My sandbox read this afternoon* was a charming vintage book my MIL picked up at an estate sale, knowing it was exactly the sort of thing I’d love.
*there’s a very large sand pit in the backyard; many afternoons are spent here while the little girls dig around.
Read MoreThis recipe, like the Fettuccine Alfredo, was one of the first Italian meals I had from Philip's family and fell in love with. I still remember the first night I had it. I was dating Philip and visiting his family over break. I was seated at the table closest to the family room. I had on my blush pink cropped sweater. (Am I the only one on whom food makes such an impression?) I most certainly had seconds, if not thirds and fourths. I am fairly certain it was the first recipe I requested from Mom Barrows. I don't know what it is about it. It's not mind-blowing. It's actually fairly humble and simple. But, it's delicious. It's complete comfort food for me.
Read MoreAs promised, here is the family recipe for fresh pasta. It comes from a little cookbook of recipes from Southern Italy, specifically the town of Roseto in the Province of Foggia. Many Italians immigrated from this town and established a sister town of Roseto, Pennsylvania. This cookbook was created to preserve traditions and recipes for the immigrant relatives and families. In the preface to the cookbook, it says how important Rosetans held their culture to be. Homemade food "prepared in the peasant tradition, yet "fit for a king'" was a dominant part of this.
Read MoreI married into an Italian family. Having always loved bread and pasta, embracing and making my in-law's family recipes took no time. Falling in love with them was even shorter. One of the first dishes I fell for was Fettuccine Alfredo.
Read MoreMy husband's great-grandfather Giovanni was an avid and skilled gardener. He often comes up in family conversations, especially how he had twenty bee hives, how he would check on his bees every ten days without fail, how huge his honey extractor was, and how he would ever have on hand a little bear jar of honey to gift. One legacy of him remains in the fig trees in our backyard. They were branches from his very own fig trees that my in-laws replanted and cultivated until they became full-grown trees of their own.
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