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An Italian Family Dinner

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Prosciutto and cheese platter.

An Italian family dinner with Renee. A small preview for Episode 2806 of Ciao Italia.

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Please read the whole post so you don’t miss any important information!

This isn’t really do-it-yourself related, but sometimes it’s just fun to write a little about what’s going on in our lives. If you came for crafts, there’s plenty of those on my site, but you won’t find them on this particular post.

My stepmother Renee is involved in all. the. things. She helps raise funds for veterans as part of New Hampshire’s Veteran’s Count program, she raises funds for the local hospital, she helps run the family business with my dad and brother, she’s been working to change laws that help fight addiction, and she’s heavily involved in politics.

One of her other passions is cooking. Recently she had an amazing opportunity to go on Mary Ann Esposito’s cooking show, Ciao Italia. They spent hours video taping her making dinner, then on another day she cooked the same meal… again… so they could record the family dinner. This was all recorded in 2018 and it’s now up as Episode 2806 on PBS!

We were lucky enough to make it up to New Hampshire to participate in the family dinner. It was so much fun and as usual, her food (and wine) was amazing. I wanted to take a few moment to show some photos I took from before the dinner.

Chicken being prepared for dinner.
Grilled pineapple as an appetizer before dinner.
Grilled pineapple.

I never make it through appetizers at Renee’s before being stuffed… I always feel a bit guilty by dinner because I. Am. So. Full.

Appetizer before our family Italian Dinner.
Side dish from an Italian family dinner.
Note the Cheese Whiz in the background. Italian staple. At least at this house.

Lolli-Pop Lamb Chops

Here’s a video tutorial and recipe for her Lolli-Pop Lamb Chops:

Renee’s Gravy & Meatballs

Want to make some Italian Gravy and Meatballs? Here’s here recipe!

Renee’s Tomato Salad

Unfortunately, I didn’t get photos of the final dinner foods because the videographer was there and I didn’t want to be in his way. But you’ll be able to see it in Episode 2806 of Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito!

Mamma DIY Danielle and Baby Tristan
Me and the littlest. If you hold on tight enough, he can’t run away.

Personally, I have this major issue where I attack all of the proscuitto and cheese, then end up stuffing myself past capacity once dinner comes. I wished we lived close enough to take leftovers home. I always love when Renee comes to visit with my dad because she’ll cook for us and leave us with lots of yummy goodies to enjoy later.

Want to see photos of the gorgeous tablescape she setup? Here’s the post about her Peacock Tablescape.

The videographer was quite interesting and he told us stories about his work with Mister Rogers. I wanted to hear more of what he had to say, but I spent a lot of time chasing the baby and it’s impossible to hear an entire conversation when you have children. Am I right?

The baby, keeping us on our toes around all of the pretties and breakables!

This is a quick behind the scenes that a friend of hers took from the initial taping.

You can see the baby in the background of the meatball video if you keep an eye out… he’s wearing the Reversible Romper that I made for him. I LOVE that outfit. I need to make some bigger sizes because sadly he’s outgrown them all.

Make sure to check out my recipes too: Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes | No Bake Cookie Sticks | Homemade Beef Jerky | Beef Gravy with Gnocchi | Homemade Frozen Pizza

If you’re interested in the zero waste movement, or simply being more ecofriendly, I have this great guide to setting up an ecofriendly kitchen.

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