special, nonna, tell me a story. about her holidays growing up in italy. you didn t have lights or tinsels and all of that. and my grandparents, they grew everything. dried figs, dried apricots, dried prunes, nuts, all for the winter, store for the winter. when christmas came around that s how we decorated. reporter: for her, christmas isn t about presents but food and family. i m surrounded by marvelous women here. this is julia, one of my granddaughters. this is of course, grandma. reporter: 90 years old, and across cultures still kvelling about everything. my goodness. how many christmases have you cooked for? since childhood. italian? sure. did you teach lidia how to cook like this? i certainly did. everything she knows? a couple of years ago, a lot