![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rdilauro.com\/CarpeVino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/cooking-150x150.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Growing up in an all Italian family, cooking was always a central part of daily life.\u00a0 So much emphasis was placed on every meal.\u00a0 \u00a0Nothing was just plain and simple, even breakfast had to be somewhat special.\u00a0 \u00a0There there were two days a week that had to be kept aside.\u00a0 \u00a0Wednesdays\u00a0 and Sundays were reserved for the big Italian meal.\u00a0 Especially Sundays.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0Around 2:00 in the afternoon, everyone had to start getting ready for dinner.\u00a0 No matter where you were, what you were doing, it all stopped and you came home.<\/em><\/p>\n I remember my grandmother starting to cook for the Sunday meal around 8:00 in the morning\u00a0 \u00a0Back in the 1960’s there wasnt alot of canned items, so, for the tomato sauce, it was fresh tomatoes from the garden, crushed and stained.\u00a0 It was almost always home made pasta. I remember my grandmother drying the fresh pasta on an irony board.\u00a0 Everything was fresh.\u00a0 \u00a0Herbs from the garden, vegetables from the garden, about the only thing that we didnt\u00a0 grow or have ourselves was the meat.\u00a0 \u00a0 But I do remember one of my uncles who raised lambs.\u00a0 He butchered them, hung them in the garage so we could have veal!<\/p>\n The typical Sunday meal consisted of this:<\/p>\n Soup<\/em> Now when the family got together for holiday, there were 15 or 20 people coming for the meal.<\/p>\n We would generally setup a ping pong table or put one or two 4×8 pieces of plywood over a pool table or some other means of support.<\/p>\n The meals were basically the same as I described above, but for Holidays, the following were always added<\/p>\n Eggplant Parmigiana<\/em> So, it was easy to see growing up, food was such an important part of daily life.<\/p>\n I know that this affair with food fueled my interest in cooking.\u00a0 As early as 15 years old, I would always like to try to make a meal in the kitchen.\u00a0 Tried to imitate what my grandmother did., but that was impossible!\u00a0 Over the years, I developed my own style of cooking.<\/p>\n I am the type of cook, who may look at a recipe, but doesn’t follow it.\u00a0 I like to get the general idea of how a given food dish is made, but from there, I let my imagination and taste buds take over and then I follow that path.<\/p>\n I remember when I graduated from High School (1968) , I wanted to become a chef.\u00a0 At that time, the only cooking shows were Julia Child and Graham Kerr (The Galloping Gourmet) and I was always watching them.\u00a0 \u00a0But my father said no<\/em>, he was an IBM person for years\u00a0 and had it set in stone that his sons were going to also<\/em> become IBMers.<\/p>\n I did work for IBM for 35 years, but I have always maintained my love for cooking and food.\u00a0 I do about 95% of the cooking in our house,<\/p>\n
\nCrisp garden salad, oil and vinegar only<\/em>
\nPasta dish, (Ravioli, Lasagna, Spaghetti, etc) along with gravy meat<\/em>
\nGravy meat was Sausage, Meatball, Beef Braciole, PigSkin (agodina)<\/em>
\nLots of Italian Bread<\/em>
\nAntipasto<\/em>
\nBeef Roast with Potatos (no gravy)<\/em>
\nItalian Ice and Espresso for dessert<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rdilauro.com\/CarpeVino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/italian-food.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nFritto di verdure Misto (Italian Fried Vegetables)<\/em>
\nFritto di Misto\u00a0 (fried fish, scallops, octopus, calamari, shrimp)<\/em>
\nSecond pasta dish<\/em>
\nSecond roast, normally Pork<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nI still remember as a little boy, sitting in a chair watching my grandmother cooking.\u00a0 She would spend hours every day preparing for each meal of the day.\u00a0 \u00a0It was her life, her love.\u00a0 \u00a0Nothing made her happier then to see everyone eating all the food that she prepared and put on the table.<\/p>\n