Tracy and I moved from New Jersey to Texas in July of 1995. It was a huge move for us as a newlywed couple.  We were moving away from both of our families during the days of dial-up Internet.

Just prior to leaving my Uncle Dominick gave us a “beta” copy of a cookbook that he had been working on. The cookbook was to be a collection of many of the recipes that Grandma Lucy had made for the family over the decades of holiday gatherings and family dinners.

Unfortunately that “beta” copy of the cookbook was the only one ever printed. While the original binding and cover of the book have long since failed, the book is still in our kitchen in a binder. 

The goal of this site is to not only complete the project that Uncle Dom started, but to take it to the next level by allowing family and friends to contribute their own recipes.   Hopefully these family recipes (and more) will live on in a way that is accessible and available to all of us.

Before you dive in (if you haven’t already) please be aware of a few things.  First, the original cookbook contained NO PICTURES.  It was 1995 after all and digital cameras had yet to make their widespread appearance.   Moving forward I will take pictures of the cooking and final stages for these recipes when I make them.  If you make any of them that don’t have pictures please do take pictures of the cooking steps and final results, and send them to me. 

Another thing to keep in mind about the original cookbook was that Grandma Lucy cooked in LARGE quantities for Christmas, New Years, Easter, etc.   Some of the recipes can literally feed dozens of people.  So please make sure to reduce the ingredients as appropriate to make smaller amounts. 

And finally for many of the recipes she used a “pinch” of this or some unknown amount of “that” for seasonings or olive oil to saute ingredients, etc.  That makes it a bit of a trial and error process trying to get the recipe just right.  While it would be helpful to have exact amounts for these things it does give you the opportunity to experiment on the flavors.  Try not to be intimidated by it and instead treat it as an opportunity to get creative!

You will also find recipes that have been adapted from other sites/sources.  When that has been done I will provide a link to the original recipe if available. 

As Grandma Lucy would say….. “Mangia!”