There continues to be many frustrations and/or obstacles in trying to perfect family recipes. Some are beyond my control like the meatballs. I've been making them ever since Momma sent me the recipe about 5 years ago. Tom & friends have tried & liked them, so I checked it off as completed. Then I went to RI about a month ago to spend a day cooking with my grandmother. To make a long story short, mini meatballs are added to her chicken soup so I whipped up a batch. She took one look at them & told me that I added way too much parsley & who told me to do that? I showed her the recipe in her handwriting & she laughed & said it was a mistake.

Another thing that's been happening may be more in my control. I have so many memories associated with much of these recipes. The warm & fuzzy feelings I get just thinking about some of the food may also add to what the flavors are like in my mind. What I mean is, that some just don't taste as good as I remembered. It reminds me of when I first entered college to study fashion. My roommates & I discussed movies that we loved & that inspired us creatively. A bunch of us mentioned Mahogany with Diana Ross. The costumes were amazing! Then we watched it again, 10 years later. Let's just say that movie and the costumes did not withstand the test of time.

This weekend I made stuffed mushrooms. I was going to marinate them but changed my mind. Besides, I was going to a party & stuffed mushrooms were always served at family festivities. I followed my mom's very tradition recipe which is chopped onions, garlic, & mushroom stems all sauteed with breadcrumbs & butter. I added Parmesan cheese, but would like to try something a little stronger next time. Maybe some imported provolone. My mom told me to add a little water to the baking pan, cover & steam them for 15-20 minutes. Actually, she's from RI, so R's are dropped. You know, moth-a, fath-a, wat-a. So I cooked them until the "wat-a evap-arated" And guess what? They were mushy & not good. The stuffing itself was tasty but as a whole, this recipe was not successful. So, I think that I have to add my own flare to this recipe to make it better. I may have to do this with a number of dishes while still trying to maintain their integrity. I don't want to change them so much that my own family won't recognize them, but some need a bit of improvement. Why do I have guilt over this revelation? Will the Italian-Catholic guilt trip ever end!!??

Posted by Dawn Falcone @ 2:36 AM 6 comments

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