Categories: Podcast

Grandma’s Kitchen

The Layout

This is my grandmother’s house in Corona, Queens that she shared with my Uncle Frank and Aunt Dolly. The two windows on the lower right were the kitchen and every summer grams would have one tanned arm as she would sit with her left arm leaning on the sill. As I remember, the kitchen was about ten feet by 12 feet with the stove, sink and refrigerator along one wall. There was room for a nice sized table and you could fit about six comfortably. Grams was stationed at the back wall. During parties, seating was usually reserved for her and my oldest uncles. I remember fondly removing the eights, nines and tens from the deck of cards and playing Scopone and Briscola with her for hours.

Now in the very back was a small toilet and sink with a sliding door without a lock. As a boy it used to freak me out because I always thought someone was going to walk in, so I would usually sneak upstairs to use that bathroom.

The Food

I am still amazed by the food that would come out of that kitchen. My grandmother was beyond her cooking years, so most of the food was produced by Aunt Dolly and Aunt Mary. Naturally, there was always a pot of sauce “aka” gravy bubbling on one burner. One of my aunts would be frying meatballs, eggplant or chicken, for one of my favorites, “Lemon Chicken”. Click here to try it yourself.

Every Easter Uncle Frank would take out the big pasta board and dowel to make ravioli. He could roll out a sheet of pasta in minutes. I would get to cut the ravioli’s out with a glass and move them to the sheet draped sofa to dry. One Easter, my cousin Frank sat on the Ravioli, about ten years ago I wrote the Ravioli song below to commemorate the event.

For many years, during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s I would spend every Thursday in that kitchen as it was my mom’s turn to care for my grandmother. Pasta and meatballs, with a dollop of ricotta cheese.

The photo below is my mom’s brother Frank and sister Mary in the kitchen, with the dreaded bathroom in the back.

For more recipes from the kitchen click here.

Aunt Mary Uncle Frank

Get the entire story in my new book! Click the photo.

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