If you have ever visited Wilmington, NC, you may have stumbled upon one of my favorite spots, "La Gemma Fine Italian Pastries". I know why they call it Fine Italian Pastries because they are so very, very F.I.N.E!
(aka,
FABULOUS.
INCREDIBLE.
NAUGHTY.
EXQUISITE.)
(Just check out the pictures on their FB page...
https://www.facebook.com/lagemmaitalianpastries)
I had to go there today (to Wilmington, not La Gemma, although I think it is a necessity.)
I did what any woman with a conscience would do; had a salad for lunch...
and went straight to La Gemma, bought three cookies and some wonderful custard-filled
delightful pastry!
delightful pastry!
When I go there, it takes me back to my childhood in NY state. My mom would buy flaky,
mouth-watering Italian pastries for every occasion that strangely seemed to revolve
around the Catholic Church...First Communions, Confirmations, Weddings, etc.
And, everyone always baked the most delicious authentic Italian cookies. No table was complete without a platter! I have no idea how I managed to remain a stick figure with all my teeth back then.
Every Easter there was a very special Bird in a Nest cookie that my Grandmother made. We all got one; a huge 8-inch biscuit cookie with a hard-boiled egg in the middle, slathered with 1 inch of sweet icing and covered with sprinkles. Apparently the bird never survived the oven because it was supposed to be sitting on top of the nest. (I doubt my Grandmother had Michelangelo's talent, so I'm sure that contributed to it's absence.)
That one cookie weighed about 5 pounds, was hard as a rock and lasted us until the fourth of July.
(...I'm sure the Church had something special happening that day, no doubt!)
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