Hedy's Place

Hedy's Place is the home of Nanny's Italian Kitchen, my YouTube channel where you can find all my latest homemade Italian recipes. I also love to share stories about my family, and friends through my videos and personal blog. My blogs include stories from my childhood growing up in Harlem, NY, about my children and grandchildren, and of course my recipes! I've even put together a cookbook that includes all of my favorite holiday recipes called "Mangia, It's Good for You".

Having family in your life is essential. If you have a few good friends to boot, then you are doing pretty darn well. I remember my late sister-in-law Angie telling me "True friends are really hard to come by. If you have one or two really good friends, you're batting a thousand." Sadly, this year I lost two of my dearest friends within months of each other.

My family originated in Italy and my maternal grandfather Vito came to the United States as a stowaway from Palermo, Italy at the turn of the 19th century, he was a fisherman by trade. My maternal grandmother Anna (Nanine) and my great-grandmother Rose came to the United States from Naples, Italy. After they were married they settled in Little Italy in East Harlem and had 14 children. Two of them died at a very early age and one at the age of 21. My mother Domenica (or Minnie as they called her) was the firstborn. My grandfather eventually opened up a fish market on 113th Street and First Avenue "Tocco's Fish Market." I really didn't know my paternal grandparents or my father's side of the family well because my parents separated when I was three years old... which really didn't happen much in those days. My mother never allowed me to visit with my father or his family, but that's a whole other story.

After my aunts and uncles become adults and got married, they all lived with their families within a two-block radius. I grew up very close with my cousins, I remember how we used to sleep on the fire escapes during the summertime. We would bring our blankets and pillows out there because there was no air-conditioning in those days. The men would also rig something on the fire hydrants (we used to call them Johnnie Pumps) to make the water spray in the air, that hat was our summer camp. We had dinner every single Sunday at Grandma Nanine's... I don't know how they did it with a three-bedroom apartment and all those kids. My grandmother and my aunts would do all the cooking and I would watch and slowly learn how to make most of the recipes. They never measured anything, all the ingredients were added by eye and taste. Through the years I started to break down the recipes and include measurements; not for me because I still cook by eye and taste, but for my children and my family. I want them to know how to make these traditional Italian recipes so they would not be lost with the older generation.

I hope this website, my videos, and my recipes will provide valuable tips and information. Whether it be cooking videos, blogs, or stories, I'm certain that I can at least make you laugh or possibly even cry.