GRANPA-IL NONNO COOKS FOR JANUARY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

With my wife Barb's and son-in-law Domi's birthdays January 22, my daughter Natasha always has a family get together to celebrate. So last Saturday January 18, this cook offered to make most of the meal to help with the preparations. Keeping the mess at my house!! Making chicken legs and breasts sprinked with rosemary-rosmarino, hot and sweet sausage as well as a hearty ground beef red sauce-sugo to fulfill the protein requirements the aroma in the kitchen was great for the senses.

The sauce was added to the tortellini with cheese-formaggio, as the pasta dish for all. Everyone in our family group love vegetables so I made broccoli, mushrooms-funghi, rapini, peas-piselli and roasted potatoes-patate.

Natasha made a large bowl of Greek salad along with boccincini and olives on the table as appetizers. Lots of healthy eating.

Of course no birthday celebration would be complete without a cake or two accompanied by a large platter of fruit!

Happy Birthday Barb and Domi! Buon Compleanno! Now to have another event so this cook can show off his culinary skills!

GRANPA POSTS NUMBER 101

Numbers can mean something when we celebrate a birthday. Barb always takes pictures of everyone's birthday cake. This post marks number 101 of my posts. There is no picture! How to celebrate! Barb actually makes me post! She is proud of my cooking and likes to share it with the world. I like to cook because I like to eat!! Posting on my blog is a struggle but I am told that some people actually enjoy my posts and recipes. Here's to number 101! Enjoy!

GRANPA'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION 2014

My birthday celebration on January 5 was a late  morning brunch with more breakfast items. Sausage, regular bacon and peameal bacon along with scrambled eggs were our hot items.

Fresh bagels, muffins, cookies, fresh creamed cheeses-one plain and one with herbs, smoked salmon, three cheeses-cheddar, provolone, friulano, fruit-oranges, tangerines, delicious apples, sliced pineappple, sliced cantaloup, sliced watermelon, and of course beverages which included hot coffee, milk and and orange juice. If needed ketchup and two types of jam-strawberry and grape were added to the meal.

At the end of the delicious meal, of course the proverbial birthday cake! I love this type of celebration. For those of you that really know me, I do not like to sit in a restaurant for very long. Since it was my birthday, Barb and my girls decided a home event on a Sunday between the grandchildren's lessons worked better for everyone. Everyone contributed and I tried not to tell Barb how to cook the bacon and scrambled eggs. It is very hard for a cook to stay out of the kitchen! Even though Barb can cook, I can do it better!