Recipes for Body and Soul

By Vera Rossano Gaudiani

Meems life has been full of faith, food and family. This book is a witness to each of these. We three put this book together to honor Meem, to thank her, and to share her amazing gifts in all three categories with us all.

You will find her spiritual writings, her recipes, and occasional lists of things she had to do as she was preparing her spiritual lessons. We left in the occasional lists as a witness to multi-tasking, always one of her great skills. Most all of us still have so much to learn from her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483604329

Vera Rossano Gaudiani

Vera Rossano Gaudiani celebrates her 90th birthday with four of her six children, thirteen grandchildren ten great grandchildren, and scores of family and friends at her bi-coastal parties. She would say that Vincent, her husband of 63 years, Elissa, Bill, and baby grandson, August, are also present in these festivities from their celestial coast. Recipes for Body and Soul tells the story of this unique post WW II bride who educated herself at home in nutrition, spirituality, and theology while raising a large family. She also created a unique blend of food and faith that enriched her family through several generations with the strengths of each. She was married in World War II and with a baby in arms, she received a Missing in Action letter from the Air Force in 1945. She eventually welcomed her young officer husband home after his release from Japanese POW camp. Five more children and multiple moves later, she began volunteer ministry to the sick and to preparing children in her parish for the sacraments. Vera credits her parents and family for the traditions of faith, food and family that she inherited and now passes on in her life and in this book. It is, as she has reminded us so often, a set of values and beliefs, that has nourished our family for thousands of years… Now, secular, materialistic, “carry out” life tries to push these traditions aside… Undaunted, she fights the good fight knowing the best of modern life will incorporate these traditions and that they will endure. Recipes is meant to help. Her creative joy in the kitchen is contagious and she has taught an army of her own children and their children to cook! Inspired by the rich culinary traditions of her Italian heritage, she recognized the unique nutritional value of the Mediterranean diet long before it became chic. Along with her culinary achievements Vera focused on the essential ingredients that nourish the soul. The spiritual writings of Recipes for Body and Soul were unearthed during her move from Indianapolis to Greenbrae, California. These writings constitute another set of very personal recipes full of ingredients designed to produce spiritual health. Today Vera, “Meem” to her grandchildren, still manages her own home, spends hours in vigorous prayer, in cooking, baking, and pursuing her regular gym routine three times a week. She car pools to the gym with other nonagenarians and pays her way in health muffins or fresh biscotti. Her family and friends by the dozens recognize in Vera a happy, optimistic woman of great character. Her faith enables her reality to open space for transcendence and anticipate her God who embraces all.

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Copyright © 2013 by Vera Rossano Gaudiani. 131404-GAUD

ISBN: Softcover 978-1-4836-0430-5

Hardcover 978-1-4836-0431-2

Ebook 978-1-4836-0432-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/09/2013

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

Sweet Biscotti

Buttermilk Cake

Morning Prayers

Father

Personal Introduction

I

II

Personal Reflections

More Personal Reflections

Still More Personal Reflections

Personal Reflections

Personal Reflections

Personal Reflections

Personal Reflections

Personal Reflections

The Roman Catholic Mass

The Mass Connects Us To Christ As Man And As God.

Pesto

Advent

Advent

The Annunciation To Mary By The Angel Gabriel

Advent Is Waiting For Christ With Us

Christmas Morning! Christ With Us At Last!

Ordinary Time

How Can We Think About This Passage About Jesus And His Parents?

Minestrone Soup

Jesus Carries His Cross

Bean Soup

Three F Pie Crust

Persecution

Courage

Some More Hearty Winter Dinners

Lent

Hot Cross Buns

Conversations With The Young Mothers Of The Parish

Focaccia

Vera Gaudiani’s Focaccia

The Sacrament Of Reconciliation

Meat Balls

Pasta Con Faggiole

Gaudiani Family Lasagne

Meem’s Minted Zucchini/Carrots

Reconciliation

Pesto

Eucharist

Mothers And Prayer Life

Coming To The Lord With An Open Heart

Stuffed Peppers

Holiness

We Are Sinners

Resurrection

Who Is Our God?

Who Is This Jesus?

Ricotta Filling For Cassata Or Cannoli

Vera’s Best Whole Wheat Bread And Biscotti Integrale

Preparing Children For The Sacraments Of Reconciliation And Holy Communion

The Sacrament Of Holy Eucharist

Reconciliation And Holy Communion, Continued

The Sacrament Of Reconciliation Is Powerful Because My God Knows Me. The Psalmist Tells Me This.

Meditation

Teaching The Sacrament Of Confirmation Through Sharing Scripture

Live With A Sense Of Gratitude. Dealing With Your Own Weaknesses.

Gaudiani’s Italian Bread And Pizza Dough

The Month Of May Dedicated To Mary

The Rosary

The Joyful Mysteries

Eggbread - 2013

Mary: Role Model For The Nineties

I Feel His Presence

DEDICATION

To Our Blessed Lord And His Holy Mother…

To My Parents, My Husband, And My Family Who Have Always

Surrounded Me With Love And Hope…

I Dedicate This Book With Deepest Gratitude.

FOR MY CHILDREN,

MY GRANDCHILDREN,

GREAT GRANDCHILDREN,

AND THEIR CHILDREN!

IN SHARED CELEBRATION OF OUR GREAT TRADITIONS

OF FAITH, FOOD, AND FAMILY. I CAN THINK OF NO

RICHER GIFTS TO GIVE YOU, WITH SO MUCH LOVE,

Meem

March 15, 2013

Aquinas and Merton both say that there is not a single person whose goodness does not far outweigh his or her evil. Evil cannot be, if goodness is not there as the ground it disfigures. To believe is to be free to trust in God quite alone and to be free from every other form of dependence and reliance. Faith is a matter of freedom and self-determination, a free receiving of a freely given gift of grace…pure and simple grace, naturally enveloping warmth…the big warm-up…the chill is gone. VRG

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PREFACE

Meem’s life has been full of faith, food and family. This book is a witness to each of these. We three put this book together to honor Meem, to thank her, and to share her amazing gifts in all three categories with us all.

You will find her spiritual writings, her recipes, and occasional lists of things she had to do as she was preparing her spiritual lessons. We left in the occasional lists as a witness to multi-tasking, always one of her great skills. Most all of us still have so much to learn from her.

Besides her parish teaching and great cooking and child raising, Meem spent eighteen years bringing Holy Communion to sick people in hospitals. She found this pastoral work a great comfort especially after the sudden death of her youngest child, Bill when he was just twenty-nine. She had had him when she was forty-five years old, so, he was raised like an only child. Only Mike was still home to share Bill’s babyhood and growing up.

Her Faith gave her the strength to sustain the loss of this beloved child. She stood over his open casket surrounded by the rest of the five of us and our children and said: Bill, God gave you to me by surprise and He has taken you from me by surprise and that is His privilege.

In the same way a decade later, as her daughter Elissa was dying in confusion and discomfort after years of illness, Meem held her child’s face in her two hands and told Elissa that it was ok to release herself to the arms of God and his blessed mother who awaited her. Elissa became calm and slipped away.

All the words of the spiritual pages you will read are Meem’s. She wrote them from 1983 to 2012. She made some of these notes in preparation for teaching little children in her parish as they prepared for Holy Communion, Reconciliation and Confirmation. Other notes were made to prepare her to speak to the parents of these children so they could help their little ones get the idea of these sacraments and also help them teach their children how to pray, how to meet Jesus, and grow to know Him and love Him. Many notes were her own meditations which she has agreed to share with us.

Other passages come from retreat days where she spoke to young mothers who were trying to balance their own lives with the needs of their little children, and husbands, and also open their kids to faith and to prayer.

As an experienced mother of six, her credentials were pretty convincing. Her marriage of many years (sixty-three in all) also made her an eternally optimistic survivor of wifehood and motherhood, a source of hope for the young women who attended her classes and retreats.

You will find that Meem taught by using many passages from Scripture to illustrate points she was making. We included these passages because few of us have Bibles handy in the kitchen to reference the points Meem is making. She uses the Scripture texts so well, it seemed too bad to miss the point she was making to whoever her students were…including us!

She prepared carefully for teaching, whether children or adults. The notes here are typed up from her hand-written prep notes. All of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have done well in school and in careers. Some of our achievements are reflected in the powerful example of thinking, writing and editing that Meem showed in her parish life, doing her best job, always, just as she taught us all to do.

The recipes are all ones that are Meem signature specialties. Some of us already make many of them, but we thought it would be a good idea to bring all of Meem’s special treats into one place. We decided to include them in their original form, not re-typed, but rather in the images we remember from Meem’s cookbooks and her New York Times clippings.

In Meem’s family, food always had very special meaning. Besides filling stomachs, food was highest quality nutrition, deep links with Italian traditions, often linked to the Church year, like Easter or Christmas main dishes, breads and pastries, and finally some foods were linked to Saint’s feast days. Food, faith and family traditions were all in a related space.

Food mostly prepared from scratch at home also meant LOVE. Thankfully, Meem never has opposed cake or brownie mixes, which she usually doctors to improve, but she is immensely efficient and not stuck on old ways just to uphold tradition. She, like her own Mama, loves every up-to-date kitchen machine or appliance as soon as it is invented. She was a pioneer in food processing the kneading of bread. Kitchen-Aid and Cuisinart should have awarded her stock in their companies.

Of course, filling stomachs was important, but from her own household growing up, nutrition was a critical consideration for everything served. Her father, Papa Augusto, explained what wheat germ was to his children when Meem was still in grammar school! The family ate whole wheat bread because it was more nourishing. Long before butter and even corn oil margarine became suspected of connections to lower health outcomes, our family was mainlining olive oil. Meem believed in a balanced diet: deep green leafies were a sacred addition to almost all meals except breakfast.

Our links with our Italian traditions lived on decade after decade because wherever Meem lived she figured out how to make what she couldn’t find. No biscotti integrale or Italian whole wheat bread in Indianapolis? No problem. Meem invented how to make them. Long before Il Fornaio came out with their cook book with sweet biscotti (a l’anice etc.) recipes, Meem had figured out how to make those too. Meem made her own pasta and her own pizza dough before Lydia Bastianich ever held a wooden spoon. But Meem never made a big deal of her prowess. Whatever she did was just dinner and she wanted us to be healthy and pleased.

Because she made hot cross buns for Ash Wednesday and Zeppoli di San Giuseppe on March 19, Saint Joseph’s feast day, and strufoli for New Year’s, we felt lucky to have been born Italian American Catholics.