As summer approaches, and children are out of school, many mothers are having their hands full trying to keep their children busy and involved in some kind of activity.  My granddaughter, Gina, remembers those hot summer days when she was a little girl selling lemonade on a homemade stand at .25 a glass trying to make some money to go to summer camp.   Gina asked me, “Nonna, what did you do when you were a little girl out of school for the summer.”  Gina, first let me tell you how lucky our children are to be living in this beautiful country of ours.  Today they have so much, anything they can imagine and wish for.  I remember those long summer days in Italy on a farm when I was a very young girl.  It was so long ago, before the Second World War. The first time I discovered a lemon on a marketplace, I was a teenage girl.  Not only did we not have lemonade, we didn’t even have lemons or lemon trees as they don’t grow in the north of Italy because the climate is too cold. Even in the south, where the weather is warmer, they don’t even have them in abundance.  But at Christmas time it was a treat to find one or two oranges in my stocking along with nuts and candy.  The most fun I remember was on Sundays, after service. Outside in a little piazza, there was a man selling granatina, (ice cones). Momma will buy us each one, and we got to choose our flavor.  Other times we would visit Zia Amabile, my mothers’ older sister. She had a food stand and my mom would buy the biggest watermelon she could find and cut it in many slices so we could have one or two pieces each. It was so good, I remember eating the green parts too, down to the skin. When there was a festival of some kind in the village, we all participated and I got to ride a Merry Go Round and eat candy and cookies. On hot days, we would jump rope or ride our bicycles, and swim or bathe in the river not to far from our home. On bad or rainy days we would play cards, checkerboards and we would play “marbles” but we used rocks instead.  Some member of the family with more education would read us some storybooks like Romeo and Juliet, or Three Musketeers or passages from the Bible.  In the Evening we would play hide and seek and chase the fireflies singing a little song. ‘Lucciula, lucciula, vien da me, che ti daro il pan del Re. Il pan della Regina lucciula, lucciula picolina.’  Which means ‘Light light come to me, that I will give you the bread of the King and Queen, my little light.’  But we were not all angels, sometimes, in the evening a bunch of us children will go and steal some fruit from other people’s property. And then be scolded from our parents.  So Gina, my love, we didn’t have much or many things but we were happy and contented. Today the more I look at our society, and the world we live in, the more I miss those simple innocent years of my youth.
Ciao, Happy Summer
Love Nonna

 
The Rescued Recipe for this week is Lemon Cheesecake and you’re going to love it.

 
For the Crust
1 C ground Lemon Wafers or Nilla Wafers
3 Tbs melted butter
1 tsp lemon extract
Grease and 8×8 spring form with butter. Mix wafers with butter and lemon in a bowl. Coat the spring form bottom and sides with the mixture and set aside.

 
For the cake filling
24 oz of soft cream cheese (3 Packages)
1 C sugar
4 Eggs
1/3 C fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs Flour

In a medium bowl mix together cream cheese, sugar and eggs When creamy add lemon juice, lemon peel, vanilla, and flour and blend well. Pour into the prepared spring form.  Bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes. Check for doneness by gently shaking the pan. It is set when it doesn’t juggle anymore.
Remove and cool for 20 minutes.  Gently removed the sides of  the spring form pan.

Glaze Topping
On a small pan, put 1 tsp unflavored gelatin, and 3 Tbs water. Bring to a boil stirring constantly.  Once boiling, remove from heat and add 1/3 C lemon juice. Stir well and drizzle over a cold cake. You can then decorate it with lemon slices if you want.

For a full color picture of the Lemon Cheesecake, click here to go to the Rescued Recipes Section.