Sunday Gravy, A Family Tradition

My husband does the cooking in this household. It’s just healthier for everyone. Trust me!

 I am capable of only the simplest meals. Vin is a phenomenal cook capable of creating complex meals in the time it takes me to cut up a chicken breast.  Oh yes, I much prefer eating what he dishes out than standing over the stove making a huge mess.

Lately our lives were turned upside down by a series of events and our meal and family time flew out the window. Dinner consisted of food picked up fast on the way home each night after 8pm. Unhealthy, disgusting, boring and expensive as heck. In defense, Vin reinstated a tradition we once followed, one passed down to him by his grandmother, and a tradition familiar to anyone who had a true Italian grandmother in their background. Sunday Gravy.

Early on Sunday, Vin starts cooking up a big pot of Sunday Gravy, also known as sauce. He processes the tomatoes, seasons, simmers, does everything from scratch. The house starts to fill up with the warm scent of goodness waiting to hit our plates. He mixes meats and molds meatballs, he makes bracciole or cuts small pieces of veal or beef steaks to cook in the sauce.  Sunday is all about magic in the kitchen.

When we sit down for an early Sunday meal, everyone must be at the table. There is no eating in the living room in front of the television on this day. The kids’ eyes grow large and you can almost see them drool as the pasta, sauce and meat are brought to the table.

Sunday dinners are a wonderful time. A peaceful time for family, and maybe someday a few friends. It’s a break in a hectic lifestyle and a chance to reconnect. As I stared out across our small kitchen table yesterday evening, I reflected how much like life the setting really was. People coming together over mismatched bowls and platters, mismatched events, mismatched circumstances. People finding joy in simple things, forgetting the need for perfection. Breaking bread, sopping up life’s goodness. People sharing love over the simplest of common ground- a good meal.

I love our Sunday tradition and I look forward to continuing it for a very long time.  

Sunday Gravy- snapshot taken from video by Vincent James Pia, cooked by Vincent James Pia, enjoyed by the Pia clan