Dinner is Served

come from a family that can cook. No one has had formal training. The talent to create delicious food must be a gene. I'm thankful to know what a good meal is and that I'm able to boil water and then some. On Saturday, we went to my parents' house and we were joined by my sister, Uncle Tony and Nonna (grandmother in Italian). It was pretty funny to see my parents, Uncle Tony and me cooking. Nonna was smart and arrived with homemade bread and sun dried tomatoes stuffed with bread crumbs and grated cheese. My sister was smarter and arrived just before dinner. Dad manned the calamari marinara. You know how I feel about that dish, so I just stuck with plain marinara. There were scallops and there was bacon. I took the bacon and coated it with brown sugar and cayenne before I wrapped it around the bacon. A hint of sweet and spice. Perfect! When my sister and I lived in NYC, I would sear salmon in chambord. A tasty caramelized raspberry sauce was a tasty companion to the salmon. Uncle Tony kicked it up with meyer lemon juice and then dad added maple syrup. YUM! Mom ran around acting as sous chef. And the smell of meyer lemons made me want a cocktail. Something it the way the aroma wafted from the juicer. No cocktails were had, but next time for sure! It was great fun to cook with the famiglia in a ad hoc kind of way. The result was an amazing dinner and more fond memories.