Italian Ravioli...the Jewish Verenika

I love pasta.  Italian, Jewish, European versions are all my favourites!  I love the taste, the texture...it has to be my all-time favourite carb!

As you know, Carlo and the kids bought me a pasta maker for the holidays this year.  I love it!  I cannot think of a better way to spend an afternoon than creating some delicacy for dinner.  

Just before Passover, I decided to make a treat for dinner, and try my hand at making ravioli.  I had the dough recipe, and the Robin Hood flour (which my mother-in-law says renders a better pasta dough), but how to make the filling? I looked up a couple of meat filling recipes, and then did what I do best - winged it and hoped that the family liked what I served.  

I  made the meat mixture, and the dough, and then set off to make ravioli.  Somewhere along the way I realized that this procedure was very similar to one I had tried a few years back - to make kreplach for my chicken soup!  I had leftover chicken from Shabbat dinner, and sauteed it with onions and seasonings, then filled little dough pockets with the savoury mixture and added it to my chicken soup...yumm!  

Needless to say, I love finding similarities between Carlo's and my cultures, and here was yet another one!  

I proceeded to start working the dough, which I made with the Robin Hood flour.  I found the dough much more difficult to knead, and by the time I finished making 50 ravioli, I felt like I had been through a workout!  My shoulders ached and my hands were so sore.  BUT, once the dough was sufficiently kneaded, it was beautiful!  

Once I found the most efficient way to maximize my yield the whole process sped up and you could say (as Mom always did) that I was "cooking with gas"!

The best part of this afternoon was the time spent with Carlo.  I've already told you that he hangs out with me while I prepare dinner, and we catch up on our days, etc., but this time was different - it took me back to the days when we were young and newly married, and used to cook together.  

This ravioli endeavour turned out to be a much greater undertaking than I anticipated, and lasted 3 hours from start to finish!  Fortunately, I prepared the sauce before the pasta, so it had  hours to simmer.  But what about the rest of our meal?!?!  I had planned potatoes fried (I know, not clean eating) with pressed vegetables, rapini and salad - but this pasta was taking all my time and energy.  

First Carlo peeled the potatoes for me.  Then he offered to fry them up with the veggies.  Then he decided to make the rapini.  All the while I was kneading, rolling, filling and cutting ravioli.  Then he made the salad, and set the table.  It was such a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon together, and by the time we sat down to dinner with our girls, I was in a state of utter contentment.  This was one of those afternoons that I will remember forever...

I am happy to report that the ravioli were a huge success, and am I ever glad they were - there is a full meal's worth of ravioli frozen for another dinner!  And the pasta?  Well, I had some dough leftover, and being the frugalista that I am, I decided to turn it into another meal during the week.  I came home, pulled it from the fridge, and the kneading was much easier, allowing me to transform my dough into a delicious lasagna dinner that was appreciated by all!  I am wondering if this dough needs to be refrigerated for a while in order to have it submit to kneading without such a fight....I'll have to get back to you on that one!

Lasagna sheets ready for boiling

The lasagna sheets float to the top right away!

So easy to work with

Lasagna - ready for the oven

Presto - Lasagna!

From my family to yours, I hope you enjoy our recipe for ravioli and kreplach/verenikes.  The recipes for both fillings, and a pictorial step-by-step can be found below.  

Until next time, I wish you a wonderful day filled with family, fun, friends and fantastic food.  B'Tayavon & Buon Appetito!

Meat Filling for Naomi's Ravioli 
Ingredients:

• 1 - 2 tsbp olive or canola oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1C carrots, diced 
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 lb ground beef
• ¼ tsp - ½ tsp cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like your filling)
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent.  Add carrots, then ground beef and brown.  Drain mixture, allow to cool a little, and blend until it is the consistency of a spread/pate.   Use approximately ½ tsp of filling in centre of lightly-scored circles on pasta "strip".  

Chicken Filling for Naomi's Kreplach/Verenikes

Ingredients:

• 1 - 2 tbsp olive or canola oil 
• 2C leftover roast chicken, diced into very small pieces
• 1 onion, diced
• salt and pepper to taste 

Method:

Saute onions in olive oil, then add diced chicken and seasoning.   Remove from heat, allow to cool a little and fill!  Kreplach are delicious served in homemade chicken soup!

Pictorial Step-by-step of Naomi's Ravioli-making adventure

Brown minced garlic, diced
onions and carrots  in olive oil 

Add ground beef and brown,
drain and season

Allow to cool slightly, and blend to spreadable consistency

Roll rectangular strip of pasta dough

Fold in half to determine your "work space" 

Lightly score half of sheet, fitting as many circles as possible

Scoop filling into centre of scored circles

Fold over sheet to cover filling

Using cutter, cut individual circles,
pressing tightly all around to seal

Lay ravioli on layers of waxed paper, using
some for dinner and freezing the rest for another meal
(first freeze on the sheet, then place into a Ziploc for storage)

Submerge ravioli into pot of boiling water, and cook for
3 to 5 minutes.  They will automatically float to the top.

Drain, and serve with your favourite sauce!
 B'Tayavon & Buon Appetito!

Passover Sponge Cake

It's that time of year again...Pesach (Passover) is right around the corner, and I am racking my brain trying to think of a menu that will satisfy the diverse palates and dietary restrictions of our Seder guests.

We have 2 people who should not have too much sugar or salt, a vegetarian, 4 meat lovers, 2 who prefer poultry, 1 who is allergic to fish and another who loves it...toss in the fact that this meal needs not only to be kosher, but also kosher for Passover and you can see why I am approaching this holiday with a looming sense of dread!  

Every year Mom and Ethel (1 of her 2 best friends) would engage in a Passover exchange - Mom gave Ethel a bottle of her home-made wine and Ethel brought a KLP (Kosher for Passover) Sponge Cake which Mom would serve for dessert with compote.  Last year I made my first attempts at sponge cake, the first was alright, but the second fell on one side and was a lop-sided disaster.  

This year I will try my hand, again, at making sponge cake, which I will serve with what I always knew as Mom's compote, but it is originally Aunt Adele's Strawberry Rhubarb Compote, and I think it is rather fitting that the family sponge cake recipe I am going to try - for the first time, I might add - is also from Aunt Adele.  Which brings me to a funny story...

This past week I had an appointment with Mom to see about continuing treatments to ease her ever-stiffening arms and hands.  I always walk into Baycrest with mixed emotions...I am happy to see my mom, but heartbroken by the pain and suffering that my beautiful, vital and loving mother has to endure every day.  I walked into the clinic in a bit of a fog, passing a woman in her 50s who was in a wheelchair.  We exchanged a brief smile, and I settled in to wait for Mildred to bring Mom down from lunch.   As I sat there an older woman came in and joined the younger woman.  Stuck in a stare, I thought to myself that this woman looked so familiar, even if just from behind.  As they walked off to their appointment, I made the connection and asked the secretary if the lady that just left was named Lil...she was!  I was taken aback...it was my long-lost great-aunt Lil, one of the authors of the mushroom brown rice recipe we all love so much!  

With the staff's permission, I went to the back and asked to speak with Lil.  It has been years since I last saw her - my uncle Harold Z"L died in Regina in the late 1980s when I was still a teenager.  I introduced myself and saw the light of recognition come on in her eyes.  She said she wouldn't have recognized me...then my cousin Mindy came out and we all took a few minutes to reconnect, after 20+ years.  We exchanged numbers and agreed to say goodbye before either of us left.  

Mom is quieter these days, and communicates more by expression than with words. Her smile still lights up her whole face, and brightens a room.  When her aunt Lil gently caressed her face and greeted her warmly and softly, I saw that smile, and she was happy.  Then Mindy recalled the amazing Yom Tov meals Mom used to make and I told them about this blog, and the Golden Recipes book I have with all the matriarchs' recipes.  I mentioned Aunt Adele, and Aunt Lil told me that Aunt Adele was the baker of the family.  You cannot imagine what a gift that little tidbit of information was...I often feel like I am lost on this journey, stumbling along and grasping at any little hint that may give me insight into the world that I've lost.  Aunt Lil started to recall anecdotes and it all felt so nice, so warm and haymishe, so comforting.  Another connection to the past that I thought was long gone and never to be rediscovered.  

Since I originally wrote this post, we agreed that Dad would bring a pareve KLP (obviously!) Strawberry Shortcake to our Seder because he knows our girls love it...and Aviva is bringing fruit...I will make meringues and that would likely be enough, but something is pushing me to bake Aunt Adele's Matzo Sponge Cake and make Mom's Compote...I suppose it it my way of having them with me at the Seder, even if it is only in my heart.

From my family to yours, I wish you a happy Passover - filled with family, friends, fun and fantastic food.  B'Tayavon,  Buon Appetito and Chag Sameyach  חג כשר ושמח.

Sponge Cake Success!!

Aunt Adele's Matzo Sponge Cake 

Ingredients:

• 8 egg yolks
• 1½ C sugar
• 1C sifted matzo cake meal
• 8 egg whites - beaten stiff
• ½ lemon - juice and grated rind

Method:

Preheat oven to 350˚.  Beat yolks until light.  Add sugar and beat again.  Add pinch of salt, lemon and matzo cake meal.  Lastly, fold in egg whites (that have already been beaten stiff, but not dry).  Bake in spring form  tube pan or in 2 layers for 45 minutes.  

House of Chan and Pickled Tongue ... a favourite restaurant and an acquired taste

Mom`s handwritten recipe
for Ethel`s Pickled Tongue

The other night Carlo and I were chatting as I prepared dinner.  I realized that 20 years later, I've grown into  a pretty efficient and quick cook...nothing like the cook I was when we were dating and first married. I guess you could that the way to his heart was not always through his stomach.

Mom was the same.  Although she was raised in a very traditional 1950's household, where my grandmother was the quintessential housewife and hostess, cocktails were a pre-dinner staple and you always left a finger of wine in the bottom of your glass (I am not kidding!), Mom was not a fantastic cook when she was a newlywed!

She loved to tell the story of when she and Dad were first married and she decided to make a fancy "tongue"  dinner for him.  She seasoned the meat, put it the oven and set a lovely dinner table.  As they sat down to this picture-perfect meal, Mom proceeded to carve the tongue.  

The look on my father's face said it all...are you imagining how shocked he was that she had prepared such a meal to serve him?  If so, you're right.  But it's probably not the look you are imagining - it was a look of horror, as the tongue was still raw, and the juices flowing were bright red.  She had only cooked it for 20 minutes!  Poor Mom, she was so disappointed, and embarrassed.  Kudos to my sweet Dad, who said not a word as he got up and got her coat, then took her for dinner to House of Chan, for a steak, served medium! The joke went that this was the night my Mom really learned what to make for dinner - reservations!

House of Chan: this is the way it looked 47 years ago,
 and still does today!  In fact, I remember sitting in those booths
for a surf and turf dinner with my parents, Davie and Carlo!

While I can only remember Mom making tongue once in my lifetime (and sorry, but it was one time too many for me!!), I can remember many evenings spent at "Chan", as she and I called it, waiting at the bar while Mom had her gin and tonic (Beefeater or Tanqueray only), dry with a twist, and we waited for a booth to open up.  I remember how she loved the side dishes as much as the main meal - the sliced vegetables to start, the home style potatoes, sauteed vegetables and the French fried onions...there was never a morsel left on the plates. 

This all came back to me as I perused her Golden Recipes book and came across a recipe for Ethel's Pickled Tongue, written on a calendar page from Tuesday September 17th, 1968 (not even 1 month after I was born).  Ethel is one of Mom's 2 best friends.  They share a birthday and a lifelong friendship.  They shared meals, recipes and many memories.

While I have no intention of making this recipe, I just loved the back story and wanted to share it with you, and her grandchildren - for whom I write this blog as a record of our family recipes and memories. 

If you like meat, and enjoy preparing more "exotic" dishes, you may want to try Ethel's Pickled Tongue.  Above is the original recipe, written in Mom's hand.  If you like lobster, steak or Chinese food, you will definitely want to try the House of Chan, just make a reservation first!

Until next time, I wish you a wonderful day filled with family, fun, friends and fantastic food.  B'Tayavon & Buon Appetito!

From Sugo to Sauce...

My home-made sauce

After I finished my post about our adventure in pasta-making I realized that my Sugo 101 post gives you step-by-step directions on turning tomatoes into sugo, but does not tell you how you get from Sugo (boiled, crushed Roma tomatoes) to sauce...

OK - it is soooooo easy!


Naomi's Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
1 jar of tomatoes
1 jar of passata
2 tbsp canola or olive oil
1 tbsp margarine
3 - 4 slices of onion (cooking is fine)
1 tsp garlic (I used frozen cubes - they don't burn)
salt to taste

Method:
In a medium saucepan, combine oil, margarine, onion and garlic.  Saute until translucent (careful not to burn the onion and garlic).  Then add your home-made jarred sugo.  If you don't have home-made sugo, you can used canned or jarred crushed/pureed tomatoes otherwise known as passata.  In fact, to stretch our sugo stash, we often add passata to our tomatoes and prefer La San Marzano brand (you can buy it at Costco).  Season with salt, to taste.  Let it reach a soft boil, and then reduce the heat to low, leaving your sauce to simmer - the longer the better!

* there are a variety of variations to this sauce - sometimes we add something to simmer for added flavour: a few carrots (sliced into smaller pieces), meatballs or stewing beef.

* if I have time, I might even prepare the sauce, let it simmer  for an hour or 2 on the stove, and then put the sauce in a crock pot to simmer, unattended, for hours.  Yumm!

* this sauce freezes well, and keeps for months!  We often freeze smaller batches of sauce for a quick pastina fix (broth with small cooked pasta and a hint of sauce), and larger batches for a meal on a rushed night.

Combine oil, margarine, onion and garlic in medium saucepan.
Saute on medium heat until onions and garlic are translucent.

Add your home-made sugo
(2011 - it was a good year!)

Add passata 

Bring to soft boil, then reduce heat and simmer...

I hope you enjoy our sauce as much as we do.  Until next time, I wish you a wonderful day filled with family, fun, friends and fantastic food.  B'Tayavon & Buon Appetito!

Plutzing for Panzerotti!

The February blahs came late this year, and landed in my lap this first week of March.

Becca and I were pretty pooped after returning home fresh off our competition high following a whirlwind weekend in Hamilton.  Lucky for me, I have a wonderful husband who is also a wonderful cook.  As I sat with my cousin Kate in a darkened theatre, shepping nachas (reaping pride/pleasure) over our dancing daughters, I received a text from Carlo telling me that sauce was simmering on the stove already.  What a relief.

But that only took care of Sunday!  Being away all weekend meant that I did not plan the week's meals, nor did I shop for the ingredients to make them.  As a controlling Leo, this spelled disaster!

Monday was a tough one...ultimately I did away with the meatless theme, opting instead for Chicken Cacciatore.  As Sara helped me prepare dinner, I decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and we made a chili for the following night.  Phew, one less thing to worry about!

Then, in the blink of an eye, Wednesday crept up on me and I had to come up with a dinner idea....again!!!  Remember, ideally dinner in our house should be transformable into the following day's lunch fare (our kids are not sandwich fans).

What about pizza?  No way!  Sara does not like my pizza - which, by the way, I love!  It is all gooey and saucy and cheesy like the pizza in Eat Pray Love {{sigh}}.  I was craving pizza and trying to figure out how to sneak it in for dinner when a light bulb went off - panzerotti!  I was sure that it would pass muster with Carlo and the girls...and so I started scanning Pinterest, and I found a recipe for baked panzerotti.  I reviewed the baking method and decided that this was something I could do on my own.

After work I rushed to my local No Frills and picked up the few missing ingredients (including prepared pizza dough from Nino D'Aversa) and off I went to try my hand at making panzerotti.

As Carlo sat with me and grated the mozzarella (I told you he was wonderful!), I preheated the oven to 425 degrees, kneaded a double recipe of dough and separated it into 6 balls.  As my chunky tomato sauce bubbled on the stove, I chopped green pepper and green olives and then it was time to assemble dinner.

First I rolled the dough into a circle, on the counter top.  I then layered it with sauce, cheese and veggies.  After one quick flip and a whole lot of pinching, my panzerotto was ready to be transferred onto a greased cookie sheet.  I quickly learned that transferring a full panzerotto from counter to baking sheet is not so easy...the next lesson I learned is that placing a dough circle on a hot pizza stone drastically limits the time you have to fill it before flipping and sealing - the stone starts cooking the dough on contact!!  By my sixth, and final attempt I think I ironed out most of the kinks (by making a new mistake with each one).  Here is what I learned:

1. Fill your panzerotti directly on the baking sheet/pizza
stone; that way you avoid transfer spillage!

2.  It is better to use an unheated baking sheet/pizza stone;
that way the outside doesn't start to cook
before you've had a chance to seal it!

3. Make sure to leave enough space at the
edge of your dough for successful sealing
-and -
4. Do not use "wet" sauce, the thicker the better
to avoid leaking and ensure successful sealing
-and
6. To ensure a tight seal all the way across, pinch at least twice! 

5. Size matters - smaller is better for the personalized panzerotto! 

7. Use a lower oven temperature (350 degrees) and
bake for longer (25 minutes or until golden brown); crispy crust is nice , but you don't
want to  have to use a saw to cut it!!

All in all it was fun to make these panzerotti, and Carlo, Dad and I enjoyed them.  Sara and Becca were not so impressed, but then again, they are not pizza fans these days.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some!

Until next time, I wish you a wonderful day filled with family, fun, friends, and fantastic food!  B'Tayavon & Buon Appetito!

Dad's an Octogenarian!! Happy Birthday Daddy - Auntie Nora's Asparagus Vinaigrette

To look at my father you would never believe he is 80 years old.  He does not look 80, and he sure does not act it!!  People are often shocked when I tell them his age, as they usually gage him to be somewhere in his 60s.

The last 8 years have been hard on our family, with the slow and agonizing loss of Mom to Alzheimer's Disease.  We have had to rebuild our lives and, in some respects, start anew.  No-one has had to do this more than Dad.  He has lost his life partner and best friend.  

Not a day goes by that we don't talk about Mom, reminisce and remember life as it was when she was well and "making our home".  Mom always said that the woman makes the home, setting the standard for the family.  Looking back now, I see that was true - she set the tone of the house, as did her mother and grandmother before her.  I can feel that tie that binds me to them, as I have assumed the role of matriarch of this family, carrying their standards forward into the next generation.  I would compare it to osmosis, it just seems to filter down through the generations, from mother to daughter.  

There are no words to express the overwhelming happiness that I feel when I see our daughters, young as they may be, already demonstrating those same standards and values.  Their recognition of the importance of family, and the binding force of food almost seems innate.  And then on Sunday, as I was preparing the final dishes for Dad's dinner, Sara came in and took over, making the vinaigrette for our asparagus (thank you!!!).  She took her 4-year-old cousin Abby by the hand, and patiently guided her through each step.  Oh, how Mom would have kvelled (burst with pride and happiness), I know I did.

So, that brings me to today's post...Dad's 80th.

At first, Davie and I were thinking of a party - Mom had wanted to throw one for Dad's 75th, but life was so challenging back then that I could not think about preparing and catering for a large group.  Looking back I wish I had found the energy to do it, as it would have been the last party for her.  But regret is useless, so I try to move forward and forgive my own shortcomings in the same way I know she would have forgiven them.  But Dad did not want a party - he said that all he wanted was to be surrounded by the people he loves most in this world - us!

What to do?  We thought about taking him out to a fancy restaurant for a decadent meal - not such an easy task, remember - he observes Kashruth, so that limited our choices...

And then it hit me, as he was raving (which he NEVER does) over my Zharkoye (beef stew - Russian style).  These days a luxury for my father is a home-cooked meal that takes him back to a time when it was commonplace, when Mom made dinners all the time and we took for granted the idea that she always would.

No one cooks like Mom did, but they say that I rank a close second, and I am the only one carrying the recipes and traditions forward.  So I suggested it to Davie, and he agreed - a home cooked meal, surrounded by his immediate family was the way to go.

Now that we had settled the what and where, it was time to figure out a menu - always a sad moment for me because I don't have Mom to bounce dishes and ideas off of anymore.  For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you will remember that I am not a fan of meat, but all the men, Becca and Abby are, and one of their all-time favourites is a rib roast.  So, naturally, dinner was built around the rib roast.  And a Baba Dora salad (Baba Dora being his mom!).  But what else?  Lena is vegetarian, Sara is allergic to fish, I prefer chicken and so does Sara...hmmm...the rest are pretty easygoing...

I rounded out dinner with a cherry tomato pasta (sans the cheese), Baba Ethel Roasted Potatoes, roasted chickpeas, Sara's garlic bread and  Auntie Nora's Asparagus Vinaigrette (another family favourite from Mom's best friend and our adopted aunt - Nora).

Dinner was a success, the roast was devoured, and, most importantly, we were together and Dad was happy.

Oh, and for dessert - homemade birthday cake, of course!

I hope you enjoy Auntie Nora's Asparagus Vinaigrette as much as we all do, but you're on your own as far as preparation goes, Sara's all mine!  Until next time, I wish you a wonderful day filled with family, fun, friends and fantastic food!  B'Tayavon & Buon Appetito!



Auntie Nora's Asparagus Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• ½C olive oil
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 4 tbsp red wine vinegar (I am allergic to red wine and use white vinegar)
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ freshly ground pepper
• minced parsley and/or snipped chives (to taste)
• 2 hard boiled eggs (chopped)
• asparagus (ends snipped off)

Method - Asparagus:

Parboil the asparagus until they are barely tender.  Drain and immediately place into ice water to stop the cooking process.  Drain asparagus and set out on plate/platter (with a lip) to serve.  Shortly before serving, drizzle asparagus with vinaigrette and garnish with chopped egg.

Method - Vinaigrette:

Measure mustard into bowl.  Whisk in vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and herbs.  Continue to whisk, while slowly dribbling in olive oil.  ** This should be made just before using, but it can be stored (via leftovers) in refrigerator for a few days.  

Happy Birthday Nonno - 85 Years Young!

Some 24 years ago I started dating this gorgeous Italian guy.  I met Carlo when I was working as a manager of a frozen yogurt shop and I thought he'd be perfect for my best friend, Dee.  He was handsome, funny and charming - what's not to like?  Every day he would pass by my shop and tell me a joke to brighten my otherwise boring daily routine, and we'd chat over a Swiss Mocha coffee.  When Dee finally came down to meet him she look at me quizzically and asked why I was introducing her to a man I was obviously in love with...

In her speech at our wedding, Mom said she knew Carlo was more than a friend when she walked by my bedroom door and heard a man's voice on the answering machine (yes, I am dating myself) saying "Ciao Bella"...Mom loved Carlo from day one...she called him her son-in-love.   They had much in common back then - a love of red meat, Genoa salami and gin and tonics but to name a few.  

When I met Carlo's parents I was taken aback by their instant welcoming warm embrace - literally!  Mama Bruni came to the door wearing a smile from ear to ear, arms open and ready to hug me, which she did.  All the nervousness melted away and I knew this family was one in which I could fit.  My father-in-law was friendly and welcoming, with a loud laugh and a big smile.  The same reaction I have seen him share with everyone who comes to their home.  Which leads me to the subject of today's post - Papa Bruni.

Today marks the 85th birthday of the Bruni partiarch.  Ortenzio was born in Calabria, one of 9 children to Pasquale and Maria Rosa Bruni.  They were a hard-working family who struggled to survive, their focus being to feed their large family and keep them safe through the Depression and World War II. (Sounds like an Italian version of my own father's Russian Jewish family, no?).

Nonno, Nonna and our girls on their
61st Wedding Anniversary (September 2012)

My father-in-law will often regale us with stories of his childhood, how he met my mother-in-law when they were children - it's at that point he gets a far-off look in his eyes, looks at Rebecca, and says how much she reminds him of "Toni" as a girl.  Some stories are funny, some are sad, but all are heartwarming.  Stories about how he wooed my mother-in-law, and changed the course of his life in order to win her hand in marriage (he had saved all his money and bought a ticket for Argentina, and Mama Bruni's father said he would only allow them to marry if he moved to Canada - thanks Nonno Cesare - otherwise Carlo and I would never have met!).  So many stories, so little time.

And tonight we will gather to celebrate his reaching this milestone the way he prefers it - in an understated, quiet evening spent with his family at home.  

Nonno and 3 of his grandkids on his 85th birthday

I wanted to do something to let him know how special he is to all of us, and to me...so I baked a vanilla cake garnished with chocolate "85"s.  He is not much of a sweet tooth, but I know he'll have a small piece and smile to himself as he looks around and sees the legacy he built, his family.  

Nonno - Buon Compleanno e Cento Anni!  Auguri!