I grew up in the most Italian family you can have. We made everything from scratch. We grew our own tomatoes and made our own sauce. I grew up in NY and lived on Long Island. I now live in Virginia Beach, VA and carry on the tradition before me. Mostly Italian foods well love to try new recipes of any walk. I can do some amazing things with chicken and have a meatball recipe that is to die for. Christmas eve tradition rates very high in with my friends as I carry one the feast of the fishes, and some land stuff too. I usually make so much stuff that I make a menu for the evening. I love the gathering and smells that come out of this tradition. While dating, I decided to cook my mother's chicken scallopini for my girlfriend. It was a fabulous night and the scallopini was the clencher that got her to say, "yes". While hosting a bbq when I was living in California, had lots of guests coming over and the grill got away from me. Wound up burning the chicken and bugers beyond recognition. But that was many years ago and have not had that experience again...whew.