Sunday Dinner

In Italian families, a typical Sunday includes a family gathering and eating a pasta dinner around 1 in the afternoon. It's an older tradition but my mother grew up doing that with her extended family every Sunday of her childhood. We don't do it every week, but when we do have a Sunday dinner, we try to make it special.

Today, a few of my mother's cousins came to visit from New Jersey for dinner. My grandparents and AJ joined us, as well, of course. Mom and I have been busy the past two days preparing food and it was very much worth it!

Today was hot—it's felt so hot for the past few days—so we decided against making pasta. It's too heavy a meal on a day like this. Instead, we marinated chicken and cooked it on the grill. We had way more sides than necessary but they were delicious! There were sausage and peppers, garlic potatoes, Italian bread, three bean salad, mixed green salad tossed with oil and vinegar, and giambotta which is an Italian dish made of fresh veggies in red sauce. You can eat it hot or cold but since it's usually eaten in the summer, I like it cold! And of course, no meal is complete without red wine and sparkling water.

This is what my filled plate looked like before digging in. For dessert, my grandmother made her pineapple pie and her blueberry coffee cake. I don't have photos of those because dessert never sits long enough to have its photo taken!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend and a relaxing Sunday!