Love Food Family

If I had a chance to write a book it would probably be about love, food and family; and how they intertwine. I’m not one of those “skinny minnies”, I love food! I love sitting down with my family and eating. The other day, I went through my parents old photos-boxes and boxes of them- and I realized I wasn’t alone! There were literally generations of recipes made in these pictures. Nonna’s sauce and meatballs- I refuse to argue about whether its sauce or gravy, if you are from ITALY, its sauce, that’s the end of that!- pasta con le sarde, my favorite lumache or snails & my not so favorite pasta with squid ink!  No one ever ate alone, every meal was consumed with family or friends. From the morning espresso & biscotti to the nightly gelato in un panino con panna(ice cream in a brioche bun with whipped cream on top) to the late night snack of dried meats & cheeses. Everyone helped in the setting of the table, the preperations for the meal, and the clean up. And above all, I remember before every meal we all said “Buon Apetito” and “Grazie Tretante”, which literally translates to “Good Appetite” and ” Thank you, same to you”. Now that we don’t see our families as much, due to work, illness and distance, our gatherings are smaller. There’s not that same excitement, but we still help with the preparations, we still make the time to sit down at least once a week. I look at my dad, the man who instilled this passion of food and cooking in his own children, and he’s a little more aged, a little more tired, but the love of food and family is still there. And now before our meals we sigh and say “Thank You God”.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *