"Life Begins In the Kitchen"

The scent of my Italian mother's cooking would lure me away from play when I was a child. I knew it was time to eat dinner when the aroma of garlic and onions permeated through the air from our kitchen window teasing my senses. In an Italian home garlic and onions are always the beginning of an amazing meal. It was comforting to know my mother was making something special for me to eat. Her traditional Italian dishes were so simple, healthy and flavorful. They have comforted me at a very young age and made me know I was loved and taken care of.

My mother's delicious meals inspired me to want to learn how to cook and to share this comfort with others when I was very young. At fifteen I bought my first cookbook and began to teach myself to cook from a recipe. The adventurous search for new recipes began as I went from page to page and thinking in my head how each one would taste with an inner desire to share this love with everyone.

Although living in Connecticut for several years, my fondest memories go back to where I was born, Throgs Neck. Just four blocks from the Long Island Sound the breeze was always filled with the scent of salty water from the sound. 

On Sundays in Italian neighborhoods like Throgs Neck in the Bronx, families would gather for hearty dinners of Italian favorites. You could hear the church bells ringing inviting everyone to mass while moms were up early in the kitchen preparing a bountiful Sunday dinner with all the trimmings.

Fried Meatballs, Spare Ribs, Braciole and Sausage slowly simmered in a Neapolitan-Style Rich Tomato Sauce.  Veal cutlets were breaded and fried to be eaten plain or layered between a savory tomato sauce, mozzarella and grated cheese for baked Veal Parmigiana. Homemade Lasagna, Baked Ziti or Rigatoni with Ricotta were pasta dishes that were served first. Then there was Roasted Chicken or Roast Beef with Potatoes or Chicken Cacciatore.  When neighbors walked by they would get a whiff of this deliciousness as it twirled through the air.

One of the fondest memories of my grandma was her homemade tomato paste. When I think back I can still remember the pungent scent and how it looked cooling on the window sill of her humble little kitchen,  it immediately brings me back to that part of life when I was a little child. My mother and grandma would be sipping espresso and dunking Italian biscotti chatting away in Italian while I played.

The rememberance of these dinners in my little home town have created many sweet, happy memories of my grandma, my mother and my family that I will always cherish.

Here is My First Cookbook!

 IT MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

Amelia's Kitchen "Mangiare a Casa" is available at authorhouse.com. Search for Amelia's Kitchen at the top right of the page.

Also can be purchased under books, cooking on AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, BORDERS and ALL ONLINE BOOKSTORES and as an E-BOOK.

If you have any questions about a recipe, I would love to hear from you.

SIGN UP for my FREE weekly NEWSLETTER filled with short-cuts, tips, techniques and recipes for the working woman and busy moms and dads