When I was a little girl, this bowl emerged only once a year. It was the bowl my grandmother used to make the dough for zeppole during the holidays. It was hidden deep in the darkest corner of her bottom cabinet (and it was heavy - so very heavy).
Even as a child, I remember being amazed when she told me that it was her grandmother's bowl. Her grandmother, Domenica Giangiobbe Puzo, had died before my grandmother was even born. My grandmother didn't know much about Domenica, other than the fact that she died of Pott's Disease and that she passed away the day after my great-grandmother, Rose, was married in 1914.  
When my grandmother passed in 2012, Domenica's bowl had receded even further into the cavernous bottom cabinet, as the process of zeppole making had become too much of an effort in recent years. I crawled into the cabinet, lifted it with both hands, then washed it carefully and wrapped it in dish towels for the ride to its new home. I have since researched Domenica and repurposed her bowl as my Sunday macaroni bowl.  I take great delight in sharing Domenica's story with new additions to the family table. My grandmother would have been surprised to learn that they shared the same birthday, August 12th, and that Domenica's only traveling companion on her voyage to New York in 1904 was her six year old daughter, my great-grandmother Rose.

    

 

– Lisa Kasper

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more