Growing up in an Italian family, Sunday family dinner was mandatory. You see my parents were adamant about all of us 4 kids being home on Sunday for dinner; no excuses allowed! It's a good thing we didn't have mobile phones or tablets as TV was not even allowed. This was the only time each week we could all sit down and talk, catchup about life's events and enjoy family time.
Our family did not have a lot of money so going out to eat was not something we did too often. Usually there was the mix of steak, burgers or Italian food which was always my favorite especially when my grandparents would come for a visit. No box of pasta for spaghetti allowed at our house! It was mom and grandma making dough then my grandfather hanging up the pasta on a handmade rack to dry. It was great fun when one of us kids got to hand crank the pasta machine rolling out dough and cutting noodles. Mom and grandma would spend an entire day getting tomatoes from one of the local farms then canning homemade sauce into the evening. Then it was mixing and hand-rolling homemade meatballs (thats the part I liked best!). When Italian was on the menu for Sunday dinner, everybody had an important job in preparing the meal. Such a time!
As us kids got older and started families of our own, we continued these traditions with our own families. We used to drive to Ohio for holidays and our first stop was usually at my Aunt Carmela's house. My Aunt was born and raised in Italy and was the most wonderful cook. She would grab my boys, head down to the basement, pull out flour, eggs, salt, water and 30 minutes later we were eating homemade pasta topped with her homemade tomato sauce. She would also make the most wonderful pan pizzas with simple toppings that felt like it would melt in your mouth.