Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko:
Whether your family mealtime happens only once a week or every night, in the morning before school or late at night for dessert, foods taste better when done by a family member. Today, let’s find out what makes a table family happy.
What makes a table family truly happy and contented? If you are like most people in the world, you probably remember the dishes your mothers, fathers, grandmothers, or grandfathers made with particular fondness. Even though these family members may be long gone, you can still remember helping him/her make (and eat!) her special sour cream coffee cake in her kitchen. Memories like this are incredibly precious to the young and old alike.
They all have a resounding theory on why their food tastes better: love. In this case, it is not a symbolic use of language but an explanation of why their recipes and methods yield better results. They all agree that when you cook for your family with love, you spend the extra time to adjust and perfect a recipe and gather the best ingredients. In this way, grandma cooking can differ significantly from the simplified weekday meals we sometimes chuck together last minute.
A perfect example of these home-cooked meals can be found in Eleanor Gaccetta’s Generations Of Good Food.
Generations Of Good Food
This book is a compilation of recipes that span six generations. The book is a collection of straightforward recipes and heartfelt stories of Italian life that brought families together around the table. This book will raise your interest whether you are a novice in the kitchen, a home cook, or a professionally trained cook. The cookbook is a compilation of nearly two hundred (200) recipes, including main dishes, bread, cakes, pies, cookies, and candy. Would you like to cook pasta dishes, bake sweet Easter bread, a Chiffon cake, lemon ricotta cookies, or make Tiger butter fudge? These and many more recipes are included. Just glancing through the table of contents will urge you to cook, bake and eat.
Ellie’s book should have been planned. A labor of love consumed her time during the pandemic lockdown. It incorporates recipes, stories, and anecdotes from six generations of her Italian family. It is a book for the kitchen novice and seasoned cook and baker.
About The Author
Eleanor Gaccetta, a second-generation Italian, grew up in a community of small family farms where she writes, “the village was close-knit, and the success of one family equated to the success of them all.” She does not shy away from using humor and employs the device liberally and intelligently. This is true both in the writing of her memoir and caregiver guide and throughout the day-to-day interactions with her mom. For example, chapter titles such as “100 Ways to Repeat the Same Question” and “How to Ensure Brain Damage and Help a Neighbor” capture attention with their witty phrasing. She shares her tale and that of her mother with dignity, openness, an abundance of practical information, and anecdotes of both the blessings and the difficulties of full-time caregiving.
Eleanor (Ellie) Gaccetta, MBA, is an author, speaker, and home cook/baker. She was a legislative and policy analyst for the State of Colorado, the City, and the County of Broomfield, and after leaving government services, she was a private contractor. Ellie’s almost forty-year career ceased when her mother fell and broke her hip at age 92.
Today she lives in a suburb west of Denver where she enjoys spending time with family, being outdoors, cooking, baking, and gardening. She committed to remaining healthy, getting in shape, and staying fit during the pandemic. After the pandemic, she walks 2-3 miles daily and has become a gym shark. Similarly, she is also reaping the rewards from her two must-read books as she was awarded Book Excellence Award Finalist, Five Stars Readers’ Favorite, Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, and a nominee for the prestigious Outstanding Author’s League Award.