Caramel Cake

By Rosanna's eldest daughter, Alessandra Wollner

For my 13th birthday, my mother made an extraordinary cake. I can’t recall why she decided to make this particular cake for that particular birthday, but after she did, there was no going back. Since the advent of my thirteenth birthday, I’ve had a decade to explore the vast realm of birthday cake prospects. Despite the staggering array of options, I’ve stayed faithful to one cake. Without fail, I have demanded and enjoyed the same extraordinary cake on every birthday since my 13th. 

What makes this cake special is the pitch perfect way in which the flavors harmonize with each other. The salty, sweet, buttery notes of the caramel frosting melt into the slightly savory, nutty essence of the cake crumb. My mother has awarded this cake with the highest accolade she bestows on food, calling it “Ambrosia of the Gods.” My great grandmother just called it Caramel Cake. 

For the complete recipe, as well as the continuation of this blog post, please visit the new location of Rosanna's Table Talk at http://rosannastable.blogspot.com.

Holla Hallah!

by rosanna's eldest daughter, alessandra wollner

When people invite you to their home for dinner, don’t come to their doorstep empty handed.

My mother never told me this lesson in so many words, but she did raise me well. Countless times before we went over to someone’s house, I watched her wrap up a pair of taper candles, stop to pick up the prettiest bouquet from the market, select a bottle of wine before leaving the house, or present a host with a set of Rosanna mugs.

Fresh out of college, the prettiest bouquets are the ones I filch from someone else’s backyard. The bottles of wine are, more often than not, two buck Chuck. Because I live in California, I can’t avail myself of free Rosanna product from my mother’s Seattle warehouse, much to my chagrin.  

Besides the challenge to find cost effective gifts for my hosts, I want them to know how much I appreciate and value their hospitality. This is why I have started making bread.

I’ve discovered that bread is an ideal item to bring to dinner. Presenting your hosts with something homemade is a heartfelt way to say thank you. And the best part about bread is that it doesn’t disturb anyone’s menu planning. Bread is a food that is incredibly beautiful and tremendously comforting. There’s such variation to this food that you can almost always find a recipe to suit the occasion and will mean something to the people who are feeding you. Lately, I’ve been going to a lot of dinners celebrating the day of rest, and so I’m making and bringing along hallah, a Jewish egg-bread similar to brioche.

Not all of us have time to make bread. I didn’t either until just recently. Not only that, all manner of dough used to deeply intimidate me. Now, I’m working through that fear. Making bread works for me. It might not work for you, but who knows?

Maybe it will.

p.s. Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for this bomb hallah recipe!

Pie Time

by rosanna's eldest daughter, alessandra wollner

Dilemma: What do you do when you have two frozen pie shells and you are moving out of your apartment in two days time?

Solution: You make pie.

Dilemma #2: There are two of you, and lots of pie, which contains vast quantities of butter that you do not want going straight to your thighs, but which you will eat in its entirety, if left to your own devices.

Solution #2: Go out for drinks, meet up with friends, invite friends over after last call for homemade pie.

Problem(s) solved.

Around the same time my mom wrote about throwing a spontaneous cupcake party, I found myself in my friend’s soon-to-be-vacated apartment with two frozen pie shells on my hands and a directive to do something with them. Having filled one shell with a peach/blueberry medley topped with a crumble crust (so so easy—just toss the fruit with some lemon juice, sugar, flour and cinnamon for the filling and mix together some oats, flour, butter and brown sugar for the crumble) and the other with simple custard and chopped strawberries (you can even use an instant pudding Jello mix for this if you want and dress up the pudding with other chopped fruit inside, like banana) we were on our way to pie city. TMP, (Too Much Pie) turned out to be the perfect excuse to have some friends over to chill. It was totally low-key, almost insultingly easy and utterly satisfying, socially and gastronomically.

Let them eat cake? NoNoNo—It’s all about the pie.

What I Learned From My Daughter...A Voyage From Childhood to Graduation From Brown University

I am very excited. On Thursday we are flying to Providence, Rhode Island to see my oldest daughter Alessandra graduate from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She is a creative nonfiction writer who wrote a thesis on style in nonfiction writing, and will graduate with honors. Needless to say, I am very, very proud of her.

Motherhood has been full of wonderful surprises for me. When I gave birth to Alessandra 22 years ago, I had no idea that my child would teach me as I raised her! What a great boon that we, as parents, learn and go new places through the endeavors of our children.

Raising Alessandra has been an amazing journey. I’ve watched her academic achievements grow more impressive with each year of her life, and taken such delight in watching her interests grow, an occasionally take me to places I’d never traveled—like Oklahoma City for the national mock trial championship competition. I had been a lucky spectator at countless plays from 6^th-12^th grade in which Alessandra had starring roles, and later watched plays Alessandra directed at university. I’ve reveled in her prose, and spent time with her friends, vivacious young adults full of promise and potential who reinvigorate and inspire me.

This moment is both a time for celebration and a time for reflection. As I think back, all I can see now is a little curly-headed blur streaking across my memory. Clearly, Alessandra’s energy as toddler was an early sign of the dynamic young woman she has become today. I am so excited to see where she will run next.

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Coming Home...and Leaving Again

My daughter Alessandra just left to start her last term at Brown. My heart breaks all over again every time she gets on a plane going east. I loved having her home for Winter Break because it encouraged me to experience the world in a new way. Whenever she comes home I connect in different ways, with different people.

Having a college-age child back home is an invigorating experience. College years are a time of growth and exploration. It is a time of constantly going outside of one’s comfort zone. I find when Alessandra is home she brings this energy into my life, too. Over the past month I’ve done a few things that I don’t do in my normal routine— I’ve gone out to a late night movie on a weeknight with Alessandra and a few of her friends. She’s taken me to drinks in a neighborhood I rarely frequent, and introduced new recipes to the family that I wouldn’t think to make.

Writers don’t often discuss the college-age child. It’s all about the toddler, the tween and the teen. And that makes sense; the 20’s are a decade of gaining independence from one’s parents and finding a separate identity. But your relationships with your children don’t have to suffer, even as they begin to make their own ways in the world. I think the key is to accept invitations to peek into their new lives as they become adults. Parent-child relationships change as children grow. It’s often difficult for parents to relearn to negotiate a world in which they don’t have to constantly consider a child’s needs.

This shift is tough, but there are ways to make the transition gracefully. For example:

Always accept an invitation extended by your college-age child. These experiences provide a poignant reminder of what it feels like to be flexible, curious and spontaneous.




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Francesca turns 13 with Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, and Friends

Whew! What a party! We just finished celebrating Francesca's 13th birthday. The last girls walked out our front door at 11 am on Sunday after a nearly 24-hour long celebration. Seven girls slept over (though I doubt that anyone actually spent much time sleeping) and dined on chocolate chip birthday breakfast pancakes when they awoke.

Francesca’s guests arrived on Saturday afternoon to participate in 43rd Street Runway based on the hit TV show Project Runway. (We named the party “43rd Street Runway” after the street we live on.) Each girl brought three items of clothes from home to create a runway look.

My older daughter Alessandra was in charge of the judging. She recruited two friends to play Tim Gunn and a guest judge from London named Ling Ling. Alessandra played Heidi Klum. Once everyone had arrived, the judges presented the girls with a “challenge:” to create three distinct runway looks based on the film of their choice. The girls then drew numbers one by one choose 4 additional items from the abundantly stocked 43rd Street Runway Dressing Room. After they chose their new items, the girls split in to groups to create their looks, and walked the runway half an hour later.

The fashion show was hysterical. The girls were very creative and presented some great looks.

I was also very impressed with the judges’ ability to stay in character and channel the haute couture attitude of the fashion world. The girls and the judges alike really “made it work.”

No birthday party at our house would be complete with out a matching table design. I started with Rosanna Dauphine Candlesticks in black to create an edgy fashion look. I arranged the homemade red velvet cupcakes on our matching Rococo Noir Cake Pedestals, and made a surprisingly cool-looking tablecloth out of pages torn from Harper's Bazaar.

The day’s entertainment didn’t stop with the fashion show. Not many people know this, but Tim Gunn is also a magician (at least he was at this party) and wowed all of us by levitating a table and transforming a paper flower into a real one with a flash of fire.

After the cupcakes had been devoured and presents torn open, the girls retired to the basement to play-- what else?-- Band Hero Featuring Taylor Swift on the Wii. Various parents dropped by as the day wore on to watch the fashion show video footage. Heidi, Tim Gunn, and Ling Ling also stayed on for a pizza party. It was a great day and great fun.

I have to admit that putting 43rd Street Runway together was hard work. It required attending to many details and called for a few strategic planning session. But all of us, the 13 year-olds, 21 year-olds, and 50-some year-olds, had a wonderful time together. That fact alone made it all well worth the work.
.
auf Wiedersehen,
















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*the invitation for Cesca's party at the top of the post was created by Trista, one of our talented graphic designers

More Adventure School

To go along with yesterday's interview with The Adventure School, Alessandra wrote one more post in conjunction with the 4th of July about our yearly celebrations in Italy. She put up some hysterical pictures of celebrations we've had over the years.

Honoring Independence Day has always been very important to me, even when we weren't in America on the appointed day of celebration. Read Alessandra's post to see what I mean!




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Rosanna on the Adventure School!

This summer my oldest daughter Alessandra is writing and managing the blog of Seattle-based event planners Cori Ready and Aviva Palmer at The Adventure School and has featured me for their weekly Adventure Profiler interview!




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Simplicty: An Avenue to Happiness

Last weekend, I took my girls to see Up, the gorgeous new Pixar film that just came out. We laughed and laughed and adored the movie. Halfway through the film, the adorable, chubby boy scout named Russell talks about going out to ice cream with his dad after a scout meeting. He describes the flavors they'd get, and the special curb they'd sit on as they ate it. Then Russell says, "It may seem boring to you, but I really liked that curb."

I loved that the movie took the time to focus on the beauty inherent in sitting on the edge of the sidewalk eating ice cream. I think Russell even says something like, "It's the everyday things that mean the most in the end" and I believe that is so true.

There is so much value in small things like staying at home and making an evening of it by preparing a meal together, playing a simple game of cards or taking a walk in the neighborhood and capping the night by snuggling up on the couch and watching a great movie. When we take the time to enjoy these kinds of moments, we learn that we can in fact find joy in the textures of our everyday lives. Evenings like these cost little and mean much. Enjoy what you have in your own backyard. Enjoy the wonderful array of gifts right in front of your eyes. You'll be amazed at how far it goes in making you feel closer and more connected to your partner and/or your children.

I can't emphasize this phenomenon enough: When we truly take a moment to look around us and become conscious of all the wonderful things we have right at our fingertips, that elusive feeling of contentment magically alights on our shoulders.

This related quote about the topic really resonates with me:
"Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in."



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Forever Young: A Night in My Daughter's Dorm

As we Baby Boomers get on in years, a frantic scramble to stay young is underway. Plastic surgery, Botox, and Pilates? Forget it. Undergoing expensive cosmetic treatments and following severe health regimens is not the most effective way to get back a little of that radiant sparkle of youth. I say spend time with young people and rejuvenate your soul instead.

After a business trip in New York last weekend, I took the train to Providence, RI to visit my oldest daughter, Alessandra, a junior at Brown University. As those of you with college-age children know, part and parcel of visiting your child is feeding his or her friends at local restaurants normally out of their price range.

My daughter was directing a show, so by the time we were seated at 9:45, dinner had been transformed into drinks and light appetizers. The enthusiasm and vivacity of my daughter and her friends was a delightful breath of fresh air. Two bottles of wine later, we were all up on the dance floor. Sometimes, all it takes is a little time with a couple of twenty-somethings to help us recall the spontaneous joy of our younger days.

That night, I slept in Alessandra’s bed and she slept on the futon. I wouldn’t do it every visit, but staying in the dorm for one night was a kick. Most kids would probably be horrified at the idea of their mothers dancing with their friends and then staying in their apartment, but I’m lucky to have a daughter who has no qualms about inviting me along every now and again. She tells me this is because I’m laid back and silly around her friends, which makes them feel at ease. This leads me to believe that the generational divides between our children and us can be crossed, if only we keep ourselves loose and open.

Don’t miss out on spending time with these kids; this next generation is a wonderful one.






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Dare To Dream

On a particularly frigid weekend in the middle of January, I was freezing in Providence, Rhode Island. It is a part of the country I had little reason to visit until now. My oldest daughter Alessandra is a sophomore in college, and just transferred from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. to Brown University in Providence.

Of course, I am SO proud of her accomplishment of acceptance to such a phenomenal institution. I was also glad I could help her settle in and see this new and exciting world in which she'll be living in for the next few years. Providence and Brown are both incredibly storied sites. They have histories that are infinitely more far-reaching than anything we have in the Pacific Northwest. The knowledge that so many people from so long ago had lived and learned in this one small place was exciting and amazing.

As a proud mother, I wanted to write this post to share Alessandra's achievement, but also to talk in a wider way about dreams, self exploration, and self actualization.

From the beginning of her time at George Washington, Alessandra wasn't happy. The school didn't ignite her passion, and the atmosphere didn't feel right. Very early on in her freshman year, she decided she wanted to change schools. No sooner than we said yes, she set to work and put the wheels in motion. After a long process of soul searching, applying, and waiting (both before and after her acceptance) we finally arrived at Brown on a snowy January day. Throughout the weekend orientation, Alessandra kept saying how happy and fulfilled she felt. I could certainly see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. As a parent, you wish the world for your child. But, seeing your child go out and take the world for herself is another level of happiness I was fortunate enough to witness.

This is a photo of the new transfer students as they walk through Brown's main gate to begin their career as Brown students (it's only opened twice a year for new students to walk in and graduating seniors to walk out).

There's Alessandra on her way through the gates.

The second semester transfer students accompanied by the Brown Marching Band.

The lesson is this: regardless of whether you are a young adult with a horizon full of new possibilities or a mother with two school aged children, it is never too soon to to change your life for the better. As Brown is fond of reminding its students, you are the architect of your own future. You already have all the tools you need to realize yourself and your bliss. All you must do is be willing to explore and to take risks that unlock them.





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Back to School!

This week, children all over America will be donning backpacks and heading off to the first day of a new school year. My daughter Francesca has been lamenting the end of her summer vacation since August 1st, while I’ve been equally insistent that 5th grade will be exciting and…fun!

However, I have one small confession to make: I’m as rueful as Francesca is about the shift to the busier, more stressful school year routine. After three months of leisurely summer living, the first day of class can be just as difficult for those of us who aren’t actually going back to school as it is for our children. The start of the school year also marks an emotional transition. The combination of the full school day and after school activities means less time is spent as a family.

One way to make the transition a little smoother can be found in making your child’s lunch box. Packing a lunch ensures that your child or children are eating healthy and wholesome foods at school; and it also fosters a closer connection between the two of you.

When my older daughter Alessandra was in school I would often put a little note in her lunch bag. And even though Alessandra rolled her eyes at this little ritual as she got older, she still has all the notes from her kindergarten lunches.

Especially during the wintertime, the school year can feel like a slog. But think of it this way: if we didn’t have those nine months of work, we wouldn’t enjoy our three months of play nearly as much!

Have a great first day!





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An American in Italy- More Adventures in Umbria

I know that the last post was a little heavy on the pro-American sentiments, but this story is so good I couldn't resist sharing it.

Every year Perugia, the largest city in the province of Umbria, hosts a huge jazz festival in the middle of July. Artists from all over the world come to play, with many hailing from music captials in America like New Orleans and Nashville, Tennessee. Over the years, noteworthy artists like the Buena Vista Social Club, Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, Diana Krall, Dionne Warwick, and Keith Jarret have graced the stages of Umbria Jazz.

Last year, we were lucky enough to see James Brown there in one of his last performances. This year, we saw Sly and the Family Stone. We were very excited.

Sly's opening act was the soul and country music singer Solomon Burke. The self-styled "King of Rock n' Soul" was clad in an enormous purple sequined suit and a fur-trimmed cape. He was so huge that he had to sing from a throne, and he did not speak a word of Italian. Nevertheless, Solomon knew how to put on a show.

Dancing to his songs, including "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay," "Georgia On My Mind, "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," and "Proud Mary," was a blast. I rocked out while our Italian friends looked on, a bit shocked and surprised at my exhuberance.

Solomon Burke is a great entertainer who knows how to work an audience, even an Italian one. He even invited the women dancing in front up onto the stage. I watched with amusement as a handful of women were hoisted on stage by burly security men, until my husband Mimmo elbowed me and said, "Look! Look! Alessandra and Francesca are up there!" I stopped dancing to take a look, and sure enough, there were my two daughters waving at us energetically from the stage!

Not only was I proud of America for being the birthplace of such incredible music, I was also proud of my daughters for being fearless, uninhibited, and unselfconscious enough to accept Solomon's invitation and climb onstage, dancing and singing all the way.

The King of Rock n' Soul himself, Solomon Burke!

Alessandra and Francesca onstage! (The two girls on the far left in the white shirt and the green sweater)





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A Family Affair

It is an irresistible temptation to brag to the world about one's children. I'm sure that many of you reading this feel the same. Their intelligence, talent, maturity, and ingenuity are unparalled. They are worthy of the highest praise, and naturally, everyone else should be let in on the secret.

I am so pleased that Rosanna has truly become a family-run business. As most of you know, my husband Mimmo has been the CFO of Rosanna for 13 years; we have run the company together since then. But now, it's not just the two of us.

For the past two months, our son Marco, who graduated from The University of Perugia in Umbria, Italy this fall has been doing financial analysis, accounting, and business planning for us. Next fall, he will begin his graduate work at Bocconi University of Business in Milan, the most prestigious business school in Italy and one of the most well-respected in Europe.

We also have our oldest daughter, Alessandra, working in the office. She is a natural writer and creative thinker, so I've asked her to help me with one of the most exciting new projects we're working on- a book! Alessandra is currently doing research and outlining for the overall vision, concept, and content of the book. She just finished her freshman year of college at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Last week, we were thrilled to find out that she was accepted to Brown University in Rhode Island. She plans to transfer there for her sophomore year.

Finally, my 4th grader Francesca is in the process of designing her OWN tabletop collection! While Alessandra is the writer of the family, Francesca is definitely the artist. Her designs are creative and still retain that wonderful unselfconscious freedom of childhood art. Her collection, Portrait of a Young Artist, will debut Spring 2008.


In world that is going so fast that the days become a blur, I love the fact that I can walk into the next room and see my family. I feel so fortunate to be in this unique position, and to have all of them so near me. Hold your family close. Appreciate the time you have with them. These days, I feel this way more than ever.






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