it's whats for dinner.......

There was never a time in my life, when greeted by my Italian grandparents at their front door, when the first words out of their mouths weren't: "Are you hungry?" or, "Have you eaten?" Nothing was more important than your stomach functions.... never mind that the trip might have taken a few hours drive, and your kidneys needed more attention.... food was the dominant concern. And so began my love affair with food.

We always ate well, as there was no excuse not to. Grandma's theory of life was that you spent the first part of your paycheck on food, then paid the rent. Funny thing is, I worked for another Italian lady once who had the same theory... so I was convinced it was an Italian tradition. Grandma could cook! It was her main function in life..... well, besides watching her "stories" and knitting doilies.

Cooking lunch and dinner started as soon as dishes from breakfast were cleared and cleaned from the table at the early hour of 7 AM. No respectful marinara sauce was cooked less than a full eight to ten hours before serving.... and marinara sauce dominated every dinner meal. Even if they were serving a meat dish, a bowl of pasta was always the beginning entree on her table. That could be pretty tricky for guests, as a pasta would seem like the main entree, and many people would load up on that before realizing that they had only just begun to be served. My Dad made that mistake the first time he was invited to dinner, and helped himself to two full bowls of pasta.... only to be surprised that the roast beef hadn't been served yet. Being polite, he ate everything, which probably endeared him to my Grandmother, as it showed that he had a healthy appetite. Protests of being too full were not a good enough excuse for her. As a matter of fact, it was an insult not to load your plate and eat every bite.... sometimes twice.

We would spend our Thanksgivings at my Grandparents house, and every type of animal known to man would be represented on the table (well, it seemed that way, anyway). Of course there was the traditional turkey, but we might also have rabbit, chicken and roast beef.... not without the pasta dish first. Grandma made her own gnocchis. For those of you not familiar with this pasta, it is nothing like the commercial brand you see in grocery stores. Her gnocchis were heavy. (It wouldn't surprise me if anchors on ships have this little gem as a filling.) Don't get me wrong though.... they were delicious, but you could only eat 6 and call it a day. But as mentioned, this was only the beginning entree..... many meats were still to come out to the table, and for those of you with "bird quality" eating habits, you would be doomed if you hadn't fasted the week before. Needless to say, nobody (and I mean nobody) ever went home hungry. It was unheard of.

Christmas was spent at our home in Connecticut. Mom would prepare a grand feast of pecan pies, cookies, banana breads, and all the sides dishes for the main courses. Dads specialty was meats, seafood, and the beginning antipasta. Sometimes we would have lobster, baked stuffed shrimp, standing rib roast or capon; and always a pasta to start the entree courses. Mom almost never cooked lasagna, that I can recall.... but she was a wiz with manicotti. Everything was made from scratch, even the "pancakes" that were rolled with cheese, and baked in her own marinara sauce.

Her real specialty was baking. She made the best christmas cookies, and lots of them! She would hide batches of them, lest we eat them all up, as they also doubled as presents for neighbors. I make those same cookies still, and can tell you first hand how labor intensive they are..... rolled, cut and decorated ones take me hours for just one batch, yet she made dozens and dozens of the them while still keeping everything else in order. ( I have to send everybody out of the house so I can concentrate and keep up with the timing when I make them.) When I was old enough, she drafted my help, until "making the christmas cookies" became my task altogether. I was also given the banana bread recipe, while she maintained the pecan pies. After 35 years of baking, I no longer read the recipes, I know them by heart.

All dinners were required to be eaten at the diningroom table, with the food served family style in the center of the table. There was one rule my parents had that was enforced. You were allowed to take as much as you wanted (and there was always plenty), but you had to eat all you had taken. So the rule of "eyes bigger than your stomach" was learned fast. If you started off slow, you could always go back for seconds, but take too much the first time around, you might still be in front of your plate while everyone else was excused. And we had to be excused from the table.... there was no getting up when you were done, you had to wait for everybody else. Conversation was allowed, but no bickering or fighting. My parents strived for us to be civilized, and we were. This was why they could bring us to fancy restaurants even when we were very little. They tolerated no revolting from the ranks.... and we were very aware of the consequences if we stepped over the line.

You were also required to try everything at least once, even if it were a spoonful. Opinions could not be formed if you didn't try it. However, my Mom and I had an ongoing thing about peas. I hated them! She thought she could break me of my boycott by requiring me to take a spoonful everytime she served them, but never did. To this day, I still hate them, and pick them out of any dishes that are served with them. I have another food I was never fond of either: fried fish, especially if they came in the form of sticks. The frozen varieties that Mom bought for our meatless fridays (because we were Catholic) were awful, and I never had acquired a taste for them.... no matter how much ketchup was doused on them to get them down. I wasn't much of a fruit eater either, mostly berries of any kind, but loved melons.

My favorite meals always consisted of meats and potatoes, especially if the meat was cooked on the grill. Dad was KING in that area. He could man a mean grill to perfection. Our dinner at home didn't always include the pasta entree first, then on to the meat course. Mom simplified it to just one course.... but made a variety of different homecooked meals every night, a special mid-day dinner on Sunday after church. It was ritual and tradition that we were in our chairs, washed for dinner at the first sign that the food was done. No one really had to call us twice. We were good eaters! We also were all raised on milk as choice of drink. Since I hate sodas of all kinds, this was not a problem for me. I still drink glasses of milk with my dinner to this day, and am not in the least worried about osteoporosis.

My biggest weakness is, and always has been, sugar. I will take a cookie, cake or pie over any salty foods as a snack. And a big bowl of ice cream has served as many dinner entrees for me. Hey, my Mom told me that when I owned my own house, I could eat anything I wanted.... I'm just following her instructions.... nothing wrong with that is there? Ok, yes, I do love salads, vanilla yogurt with honey-nut cheerios, and a whole arrangement of healthy foods.... but sometimes I just crave a nice bowl of ice cream, with chocolate sauce. Preferably mint chip, but I will settle for fudge swirl if I have to.

Geez..... all this talk about food, and now I've talked myself right into a bowl of ice cream. Good thing my son knows how to drive, and inherited my sweet tooth. I can send him off to the store to get the required groceries while I finish this post. Ah... life is so good today!