Notize delle Donne

Official Newsletter of San Francisco’s premier Italian Women’s Club

FALL 2012

Letter from the President We are fast approaching our second birthday and I couldn’t be more proud. Having gone to school for Child Development I often find myself reminded of how similar we are to a child’s approach of life; constantly learning, and malleable to change in a motivated effort to succeed. This year we have explored the arts with Masters of Venice, Company C Ballet, North Beach’s Art Walk, Italio Americano Museo, and sponsored an Italian Musician for the general public of North Beach. We have brought an Italian Holiday to life with Festa della Donna and created a history walk through North Beach. We supported Italian culture with the Statuto Race, Calabrese Night, our Coloniale Booth, Porziuncola Tour and Giants Italian Heritage Night. Charity has also made it onto our Calendar this year with cooking for the families at Ronald McDonald House, giving dignity and delight to elders at Italian Community Services, attending the Auxiliary Fashion Show and cheering on women affected by Breast Cancer at the Avon Walk. Let us not forget the ever popular Bubbly and Bingo. Our November social at Original Joes will help to support a local Italian establishment that has been more than generous to their local community including helping us sponsor the Italian Community Services. And Lastly, this December comes one of our best socials of the year; our annual region themed Italian gift exchange. None of these events would be possible without the hard teamwork and dedication we have all offered to one another and our community. Every road block has been removed and we have worked together to find new ways of succeeding. Without Le Donne I would definitely not have gone to a ballet, or various museums, or danced the Tarantella in front

of 1,000s. I believe it is important for us to note the opportunities Le Donne d’Italia has given us. From dietitians, to accountants, to marketing gurus, professors, seamstresses, and corporate women at their finest I have learned something from each of you along the way and I am grateful. I am honored to call you ladies my friends. This coming year we will be focusing more on our “stamp” in North Beach and the extension of our membership. We will be working as a team on a Community based project that will add to North Beach’s charm in an Italian way. I encourage you to invite others to become part of this group of women who understand the importance of caring for history and culture while building friendship. As usual I’ll leave you with a quote, “As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit.” -Seneca (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

Jennifer Consalvi President, Le Donne d’Italia

Happy Hour!

Tuesday, November 6th, 2012 5:00pm Dell’Uva Wine Bar :: 565 Green Street :: North Beach Famous for its rich Italian tradition and style, Dell’Uva combines old world flair with new age beats... what a perfect place for a little l’appertivo italiano with San Francisco’s favorite Italian Ladies. For more information email Jennifer [email protected]

Join us and bring friends and family! Enjoy Happy Hour Specials & Dell’uva will share proceeds with Le Donne for one of our community projects! Spread the word!

Event Highlights

July: Sponsoring Accordion Music in North Beach

July: Avon Breast Walk - Cheering Section

June: SFIAC Statuto Race

August: Antonette’s Cannoli Demo & Deborah’s Book Club cookies! August: Italians in Baseball exhibit tour

August: Performing for SF Giants

July: Porziuncola Tour

August: Italian Night at the SF Giants! Italian Section

August: SFIAC La Festa Cannoli & Coffee Ladies!

August: SFIAC La Festa

September: Ronald McDonald House Italian Dinner

September: Madonna del Lume

October: Columbus Day Parade Le Donne d’Italia Tarantella Dancers

October: SFIAC Columbus Dinner

Are we Primo? The founding members of Le Donne d’Italia thought they were starting something new – an Italian women’s club in San Francisco. But are we the first??? It has been brought to our attention that in the first decade of the last century there was another Italian women’s club in San Francisco called Vittoria Colonna Club. Formed in 1909, Vittoria Colonna was organized by and for women Italian by birth, or by parentage, or women married to Italians. The club was organized for the effective development and promotion of a community of interests: social, civic, intellectual and philanthropic. The name was taken from an Italian woman born near Rome, Italy in 1490. Vittoria Colonna, by Sebastino del Piombo c 1520 The story goes that Vittoria was surrounded by great literary minds from an early age and married the Marques of Pescara at age 17. Vittoria pursued a life filled with the arts, culture, and literature, writing poetry herself over the years as the Marchioness of Pescara, noblewoman and poet. At age 45, Vittoria began a passionate friendship with the then 61-year-old Michelangelo. They spent much time in each other’s company, where he wrote sonnets and made drawings for her. She died in Italy in 1547, but left behind a considerable legacy of correspondence and writings. The Vittoria Colonna Club was active in San Francisco until around 1970. Various Italian women’s clubs in California and across the U.S. took the same name for their club.

Welcome Katherine! Ciao! My name is Katherine Baugher and I am honored to represent Le Donne d’Italia as Secretary. I moved to San Francisco in 2011 after graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Kinesiology and instantly fell in love with The City and all it has to offer. For the past year I have worked at a medical center in Emeryville as a Health and Fitness Specialist and am so grateful to have a job which inspires me to keep learning about a field in which I am passionate. As a member of the Le Donne group I have had the opportunity to meet such a wonderful and inspirational group of women; it is through you I truly feel a sense of community and family here in my new home of San Francisco. I am very much looking forward to continuing meet and grow relationships with each of you while learning about North Beach and our unifying Italian heritage.

Grazie Mille Committee Chairs & Committee Members We would like to take this opportunity to say Grazie Mille to our Committee Chairs and committee members for their ongoing efforts to fulfill the mission and vision of Le Donne d’Italia: Tina Canepa Search Committee – Board of Directors And to the past special event Committee Chairs: Bernadette Festa Volunteer Committee Toni Bava Columbus Day Parade Lori Viti Book Club Antonette Machi Bubbly & Bingo Melissa Folmer Sponsor & Partnership Committee Jennifer Consalvi Festa Della Donna

Upcoming Events Events are subject to change - visit www.ledonneditalia.com//UpcomingEvents.html for updates and details.

November 2012 Tuesday

L’Aperitivo Italiano :: Happy Hour 5:00 PM Dell’uva Wine Bar

Tuesday

November Social - Ladies Dinner 7:00 PM Original Joe’s North Beach 601 Union Street (between Stockton & Columbus) $36 - Fixed menu Please RSVP to [email protected]

6 13

Tuesday

20

Member Meeting 7:00 PM SFIAC, 3rd Floor

Book Club Meeting 6:00 PM *before member meeting SFIAC, 2nd Floor Card Room

DECEMBER 2012 Saturday

15 18

Tuesday

Member Holiday Party & Gift Exchange Appetizers, Wine & Prosecco - more details to come! 7:00 - 9:00 PM SFIAC, 3rd Floor Member Meeting 7:00 PM SFIAC, 3rd Floor

January 2013 Tuesday

17

Member Meeting 7:00 PM SFIAC, 3rd Floor

Book Club Meeting 6:00 PM *before member meeting SFIAC, 2nd Floor Card Room

Reminder! Members only beginning 2013!

Volunteer!

If you are interested in becoming more involved with Le Donne d’Italia please consider joining one of our committees or our Book Club.

Book Club please contact Lori Viti at [email protected] Volunteer Committee please contact Bernadette Festa at [email protected] New Member/Outreach Committee please contact Melissa Folmer at [email protected]

Member Highlight This issue’s featured member is Christina Olivolo Sauvageau, who joined the Club in the Spring of 2012 and has been an energetic and vibrant member this year. Christina is a delightful person who shows a keen interest in preserving her own and her family’s Italian heritage. She regularly brings her teenage daughter, Sophia, with her to participate in the Club’s volunteer and social events, and her whole family dined at our June social event at SFIAC’s Calabria night and attended the August GIANTS Italian Heritage Night game. Christina takes her Club membership seriously and has made thoughtful suggestions and contributions to help the Club meet its goals and service to the community. We are very appreciative of Christina’s energetic participation in the Club’s meeting, events and volunteer activities, and look forward to the benefits of her continued interest and commitment to Le Donne d’Italia.

Grazie Mille, Christina!!! Cucina Italiana

Have a favorite Italian recipe to share?

Featured Recipe: Cannoli Filling

Email it with a short story of why it is special to you and a photo if you have one too! [email protected]

By: Antonette Machi

For every pound of Ricotta, add 1 cup of sugar or sweeten to taste. For Example: 2 lbs. of ricotta, use 1 cup of sugar 4 lbs. of ricotta, use 2 cups of sugar

Mix ricotta and sugar with a spatula or wooden spoon. Put filling in a cheesecloth or colander to drain water, place in bowl and cover. Refrigerate overnight. Remove filling, put into mixing bowl and mix again. Add mini chocolate chips (as many as you like) and mix gently. Candied fruit pieces are an option you can also add. Using a pastry bag with a large tip, fill bag and squeeze filling into cannoli shells. Dust the top of the cannoli with powdered sugar. You can add cherry halves at each end. You can purchase the shells at Victoria Pastry, Lucca Deli (Chestnut Street) or you can be brave and make them yourself! The tubes are aluminum dowels or if you can them online, they are called “cannoli forms”.

Mangia!