Nonny's Italian Hot Pot
It’s no secret that food and family are synoymous with Italian cuisine. I was lucky enough to experience this first-hand thanks in great part to Anne Ferlo. Anne died Oct. 17 at age of 85.
She was great-grandmother, or Nonny, to my children Luke and Kate. Mother and grandmother to close friends I used to call family and always will in my heart.
Above all, Anne was a kindred Epicurean spirit. She lived a long life and didn’t waste a chance to celebrate: holidays, birthdays, Fridays…you name it. She and her surviving husband Guido came to work at Tinker Air Force Base from Rome, New York. They brought with them the true Italian spirit: family first, work hard, take care of what’s yours, celebrate like tomorrow isn’t promised.
Guido, her husband of 63 years, still works for the Oklahoma Blood Institute and can still play any musical instrument you put in front of him – a ditch-digger’s heart with music in his soul. Anne was no different.
When it came to food, she took it seriously since it wasn’t so easy to come by when she was a child and didn’t take it for granted. She was a fantastic cook, introducing me to Italian pork roast, cannoli, harvest loaf, noodles Romanoff, macaroni salad, and the greatness of a simple salad with homemade vinaigrette, a loaf of good bread and a bottle of wine. A member of the Greatest Generation, she danced to Glenn Miller and the James brothers for the USO in a burst of champagne bubbles. When she met Guido in 1944, the pace didn’t slow as he was one of the boys in the band.
