Graziella’s Kitchen

As many of you know my big Italian family is at my heart always and has guided me in so many ways to be who I am today. 

I have a special story to share with you.  It was like being part of a movie, but it was the magic of life. 

My great-grandmother traveled from Italy by boat to the U.S. when she was a teenager and never returned. Sadly, she lost touch with her family. For years growing up I wondered if we still had family in Italy.  When my husband Jimi and I were on our honeymoon in 1998 we went exploring on the Amalfi Coast as I wanted to find my roots and the town my Great-Grandmother Angelina was born, Agerola, Italy.

What happened next I never expected. It was magical and serendipitous.

If you have ever taken a workshop with me you know how much my Great-Grandmother influenced me and how her birth stories inspired me.  She is where my interest in gentle, pleasurable Orgasmic Birth began. 

When Jimi and I went to Italy, I not only found the town Angelina was born in, I found so much more – my family who was still living in the same town and owned the home my great-grandmother was born in!

I learned my cousins were on a summer holiday in Ischia and we were put in touch via phone.  My cousin, Graziella had spent a few years in the U.S. in High School so her English was great thankfully, as I didn’t speak Italian!  She invited us to come to visit her on Ischia the next day.

Being on our honeymoon we had time so the next day Jimi and I  drove through Naples to the ferry and headed off to Ischia. 

I will never forget as the ferry was pulling up to the dock, I saw Graziella and I knew it was her.  She had such a strong family resemblance and a great big smile.  She welcomed us as if we had known each other forever.  She had cooked up a feast of food that I can still see and taste in my mind.  It was the most delicious meal I’d ever had!   We felt right at home, just like a perfect film story. Graziella’s mother, Maria, who we call “Nonna” shared stories of the family and we could feel the same energy I had grown up with and loved from my grandmother and great-grandmother. 

We had just met but we fast friends and cousins already in our hearts.  Almost every year since then I’ve visited Graziella and her family in Agerola – learning her cooking and bringing friends and leading retreats to share the beauty of the region and Graziella’s delicious food and hospitality.  

I asked Graziella for recipes and in our discussion, the seed was planted that she needed to write a cookbook.  I wanted a cookbook for me and all our family and others who share my passion for the delicious tastes and love of Southern Italy that Graziella’s cooking provides.