Ciao! My name is Solae’ the taller, younger, less Italian half of Mamma Mangia.
I am the 7th of 10 children in a big, loud Italian family. Growing up in a small town in Utah I knew 10 other Italians…and I was related to all of them.
I wasn’t raised with other Italians, not even cousins.
I don’t speak Italian.
I didn’t know my Nonna.
I have never been to Italy.
BUT….
I am Italian-American.
My mom was born in Sicily and I have a deep love of my Italian roots.
If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would one day start a public social media account and business I would have literally laughed out loud. I am an introvert at heart and the thought of thousands of people “following” my life…unimaginable.
So how did we get here? Well, it’s all because of a cookbook. If you don’t know about the cookbook take a minute and jump over to this post and read about the cookbook that changed our lives and kickstarted this little venture.
I have always been proud of my Italian heritage. If you are Italian you know you claim every and any percentage that you can and tell everyone about it (IYKYK). That being said, the cookbook turned my “Italian Pride” into something more. It became a part of who I am. I piece of me that I never knew was missing. I felt a connection to people I never knew but who were rooted in my identity somehow. Their stories are part of mine. Because they lived, I live.
Families are messy. Ours is no exception but you may just come to see that it can be a beautiful mess.
All of this because of a cookbook? I know it sounds crazy…but if you dive deep into your family’s recipes you may just learn that those recipes are so much more than just a list of ingredients and instructions. They hold memories, traditions, stories. Your story. Between those messy handwritten lines that you can barely decipher lies a person who lived a life you may only know a small fraction about.
I didn’t know most of my Italian ancestors but the connection I feel to them is deep.
Our biggest hope in sharing our stories and recipes with you is to ignite that same fire within your soul. Go learn YOUR story. Find the recipes that tell the stories of YOUR family. Make the food that brings YOUR family together.
Take the time to learn, to cook, to carry on tradition. Let the art of cooking heal your heart and enrich your soul and connect you to a piece of yourself that you never knew was missing.
Ciao Amici
Solae’
