Can I also use regular Prosciutto and let it cook as it is warmed by the hot butter? I my memory Prosciutto is smoked but not cooked.

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Apr 24Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Everything about this story is yummy: words, images, recipe. Old recipes for me are comfort food, regardless of content or degree of difficulty. I’ve inherited an vault’s worth from my late mom who wrote and illustrated a foodletter for 3 decades and, like you, love to share them and their stories with the world in my own newsletter. Keeping the legacies alive!

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Apr 24Liked by Domenica Marchetti

Never mind the recipe, which I imagine is delicious, your writing is stellar and fills me with joy!

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Apr 24Liked by Domenica Marchetti

How wonderful to have a Spaghetti alla Claudia Cardinale recipe! My thanks to you and your mum.

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I'm just thrilled to have found you via Jolene Handy. I ADORED this post, how fabulous to have access to all those family loved recipes. I've been writing about movie star recipes for over 18 years at silverscreensuppers.com and my immediate thought was to dash to my spreadsheet to see if I could discover the source of this recipe. Alas no, but I found three other Claudia recipes in my collection - Fettuccine Alla Carcerata, Insalatina Rose and Courgette Soup. I feel a Claudia banquet coming on! Jenny x

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