We celebrated Nonna’s 78th birthday with good food, pretty flowers, and best friends. This was the first time we hosted a gathering at home since the 2019 holiday-season, so we wanted to make it count to honor and cherish my incredible mom. Maria Rosaria is literally the kindest and most selfless person I’ve ever known, and we are fortunate to get to celebrate her.
Good Food
I had been doing a ton of cooking at home during the pandemic, and in the process, really honed-in to elevate my skills, which was an awesome outcome of slowing down from work and the world outside. I wanted to share a little of what I have been working on, and have us serve more than a lot of good food to be ready to enjoy as soon as 4pm hit and our loved ones arrived.
We started with an Antipasto (Some of us call this charcuterie. Same thing, different culture.) that scaled our kitchen island. My daughter Sachi was in charge of putting this spread all together and on her own – and it was amazing! Earlier in the day, she made focaccia from scratch, using my no-knead dough recipe. It was inside the basket with the Padre Pio dishcloths. It was absolutely delicious. Her focaccia was the very first things to disappear!
Tri-tip was one of two main dishes. I worked on my Burgundy Pepper Tri Tip recipe, before the big day to make sure it was just right. I wanted there to be plenty, so I made two. It was so awesome! You should totally try this marinade and cooking-method if you love this cut of meat. We served it with brioche buns and barbecue sauce on the side. I noticed that most people were just going in for the meat as it was – no bun and no sauce. The flavor with the marinade alone is perfect and absolutely delicious. I was stoked!
While I was babysitting the two tri tips in the oven, my husband Rodney was at the barbecue outside, working to cook the Shrimp Boil. We had it all prepped with three kinds/sizes of shrimp, andouille sausage, corn on the cob pieces, and baby potatoes. It was seasoned with Old Bay, fresh lemon, and Italian parsley on top. We had two trays that we didn’t get through, so we sent our guests home with leftovers.
On the side, we had fresh fruit and berries, a pot of rice, green salad with cucumber and watermelon radish from our home-garden, baguette, etc… This was only last weekend and I honestly can’t think of any other food we prepared. The table was as full as our bellies! And then there was dessert.
I prepped a few dozen chocolate chip cookies that my son Nikko baked that morning, and a classic chocolate sheet cake that was cut into squares – no frosting, the way my husband loves it. Then there was Nonna’s birthday cake…
If you know my mom, and her favorite cake, you’ll know she requests the same thing every year: my (Mili’s Sweets) Pineapple Paradise. Since last year, I switched out the cake base for lemon instead of Vanilla Italia and she loves it even more this way. I soak the bottom layer in pineapple sauce, and for her, tuck-in a layer of Italian custard, and cover it in vanilla whipped cream and toasted coconut. She is so cute about how much she loves this cake. She only has a little since she is diabetic.
I decorated with pretty blossoms on top, to tie-in with the with arrangements I put together for her special day. There were other unspoken little touches, such as the tablecloths I used. Like this one, on our main dining room table, was made by my mom, and I wanted to have it out in honor of her. On the other tables, were coverings and napkins that she either she hand-made/embroidered, or we have as vintage keepsakes. These all mean something special to her, and I wanted her style and history incorporated to shine through inside our home.
Flowers
I wanted to fill our home (plus Nonna’s bedroom) with floral arrangements for her birthday. I like to keep flowers for her in her room as a regular thing, but her party-flowers had to be extra special inside and out. I shopped from a few different sources, and was super excited to get to use the flowers I grow in my garden at home.
All of the Dahlia used were picked from home. I have a few different varieties, and close to a dozen plants that are really starting to produce! I added pink Spray Roses and Carnations to remind Nonna of the flowers her own mom grew. Sachi and I loved all of the colors of the Yarrow, so we chose them as our main filler and went with Hoary Stock in pink as well. Besides my Dahlia, the main event were the David Austin “Juliet” Garden Roses because I love this blossom and the gorgeous coral color. Greenery to reach tall was Thlaspi-Pennycress. Greenery to drape low was Amaranthus.
My favorite was this first one I put together using a few of my Dahlia. It was so simple and I love the size and color “dinner plate” Cafe Au Lait.
Best Friends
The number one priority was to have my mom be with her two very best friends in the world. She had not seen Yolanda and Cuba since she retired. That with COVID made two years go by that she had not been in-person with the two ladies she had joyfully spent every weekday with for years. Without them, we couldn’t have had a real party.
So once Yolanda and Cuba gave the yes to my RSVP, we were all in, and they would be the guests of honor. I set a little table for them, and at the end of the evening, I gave them their own floral bouquets as a special party favor. The girls talked and laughed for hours!
My brother and his family came down from San Gabriel, and some of my friends (whom are like children to my mom since we have been friends for 30 or so years) and their kids, were able to be with us, and we haven’t been this happy and laughed this much in a long while. The kids were thrilled too. We did s’mores for them at the end of the evening.
I am still beaming about how great this whole day was, and how everything came together so beautifully for Nonna. I’m looking forward to the next time Mom gets to be with her best friends. She needs more special time like this – as we all do.
The last time we had a formal party for Nonna with invitations and the whole nine yards was for her 70th birthday. I can’t believe that was 8 years ago! At that time, my dad was still with us, and so was her oldest brother, and her best friend Pam. We all still remember it fondly. You can see how we celebrated this incredible woman eight years ago, in my earlier post: Celebrating my beautiful mother for her 70th.
Nonna lives with us, so we are a household of five. My children only know their Nonna living under their roof, so her grandchildren were very present and fully participated in the preparation (including deep house-cleaning) for their Nonna. They love her so much. You should see how they drop everything to help her and to show their love. It’s wonderful and as it should be. A little example: our laundry room is upstairs and Mom still prefers to wash her own clothes and linens. We don’t want her to have an accident so she is ‘not allowed’ to bring a full basket up and down the stairs. Sachi and Nikko take turns bringing items up and down for her, to and from her room. There’s never any complaining and it’s all done with joy. It’s one of my favorite things that happens in this home of ours. I think it is very important to remove any notion from our elders thoughts, that they could ever be even a slight burden. The opposite is true. Nonna has so much value, with all of her love and knowledge to share. With her, our family is complete, and completely blessed.
As I mentioned before, a lot of this blog is like my own little journal. (Thanks for being here.)
