Bella Mangiare - Beautiful Eating

My mother, Josephine Taglialavora, was the inspiration for this book. She was born on March 27, 1942, into a working class, Italian Family. In those days, large family gatherings would take place on a weekly basis and, being Italian, those gatherings put a major focus on food, food... and more food. Josephine would watch her mother, Rosalie LaVora, cook large meals for her family and quickly caught on to creative ways to cook and use spices and herbs. As a mother, Josephine lived a hectic life raising five children, all while running a company she built from the ground up. She didn't cook family dinners every night because she simply did not have time. However, on many occasions, she would host family dinners and cook dishes such as pasta and meatballs, Sicilian steak, salad, and fresh bread. In her later years, Josephine watched her marriage dissolve and cooking became a refuge. My mother was inventive and creative in her later years when she found herself again through cooking. My mother and I began discussing making a cookbook to share our joy cooking and our family's recipes with the world. We began talking about what recipes we should put in the book and how we wanted the book look. My mother suggested "Bella Mangiare" as the title of the book and I loved it! My world was turned upside down when I received a call from my son telling my mother was ill and was being rushed to the hospital. Ten days later, she was gone. As I sat by her bedside, never leaving her room, she told me to finish the cookbook we started, and that is just what I did. After three years, I realized it was time to stop mourning and start celebrating her life. I present to you a commemoration of my mother and the book to celebrate our passion for cooking...

My passion for cooking began when I was a little girl. I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up living next door to my grandparents. My grandma (Nana) had a large fresh herb garden in her yard along with a huge vegetable garden. I would spend many afternoons with her picking bundles of herbs that she would use to make dinners. My grandmother would pick the herbs, pass them to me and ask me what I thought they smelled like before telling me what the names of the herbs were. This was one of my favorite pastimes as a little girl. After we gathered the herbs we would go into the house and cook with them. My grandmother would teach me how to flavor the meals using the herbs we just picked. She and my grandfather's family came from Sicily and spoke mostly Italian in their home in the early years. My grandmother would talk to me in Italian as she taught me how to cook. My mother, Josephine, and I had a very similar style when it came to cooking. Of course, we wanted our food to be delicious, but we also wanted our food to be inventive. We used creative ways of using herbs and fresh ingredients to make beautiful food, hence the name of our book, "Bella Mangiare" Unfortunately, five years ago my mother's dream was cut short when she passed away from cancer. Honoring her memory has given me the strength to finish this dream we both started. I am delighted to share with you my family's traditions and our passion for cooking with this book of fresh and creative recipes to warm your heart.