May 10, 2017
This blog post comes from an excerpt from the Carlino’s book, “Wanna Taste?” Chapter Five- Family Stories. Find out more about the book here.
Mama’s niece Rosanna DiMedio Shayeghi is Uncle Frank’s daughter. She doesn’t have to ponder long to come up with her favorite recipe. “PEACHES!” she says with the look of a child receiving her first lollipop. She recalls the years when going to Mama’s meant helping her aunt in the kitchen. Rosanna cherished being within the family fold and although Rosanna does not cook professionally, she has acquired valuable cooking skills from her much loved aunt.
Her dark hair frames her face as she speaks with clarity. “My aunt was everyone’s Mama,” she begins. “She had such a big heart; her arms were always open. But she was a serious person at times and had a say if things were not going right.
“I remember my aunt saying to me, ‘I have no daughters, so Rosanna is my daughter!’ This made me feel special. When she began baking, people immediately wanted to buy her desserts. When large orders came in, we (all the family members) would get the call, ‘Come help!’”
Rosanna, with the light coming up in her dark eyes, happily recounts her love for Mama’s Italian wedding peaches’ recipe. “This dessert was so ingeniously prepared, no one makes it like her! They are luscious, gooey, creamy, fruity perfection. In a word, they are magic.”
She remembers dipping the formed pastry in glossy red liquor, then rolling it in granular sugar. Draped in their sparkly robes, the reaches mystically turned pink, glistening with sugar. “For the final garnish, we’d go outside and pick leaves from the juniper bush. After washing them, we would place a leaf on each half of the peach. The finished product looked just like a real peach.
“When I grew older and had a car available I chauffeured Mama on shopping trips. Shopping with her required patience, as she liked to compare,” she says, smiling.
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As you can see, the passion for Mama’s recipes flows deep within our family, and our customers as well. If you’d like to try one of these delectable treats, stop in and pick some up for Mother’s Day!
