The story of Nonna Mimma

***

One beautiful day in the Casa di Calamina the letter box whistled.

Dear Children, you should know by now, that as no-one knows where to find the Far and Close address, the postman can’t go there.

But Gaia and Zoé have a magical letter box which, when a letter is delivered, as if by miracle, starts to whistle like a singing kettle.

So, Gaïa rushed to the letter box and cried out happily, Zoé, Zoé , Nonna Mimma has written to us.

« Nonna » means « Granny » in Italian. And Nonna Mimma is a very special granny. It’s always so nice to hear from her. All the inhabitants of the house immediately stopped what they were doing and gathered all together to read the letters from the little grandmother, always happy and full of good news.

Before starting to read, Zoé exclaimed « Every time that Nonna Mimma writes to us I’m as hungry as a wolf.

Dear Children, here is Nonna Mimma’s story !

***

NONNA MIMMA'S STORY

Once upon a time there was Nonna Mimma.

Nonna Mimma had ten grandchildren, who visited her every weekend. She lived near a volcano, in a beautiful house in the country with a big garden , a courtyard, a swing, animals and a vegetable garden : the grandchildren played altogether.

The only problem is that the ten grandchildren were a little bit spoilt and when it was mealtime, Nonna Mimma had to cook ten different dishes.

Pasqualino wanted carbonara pasta

Silvietta wanted pasta with a pesto sauce

Saretta wanted a milanaise escalope

Lauretta wanted a safran risotto

Vincenzino wanted spaghetti bolognaise

Luisella wanted gnocchis in tomato sauce

Nicolino wanted roast chicken

Annarella wanted stew with tagliatelle

Davidino wanted meat balls and chips

Maruzzella wanted potato croquettes

As midday approached the kitchen looked like a battle field, Nonna Mimma was exhausted, but she went to great lengths as she really wanted to please each of her ten grandchildren.

However the day came, when Nonna Mimma lost her patience and no longer wanted to exhaust herself so much. She thought up a strategy to change her grandchildren’s bad habits.

With a few pinches of imagination and a hint of mischief, she added a pinch of Cayenne pimento in every dish except hers. With the first mouthful, the children started to cough, to spit and drink litres of water.

“Granny, Granny, it burns!”

“Granny, help, my tongue !!!!”

“Granny, Granny, I want to cry!”

Nonna Mimma pretended to be very surprised and said, « Children, I don’t know what’s happening, perhaps you’re growing and your tastebuds are changing ! » - and she carried on, as though nothing had happened, eating her meal, whilst the children went crazy and jumped around like grasshoppers.

The first day, no-one ate anything.

The second day, no-one ate anything.

The third day, the children were as hungry as wolves. They went to see their granny who was preparing the meal and asked her :

"Granny, what are we eating today ?" and Nonna Mimma, innocently replied:

-“I’m preparing myself a beautiful dish of spaghetti with sweet tomatoes from my garden.”

"For us too, for us too !! Please, please !!" screamed the children all together.

So Nonna Mimma threw two kilos of pasta into the boiling water and prepared a delicious tomato sauce and the children ate every last strand of spaghetti. They even cleaned their plates with a slice of bread.

The following week, Nonna Mimma added atons of garlic, which would have been enough to kill all the vampires in the world.

The children, very sad, didn’t eat anything for two days. On the third day, they went to see Nonna Mimma and as they were starving, asked her :

"Granny, what are we eating today ?"

"Well, today I’m preparing for myself a small frittata with the eggs from my chickens".

"For us too, for us too ! Please, please !!!"

So just like that, Nonna Mimma prepared a frittata with thirty eggs in a frying pan as big as a market place and the children licked their fingers.

The third week, the children didn’t wait to fast for two days, they’d understood. As soon as they arrived at Nonna Mimma’s, ,they rushed up to her as she was already busy preparing a meal and they asked her :

"Granny, Granny, what are you preparing to eat today ?"

"Well, for myself I’m preparing a good soup with pasta and red beans which I shucked just this morning with my own hands".

And the children cried out all together :

"For us too, for us too ! Please, please !!!"

The soup with pasta and red beans was exquisite, the children were happy and Nonna Mimma was at long time rested.

And that was how Nonna Mimma solved the problem and since that day as she had more free time, she prepared a tiramisu as well which the children adored. As Nonna Mimma added three small glasses of rum to the mascarpone cream, the children even had a nap.

And it was like that that Nonna Mimma became younger.

***Dedicated to Nonna Maria and her meat balls.

One beautiful day in the Casa di Calamina the letter box whistled.

Dear Children, you should know by now, that as no-one knows where to find the Far and Close address, the postman can’t go there.

But Gaia and Zoé have a magical letter box which, when a letter is delivered, as if by miracle, starts to whistle like a singing kettle.

So, Gaïa rushed to the letter box and cried out happily, Zoé, Zoé , Nonna Mimma has written to us.

Before starting to read, Zoé exclaimed « Every time that Nonna Mimma writes to us I’m as hungry as a wolf.

Dear Children, here is Nonna Mimma’s story !

***

NONNA MIMMA'S STORY

Once upon a time there was Nonna Mimma.

Nonna Mimma had ten grandchildren, who visited her every weekend. She lived near a volcano, in a beautiful house in the country with a big garden , a courtyard, a swing, animals and a vegetable garden : the grandchildren played altogether.

The only problem is that the ten grandchildren were a little bit spoilt and when it was mealtime, Nonna Mimma had to cook ten different dishes.

Pasqualino wanted carbonara pasta

Silvietta wanted pasta with a pesto sauce

Saretta wanted a milanaise escalope

Lauretta wanted a safran risotto

Vincenzino wanted spaghetti bolognaise

Luisella wanted gnocchis in tomato sauce

Nicolino wanted roast chicken

Annarella wanted stew with tagliatelle

Davidino wanted meat balls and chips

Maruzzella wanted potato croquettes

As midday approached the kitchen looked like a battle field, Nonna Mimma was exhausted, but she went to great lengths as she really wanted to please each of her ten grandchildren.

However the day came, when Nonna Mimma lost her patience and no longer wanted to exhaust herself so much. She thought up a strategy to change her grandchildren’s bad habits.

With a few pinches of imagination and a hint of mischief, she added a pinch of Cayenne pimento in every dish except hers. With the first mouthful, the children started to cough, to spit and drink litres of water.

“Granny, Granny, it burns!”

“Granny, help, my tongue !!!!”

“Granny, Granny, I want to cry!”

The first day, no-one ate anything.

The second day, no-one ate anything.

The third day, the children were as hungry as wolves. They went to see their granny who was preparing the meal and asked her :

"Granny, what are we eating today ?" and Nonna Mimma, innocently replied:

-“I’m preparing myself a beautiful dish of spaghetti with sweet tomatoes from my garden.”

"For us too, for us too !! Please, please !!" screamed the children all together.

So Nonna Mimma threw two kilos of pasta into the boiling water and prepared a delicious tomato sauce and the children ate every last strand of spaghetti. They even cleaned their plates with a slice of bread.

The following week, Nonna Mimma added atons of garlic, which would have been enough to kill all the vampires in the world.

The children, very sad, didn’t eat anything for two days. On the third day, they went to see Nonna Mimma and as they were starving, asked her :

"Granny, what are we eating today ?"

"Well, today I’m preparing for myself a small frittata with the eggs from my chickens".

"For us too, for us too ! Please, please !!!"

So just like that, Nonna Mimma prepared a frittata with thirty eggs in a frying pan as big as a market place and the children licked their fingers.

The third week, the children didn’t wait to fast for two days, they’d understood. As soon as they arrived at Nonna Mimma’s, ,they rushed up to her as she was already busy preparing a meal and they asked her :

"Granny, Granny, what are you preparing to eat today ?"

"Well, for myself I’m preparing a good soup with pasta and red beans which I shucked just this morning with my own hands".

And the children cried out all together :

"For us too, for us too ! Please, please !!!"

The soup with pasta and red beans was exquisite, the children were happy and Nonna Mimma was at long time rested.

And that was how Nonna Mimma solved the problem and since that day as she had more free time, she prepared a tiramisu as well which the children adored. As Nonna Mimma added three small glasses of rum to the mascarpone cream, the children even had a nap.

And it was like that that Nonna Mimma became younger.

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