Delicate fried pastry shells, dusted with powdered sugar and hand-filled with sweetened ricotta cheese — commonly known as cannoli — have long been a celebratory, special occasion dessert staple in Polly Matranga Happach’s family.

“When the cannoli came out, it was a celebration, a big deal,” Happach said. “It was always a special occasion for a cannoli … You don’t make it every day. It’s not a chocolate chip cookie.” As a child, Happach learned how to make cannoli alongside her mom, first generation Sicilian-American Antoinette Matranga, in the kitchen of her family's south Rockford home.