(Very belated) pics from Easter lunch with nonni

I meant to post these Easter pictures up a while ago, but better late than never...


Every Good Friday, the family tradition is that Mum and Dad have an open house, and friends are invited over for a morning tea of Mum's fresh home-made hot cross buns. This year they were even more luscious than usual - the glazing over the top was genius!


On Easter Sunday it was back at Mum and Dad's again for family lunch. Friends from London R&S were there, as were my Nonna and Nonno, Zia P, her partner M and cousin T.


First course was insalata caprese, marinated olives and San Daniele prosciutto (from our part of Italy - a real cut above the Australian stuff!).


Phillippa's Olive Toscano heated slightly in the oven was the perfect accompaniment. Check out Mum's copper pepper grinder in the background (half hidden behind the pewter salt shaker) - it's one of the family possessions that I most covet...


The main course was stuffed roasted poussin, following Nigella's recipe. So teeny tiny!


The salad, as always, featured leaves from Nonno's garden...


I wish I knew Mum's secret - her roast potatoes are sensational. The other vegetable was creamy roasted fennel, made according to S's trusted recipe.


For dessert Nonna had made another batch of the world's best crostoli, and zia P brought a delicious tangy lime tart which she'd bought at Chimmys. I only just realised that we had insalata caprese and crostoli at the last big family lunch I wrote about... next time I'll ask Nonna to make something different to mix it up! :)


If you've never tried Limoncello before, be bloody careful the first time you come across it: it packs a kick like a mule. When I lived in Siena and would go out with friends to dinner, the owner of whatever trattoria we were dining in would inevitably come over at the end of our meal with a bottle and insist on pouring us each a chilled glass to have as a digestivo. If we'd been knocking back carafes of Chianti with our food, the glass of Limoncello was always what tipped us over the edge into full-blown drunkenness.

The cocktail on the right is the yummy creation of my sister Birdie, who recently completed her RSA. I'll find out what the ingredients are and update this post accordingly...
**Updated** ...in Birdie's own words... :)
the drink has:
ice and strawberries mixed in a blender
then you pour it in a glass
then you get half a lime (or lemon) and squeeze that
then you pour a fair slosh of grenadine in
then you pour a double shot of vodka
then you put the magic ingredient - 4 or 5 drops of tabasco sauce
and there you have your strawberry slut


After we finished eating we put on some old Italian records and sat around playing cards, using the 40-card Carte Italiane (we play with the Triestine cards made by Modiano). The games we like playing with carte are Scopa if there are two players, Machiavelli if there are more. There's another card game Nonna and Nonno like to play which they simply call "Trick" - I'll have to find out from Mum what it's called in English if there is an English equivalent.


Nonna playing cards. :)


BILLIONAIRE!!