Today is an important log. Will you use it as often as cutting an onion? No. Will you like it is as much as chocolate chip cookies? Maybe. Will you treasure it forever? YES!!

A terrible thing is happening in this world: family recipes are getting lost! We must stop this! It’s so important to know where your family came from and yes, what they ate. Food can tell a beautiful story and don’t let it be one you miss hearing from your family. Ask your grandparents and parents about what they love to eat, about what they love to cook and what they most remember eating when they were kids. Try some of their old recipes. It’s fun! The difference in ingredients is so funny! Unless your Grandparents grew up on a farm, they didn’t have the resources to fresh produce or exotic foods like we do these days. It was pretty limited. So, I say take advantage! Use those weird looking beans you found at the farmers market; you may love them! Also, lots of family recipes get lost because no one ever wrote them down. Before cookbooks took up a whole section at Barnes and Noble, recipes were taught by showing. A handful of this, a pinch of this and a glass of this. There was very little formal measuring. I feel very lucky to have gotten to see my Grandmother and Great-Grandmother cook this way. I also have the pleasure of having a mother in law who is a superb Indian cook. (a whole Indian post will be coming soon!) I’ve broken down the recipes by person, so here goes! My Great-Grandma Gurissi was a neat lady. Every memory I have of her was her teaching me how to cook, how to crochet or having my dad pick her up and sing opera around the house. She had some great recipes! This is one of my favorites!

Grandma Gurissi’s Stuffed Artichokes

4 medium Artichokes

1/2 cup dry Bread Crumbs (Italian of course)

2 cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 cup Parsley, chopped

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

Cut off stalk at base of artichokes and trim off some of the tough leaves. With scissors, trim the tips to make for easier handling. Wash thoroughly. Fill with stuffing. When stuffing, seperate the leaves to get the mixture evenly distributed. Drizzle olive oil down the middle of each. (sparingly)  Place in a dutch oven or any deep pot. Fill with water half way up the artichokes. Cover and simmer slowly about 1 hour or until leaves pull out easily. Serve at room temp.

  And my Mom. Where do I begin?  I would know nothing about food if it wasn’t for her. She is an inspiration! (and she is going to hate that I’m writing about her) My Mom raised 4 kids and made sure a full homemade dinner was on the table every night at 6 o’clock. I have no idea how she did it! I love everything she makes! I’ll be sharing plenty of her recipes as this blog continues, but I wanted to share this recipe today. My Mom loves sweets like I do and she makes the best apple pie! Since it is apple season, here is her recipe:

Apple Pie

For a 10 inch apple pie

Prepare a pastry for 10 inch two crust apple pie.

Apple Filling:

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

½ t. nutmeg

1 t. cinnamon

Dash of salt

8 cups thinly sliced pared tart apples

3 T. butter or margarine

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare pastry. Stir together sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt; mix with apples. Turn apples into pastry-lined pie pan; dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Make slits in the crust to allow steam to escape. Seal and flute the top. Cover edges with 2-3 inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning of the edges. Remove foil the last 15 minutes of baking. Bake for 40-50 minutes until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through the slits in the top. (You may want to put a large cookie sheet on the rack below the pie, incase it drips the sugary mixture.)

I love you Mom!