grembiule / apron

When my mother gets home, she always does two things: she changes into her home clogs (zoccoli) and puts on her apron. You will never catch her at home wearing shoes or without her apron.

As soon as my mother entered my kitchen in the house where my husband and I were about to get married, in Orinda, California, she asked me where my apron was. The direct consequence of growing up with a constant apron-wearing mother was that I had mixed feelings about aprons and did not own one. I did not explain to my mother the cause, only the effect, i.e., the total absence of aprons in the house. My mother frowned and then plotted with my (then still future) husband to get an apron for herself while I was not watching, which was the morning after her arrival, when I was at work. The covert operation encountered some difficulties due to the high cost of aprons sold at Macy's, the only place my husband could think of as a possible source of the wanted item. Fortunately, TJ MAxx saved the day, and when I got back home from the office in the afternoon I found my mother solidly installed in my kitchen, wearing an apron. When she left to go back to Italy, the following week, she packed her grembiule and therefore my kitchen went back to its prior apron-less state.

The word grembiule comes from grembo, meaning lap. The same word is also used to describe the protective garment children in Italy wear in primary school. The one mandated by our school district was white. At the time I loved writing with a fountain pen and you can imagine the result, about which my mother was not happy, though I thought that blue ink and white fabric were a perfect match. As an aside, I still write with a blue-inked fountain pen (penna stilografica).

A little while ago, Chef Paz posted a photo of herself (minus the head) donning a brand new apron that was very much admired: Ilva at Lucullian Delights liked the apron idea and launched a one off event called Show Us Your Apron, for which this is my entry. Here's the roundup for this extremely successful event.

Well, indeed, I now own an apron, which I had considered buying even before I had read about the event. The apron came from the Arcata Farmers' Market, my favorite place in the world to shop for organic vegetables, fruit, plants and fresh eggs. The bench in the top photo is located just outside my home office and overlooks the ocean. The stump is next to our house and until about six months ago was the base of a giant spruce that had to be cut to prevent it from falling on our house.

---

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

grembiule

or launch the grembiule audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

Related articles

collane and grembiule / beads and apron

Comments

[ilva]

Grazie mille! I love to hear apron stories, likes and dislikes. Nice apron, not to talk about the view! wow! And my mother-in-law also puts on her clogs as soon as she gets home!

[Christine]

I love this post Simona. I have many, many aprons. All from restaurants I have liked. Guess I should put up a post.

[Paz]

I kinda think it's funny that your mom packed up the apron and took it back with her, when you didn't have one at home for yourself. I guess she knew you could buy your own from TJMaxx, huh? ;-)

Nice new apron! I like that it has the pockets. Your so lucky to have that ocean view. And that is a very big tree stump. Wow! Last but not least, your bread look terrific!

Paz

[Jann]

I really enjoyed this,touched my heart.! I can just visualize your mom in the kitchen, looking around for that apron~I usually wear one and always when cooking for guests. I like them so much, I retail them,with matching hot pads!.I am sure you have seen them in all the gourmet shops.Anyway, i like the ones that fit at the waiste and go all the way down to my ankles! Once in a while, I have difficulty getting on to your sight. I always hear a blip-blip when your sight comes up. Any clues as to what is going on?

[Simona Carini]

You are welcome Ilva. Interesting about your mother-in-law: does she live close to you?
Hi Christine, I do hope you put up a post: I'd like to see the restaurant aprons you have.
Paz, I like the pockets too: they are very handy. They remind me of the only aprons I wore before this, in the print shop of the San Francisco Center for the Book http://www.sfcb.org
I am very happy about my bread. We should have a bread event: no machine allowed.
Jann, you just reminded me that once I gave my mother an apron with matching pads decorated with hearts in a small heart-shaped basket. She kept the apron and insisted I take the pads, because she does not use them: I still have one of them in my kitchen now.
I am sorry about the issues with the site: what browser are you using and what exactly happens on the screen when you try to view my blog? I would like to forward the info to the support people. Thanks.

[Jann]

i am using windows internet explorer-I am beginning to think the bleep-bleep sound is because I am switching over to typerpad...what do you think? Other than that, things are working fne!

[Lisa]

My God, you live in paradise! How beautiful. And I loved the story about your mother; I, too, can just picture her in her clogs and apron. I love aprons, myself. I'm always grumbling about the fact that most of the chefs on The Food Network don't wear them!

[Simona Carini]

Jann, do you still hear the sound now that I moved the embedded audio player to its own page?
Lisa, I wonder whether wearing aprons is considered non-telegenic. Did Julia Child wear one?
I am currently living in the place in the photo part-time, probably moving there in August.

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

This is really a fun post. Sorry I missed it at the time. I like your mom. I have many aprons but don't always wear one.

[Simona]

Thanks Tanna. In the meantime, I have acquired two more aprons and I must admit that I am wearing one quite often, though not always, just like you.