ITEM 5 - In-laws and Food

Another adventure in good eating. Beginning with my mother-in-law Marie, before she was, and sunday dinner. You can count on a ton of pasta, meatballs and sausage. On occasion, half moon large ravioli that melts in your mouth. Among her culinary accomplishments was eggplant like I never tasted. She passed on these skills to my sister-in-law Ann, who eventually did most of the cooking, while my wife did the ironing. This is all when we were single.

Sunday dinner usually found about seven of us at the table with pasta and a gallon of my father-in-law John's homemade red wine. In South Philly we called it Diego Red. John would sing a couple of old Italian songs to top off dinner. What great fun that was. I of course, after dinner, dozed off on the couch for about an hour, then my girlfriend Connie and I went to a movie.

My mother-in-law Marie, what a woman, had no easy life. She was born and raised on a farm in Italy; an arranged marriage to a South Philly Italian, native of Italy. Marie was 40 years old and unbeknownst to her, he was 70. She learned English and always worked. Her 2 daughters were her ultimate concern.

My sister-in-law Ann was a marvelous cook and a specialty of her's was stuffed olives and mushrooms. No matter how many she made, they were devoured almost instantly. May sound like small items but they took much time and work. Her husband Bob made excellent cranberries on Thanksgiving. He also made an incredible Fruit Cake. Not something you can stick in the oven and serve when it cools. It takes, from what I understand, a couple of months, requiring constant observation and cultivation. Someone once said there was only one fruit cake ever made and it keeps getting passed around; not so with Bob's, you just gotta eat it.

I hope you all understand the most critical ingredient here is LOVE. Without it, little will be accomplished.