I don't know about you guys, but for us Sunday Dinner was a huge deal growing up. The whole family got together around 2-3 pm, "dinner time" and there was a ton of food. We would start with some cold antipasto: various meats and cheeses, olives. And, of course, the bread was to die for! Calandra's bakery in Newark, NJ was our go-to. Right across the street from Dickie Dees Italian style hot dogs. Next would come the pasta and meat sauce: my favorite was always Ziti topped with some ricotta cheese. Mmmmm so good! The meat sauce was stocked with meatballs and two different types of sausage: hot and sweet. After that it was all about coffee and dessert! So many different types of pastries, cakes, cookies... it was so good!!! However, in retrospect I do not believe my family had heard about the effects of consuming too many carbohydrates haha. But really it was all about the love, the laughs, and being together. This was a weekly tradition that I miss terribly and I hope to bring back again when my life is a little less hectic... Having moved away from my family in 2018 is still one of the hardest things I've ever done. All I can do is visit as often as possible (kind of tough with 3 kids, 2 dogs, a full-time job, and 17 communities to run) I'm grateful for this small group for helping me take some time out of my busy life to reconnect with my roots, relive some of those wonderful memories, make new connections, and forge new traditions. Grazie con amore, Joe

We all had that one person who introduced us to homemade wine, taught us to work with our hands, or showed us how to hang peppers to dry. Let’s remember them together here.