First, get a villa and invite your family.:) our trip around Europe was simply a precursor to celebrate a much more important lifetime achievement - my mother's retirement (April 2014). Add to this a celebration of midlife for my mom and her husband (my stepdad) Tom, her sisters Susan and Sister Judy (really, she's a nun if you need a divine connection), Tom's sisters Debbie and Theresa, Judy's friend Sister Kathy (familia to us), mom's little brother Bob and his wife Linda (celebrating their 30th anniversary), my second cousins Cathy and Pinky and you've got a delightful soup of east coast Irish folk who cook Itlian food that's out of this world! Bob's son Kevin and his wife Mary (young in their 20s) also joined in the fun the week we arrived, so the kids had other lively youth to hang with when the old farts-and I mean Ivan and I:) were not adequate playmates.
I specially added Aunt Susan in that list because although an illness prevented her passage across the pond, we Skyped her each night and included her in family dinner conversation. Our hearts were broken that she could not be with us but there will be another trip surely for Sue.
Meals Meals and More Meals! Over the course of two weeks there were 6-16 people around the table depending on cross arrivals and departures. The villa slept 20 so there was plenty of room-the kids even got their own apartment! While not a requirement to eat together every night, it became the part of our day most cherished by all for the time spent cooking, sharing new family stories about our travels ( each family was free to organize their own excursions or NOT), and sipping wine, beer and aperitifs with deserts chosen each night to share amongst the group.
Feeding that many people required almost daily trips to the local coop with cheap fresh and beautiful fruits and veggies, fresh off the swino prosciutto, and other local specialities. It also required a minimum of 12 bottles of wine per day but usually more, and our recycling container regularly overflowed. The villa was prepared with an extra wine fridge...and mops for when the slightly intoxicated might loosen their grip on a wine glass or bottle. (We had the floor cleaning down to a science.)
Each family took turns cooking and cleaning up. Each meal was served with an antipasto plate, a salad course, and a second (main) dish. While the family is full of amazing cooks, cousin Cathy travels with her apron and by all accounts held the day on the most delicious preparations. She shared her NOW family secrets to creamy risotto, scaloppine, sausage and peppers, and even her own special secrets for Italian gravy. (To some, gravy comes in a jar by Ragu but in our familia it is always homemade.)
-Sister Kathy at the sink and Aunt Linda assisting-
Dessert was always gelato, Belgian chocolates we brought to share, Swiss chocolates Bob laid out and Italian cookies. Thank goodness for the miles and miles of walking and the high Italian temperatures. While we theoretically could have packed on the pounds I am sure the net result was lost weight through the blood (from broken wine glasses), the sweat (from existing in Tuscany in August), and tears (from having to say goodbye to these wonderful people I call my family.) Mi amore ma familia😍
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