momma's kitchen
summer treats
by Camille Di Loreto

No more smell of crayons or construction paper, no more vocabulary tests, no more spelling bees and no more memorizing from the Baltimore Catechism.- at last the end of the school year.

" ... for me the end of school meant getting up late in the morning, ... helping Grandpa Angelo and Mamma"

Now the only thing to look forward to was those lazy, hazy days of summer. Perhaps you can relate to a childhood reverie ... for me the end of school meant getting up late in the morning, helping around the house, helping Grandpa Angelo and Mamma in the garden and looking forward to those road trips to visit my favorite cousins Marie, Angelo John and Phyllis in Baltimore, Maryland. Maybe you spent your summers in a similar fashion. I just always figured it was one of the unexplainable Italian things. Most other kids I knew spent their summers at camps with strange sounding Indian names such as Camp Iwannakooki. This was not my experience. I spent my summers at Camp Uncle Jimmy, one of my very best uncles who lived in Catonsville, a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. The highlight of the summer vacation was always the extended trip to visit with my cousins. I am certain our parents worked out some sort of exchange just to get a break from the kids but certainly did not care. We had a great deal going for us. It was just a chance to travel from Clifton, New Jersey all the way to Maryland. How wonderful it was to drive hours and hours and end up with your best buddies, my favorite cousins. Actually they were my only cousins so I am glad we liked each other.

Traveling to Baltimore seemed like it took forever. So when I finally arrived I flew out of the car like a bat out of hell. Visiting at their house was always an adventure. They had a creek way way back in their yard and it seemed we would spend hours and hours discovering al sorts of things. I can recall making these floating devices from left over Popsicle sticks. You remember the flat wooden kind with chocolate stain marks on the wood from the Cream Siscle from Good Humor Ice Cream. We glued these sticks together, numbered each one. One number designated for each cousin. After numbering them we raced them down the creek to see which one would win. Life can't get any better than this.

"There is nothing quite like the smell of Italian sausage on the grill."

We played on piles of dirt nearly 20 feet tall from a near by new housing development and lost our brand-new Keds sneakers in the process. We formed a secret blood brother society swearing our undying commitment to each other, ahh the joys of youth. After all the rolling around in the dirt piles we walked home even more dirty than before, mud in our toes from walking across the creek to get back to the house. Uncle Jimmy would be waiting for us at the end of the day, the BBQ started - Sausage and peppers grilling, cold salad with all the fixings and fresh Italian bread waiting just for us. There is nothing quite like the smell of Italian sausage on the grill. We used charcoal briquettes back then. No self respecting person with a clue about BBQ's used anything else. The waves of curly, gray smoke floating through the heavy humidity of a Baltimore summer and carrying the flavor straight through to our noses and our bellies then registering MMMMM - dinner. Our brains now concluding the fact that indeed all the playing in piles of dirt for all those hours makes a kid very hungry. Now come the shouts "I'll race you." "Last one there is a rotten egg!" "Yeah, well I beat you last night." and we continue like this till we reached the house.

Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Eleanor surely must have had the patience of saints. We were five kids barreling up the back of the yard dirty as could be. Aunt Eleanor would come running out of the house straight to the hose. As we each approached, we knew the drill ... if you want to eat ... you first faced the hose. The hose water always refreshing but freezing cold definitely commanded that we complain and whine. "Too cold !", "I'm not that dirty." Still our moaning going unnoticed, we moved along the line to quickly make way for the next cousin.

"Our family histories are so blended we can never forget the good times and some bad times."

Over the years we have all grown up, achieved most of our goals in life. Two of my cousins still live in Maryland one married and moved to Canada. I now live in Dallas, Texas so our reunions are few and far between. Grandpa Angelo and Mamma are long since gone. Uncle Jimmie is gone and so are my parents. The only one left from our big extended family is Aunt Eleanor. We really do not get together very often anymore but when we do we reminisce about all those childhood times, the great summer camp outs, playing in the dirt, walking through the creek, and more. The bonds formed so far back they can never be severed. Again I always thought of this as our special Italian thing. What is so special about these times is the fact that we share so many common threads quilting us in to cousins. Our family histories are so blended we can never forget the good times and some bad times. If one of us forgets there is always someone to jog the old memory and remind us of a specific time and place. Now we keep in touch via email so life is somewhat easier. We can be brought back in time in just an instant. I suppose those blood societies we formed back then really held more worth than we ever knew.

If you have any memories you would like to share, please contact me. I would enjoy reading your stories.

Italian BBQ'S
If you're really feeling adventerous, try a full course grilled meal.

Great Italian Pork Sausage:
Try the flavored varieties such as cheese and garlic, green peppers and onions, Italian sausage. These usually can be purchased at a local Italian specialty store. Some very upscale markets may have them on hand. They are so wonderful grilled. The cheese ones are especially good.

Grilled Vegetables:
Try a variety of green, red, orange and yellow peppers. Brush them with olive oil and grill slowly till the peppers are slightly charred. Then serve on a platter and let everyone help themselves. Other vegetable suggestions include zucchini, eggplant, and sweet onions. Simply follow the same directions for grilling.

BBQ Potatoes:
Prepare ahead BBQ Temp -Medium to High
Your favorite baking potatoes - one medium potato per person
Onions - 1 onion per person, chopped
Fresh Rosemary - crushed or chopped. Use as much or as little as you like.
extra virgin olive oil.
Salt and Fresh ground black pepper.
Aluminum foil - the heavier version - The light weight kind has a tendency to break through easily.

You will be cooking these little packets of goodness directly on the grill. Cut foil into large enough sizes to cook potatoes. Generally a square of about 8 1/2 by 11 inches will do. Peel your favorite potatoes. Slice about 1/8 in thick. Set aside in a bowl of ice cold water to prevent browning. Place sliced potatoes in middle of precut foil. Alternate potato and onions. Sprinkle fresh rosemary, salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle olive oil on top. The size of these foil packets is up to you. I make individual size ones but larger ones can be made to serve more. Take the foil and fold it closed. Be certain foil is secured well enough. You don't want all the dripping falling in to the grill. Place these packets directly on the heated grill. Turn the packets over occasionally so the ingredients are cooked evenly. Allow sufficient grilling time on these delicious items. About 30 minutes. Once cooked these can be set aside. They will maintain sufficient heat until the sausage and grilling vegetable are ready to be eaten.

Keep it simple - Have more fun. Buon Pranzo