This year we are celebrating Thanksgiving with my husband’s side of the family and they do not celebrate a traditional American Thanksgiving. The story goes that my father-in-law could not, or should I say, would not eat fowl of any kind because he used to watch his mother kill chickens in the backyard and it scarred him for life. Needless to say, my first Thanksgiving with his family was culture shock, but a delicious culture shock, I must say. Neither of them are with us but we carry on their tradition, nonetheless.
The matriarch of the feast was Grandmom Malfi (chicken-killer) and she was the stereotypical Italian grandmother, speaking in broken English, always cooking and always expecting everyone to EAT! All the daughters-in-law were initiated into “the family” by spending a day with grandmom learning how to make all the family recipes. We will channel Grandmom this Thanksgiving and prepare the weekend prior to the big day to cook in volume. The menu is as follows:
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Meatballs — browned in olive oil and then finished in the sauce
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Sauce — homemade
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Ravioli’s — ricotta filled
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Papardelle — extra wide, the way my father-in-law liked it
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Salad — my brother-in-law Joe is making my new favorite version of our Italian classic
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Antipasta — some items will be staring back at you
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Italian Rolls — still need to source a reasonable facsimile here in the midwest
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Cannoli — I make these and they are a family favorite
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Tiramisu — ditto
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Pizzelles — this has become my daughter’s specialty, thanks Uncle Frank
Not bad — if you have to give up a turkey, trust me, this is not a bad way to go. Since we typically feed around 20 people, making the pasta, meatballs and ravioli in volume in advance is helpful, particularly the ravioli, which we make and then freeze. Then the most we have to execute on the big day is boil water, assemble the antipasta and toss a salad. Again, not a bad gig. Recipes to follow.