Nourishment: bread, cheese, and my mom.

In keeping with the Mom theme of the day, (and because my city exploration has taken a back seat in the last month), I would like to pay homage to some of the kick-ass foods my mom often feeds me: 

Homemade pizza

I’m proud to say that this is a recipe I have attempted a few times (ok, twice) and has been met with great acclaim by my friends.  But my mom can crank these puppies out as if she was Papa John, and they get better every time. She never makes less than 4 large trays at a time, and we’re lucky if there are leftovers. If my brother is home, there is no such thing as leftovers. Those square cuts of pizza become Pat’s third, fourth and fifth helpings, or his contribution to the No Pizza Left Behind Act.

My favorite variety of Linda pizza is with spinach and mushrooms.  Also mom’s favorite and she likes to think it is Pat’s least favorite so she stakes our claim to trays by spooning globs of garlic sautéed greens over the homemade sauce, but he is becoming increasingly committed to NPLB and rarely discriminates anymore.

Shrimp Dip

Ask any McDonald or Fangio family member what their favorite part of Easter at Aunt Linda’s house is, and anyone over the age of 10 will tell you it’s this cheddar cheese and cream of shrimp concoction from the gods, I mean Linda McDonald.  Mom has made this dip every Easter that I can remember and it’s one of the many reasons no one ever leaves the kitchen (I think Grandma’s ham comes in a close second).

I was tasked with making the dip this year, and I think it came out pret-ty well if I do say so myself.  Although I might have forgot to stir for the first few minutes and some cheese may have burned to the pot…

I like to think that if my mom was at the first Thanksgiving, she would have brought some of these Linda classics:   spinach ricotta casserole, meatballs, lasagna, lemon chicken, sausage and peppers, bean soup, baked ziti, grilled salmon…I could go on, with the list of food that is.  The idea of my mom with the pilgrims and Indians doesn’t last much after trying to figure out how she would preserve the leftovers without her tupperware. 

Keep on rocking the kitchen mom, I only learn from the best!