I have had many favorite foods over the years, recently my all time favorite would have to be my Nana’s homemade pasta dinner. My family is very Italian oriented so pasta has been a big part of my childhood. Once a month since I was little, my family gets together and makes pasta and so many sides. We make homemade pasta, me and all of my little cousins create funny shapes for us all to eat. While we were making all of the little pasta shapes, all of the adults were in the kitchen making homemade sauces. We always have three different types of sauces. My favorite sauce we have is homemade vodka sauce. I recently learned how to make vodka sauce myself and it is my favorite dish to make. Sometimes I make it for my family and they love it.  Another sauce we have is homemade pesto alfredo and it is so delicious. I love putting it on farfalle with extra parmesan cheese. Lastly we have regular red sauce. I love the regular red sauce, it is so basic but so delicious. We also make homemade garlic bread and we dip it in all three sauces. We also have homemade meatballs as well as spicy and sweet sausage. To top it off we have a salad with homemade caesar dressing that my Grandfather makes from scratch. I have been slowly starting to learn to make all the homemade sauces and the meatballs so I can carry on the tradition. I love this meal so much and it will continue to be my favorite meal from now on. 

Lily King 

1/30/23

Miller 

English 110

Favorite Food Essay 

I have had many favorite foods over the years, recently my all time favorite would have to be my Nana’s homemade pasta dinner. My family is very Italian oriented so pasta has been a big part of my childhood. Coming to college has been such a difficult transition food-wise. I used to get a home cooked meal every single day at home. My mom and my nana did so much just so me and my sister could get a hot plate of food on the table at dinner time. After coming to school, the one thing I miss more than anything is a home cooked meal. Don’t get me wrong, the dining hall food isn’t bad. It is just so different from home. When I went home over Christmas break I requested a spaghetti dinner and it was amazing. Finally getting a wonderful home cooked meal that I could actually take my time to enjoy was so great. The smell  coming from the kitchen when the spaghetti dinner is being made is my favorite smell ever. You can smell all the different spices that are in the sauce. Also the smell of the homemade garlic bread is simply amazing. Once a month since I was little, my family gets together and makes pasta and so many sides. We make homemade pasta, me and all of my little cousins create funny shapes for us all to eat. While we were making all of the little pasta shapes, all of the adults were in the kitchen making homemade sauces. We always have three different types of sauces. My favorite sauce we have is homemade vodka sauce. I recently learned how to make vodka sauce myself and it is my favorite dish to make. Sometimes I make it for my family and they love it.  Another sauce we have is homemade pesto alfredo and it is so delicious. I love putting it on farfalle with extra parmesan cheese. Lastly we have regular red sauce. I love the regular red sauce, it is so basic but so delicious. We also make homemade garlic bread and we dip it in all three sauces. We have homemade meatballs as well as spicy and sweet sausage. The meatballs have chunks of bread in it to soak up the red sauce and it makes them so much more juicy and delicious. The Italian spicy and sweet sausage are cooked to perfection. Also a secret ingredient is to put spicy italian pepperoni into the sauce to give it a little kick. To top it off we have a salad with homemade caesar dressing that my Grandfather makes from scratch. If you have ever been to an Italian restaurant and they make table side caesar dressing, it is nothing compared to my grandpas. My family all sits around a table while we feast on the most delicious meal to ever exist. All you can hear is laughter and music playing while everyone enjoys their food. I have the most special memories from our pasta dinners. I have been slowly starting to learn to make all the homemade sauces and the meatballs so I can carry on the tradition. I love this meal so much and it will continue to be my favorite meal from now on. 

My Grandma knows that this dish is so special to all of us, she takes so much time out of her day to prepare it. My Nana says “this dish means so much to me, I have grown up with my Grandma making it for me and the recipes have been passed down for so many years”. While I talked to her on the phone she told me all about the process of preparing the sauces and how she makes the dough for the pasta. She said the red sauce takes five hours to make but the vodka sauce only takes about one. The red sauce is so simple yet so complex. There are so many spices and other things in it that you never would have guessed. I can confidently say that I will never eat jarred pasta sauce after learning how to make my nanas red sauce. I have tried before to watch her make the sauces but it takes so much time to prepare. My grandmother knows how much I absolutely love her homemade pasta meal. While I was on the phone with her she laughed when I asked her if she thought I liked it. She says “of course you like it! It is your favorite meal!”. She told me that she knows for a fact that I love it because it is the one thing I always request. When I asked her if it was her favorite meal, she told me that she wouldn’t say it is her favorite food but it is the most special to her. She said her favorite food is definitely fish and chips seeing as we are from a small beach town and we have the best fish and chips. Even though it isn’t her favorite meal she says it is her favorite to make and it creates the best, most heartwarming memories. Lastly I asked her why she carried on this tradition throughout all these years. She told me “my mom carried on this tradition to me so that I could keep it going. I remember when I used to sit in my grandma’s kitchen and watch her make the homemade Ferris family red sauce because I wanted to learn so badly. I am so joyful that all my grandchildren love this meal because now they can pass it onto their kids and keep the family recipe alive.” Listening to my grandma talk about how much this meal means to her, makes me love it even more. I truly can not wait to pass the recipe down to my children and teach them how important it is. Nana has had so many years of experience perfecting the sauces and the pastas. The final outcome is so beyond worth it. I look forward to the spaghetti dinner more and more everyday.

I have had many favorite foods over the years, recently my all time favorite would have to be my Nana’s homemade pasta dinner. My family is very Italian oriented so pasta has been a big part of my childhood. Coming to college has been such a difficult transition food-wise. I used to get a home cooked meal every single day at home. My mom and my nana did so much just so me and my sister could get a hot plate of food on the table at dinner time. After coming to school, the one thing I miss more than anything is a home cooked meal. Don’t get me wrong, the dining hall food isn’t bad. It is just so different from home. When I went home over Christmas break I requested a spaghetti dinner and it was amazing. Finally getting a wonderful home cooked meal that I could actually take my time to enjoy was so great. The smell  coming from the kitchen when the spaghetti dinner is being made is my favorite smell ever. You can smell all the different spices that are in the sauce. Also the smell of the homemade garlic bread is simply amazing. Once a month since I was little, my family gets together and makes pasta and so many sides. We make homemade pasta, me and all of my little cousins create funny shapes for us all to eat. While we were making all of the little pasta shapes, all of the adults were in the kitchen making homemade sauces. We always have three different types of sauces. My favorite sauce we have is homemade vodka sauce. I recently learned how to make vodka sauce myself and it is my favorite dish to make. Sometimes I make it for my family and they love it.  Another sauce we have is homemade pesto alfredo and it is so delicious. I love putting it on farfalle with extra parmesan cheese. Lastly we have regular red sauce. I love the regular red sauce, it is so basic but so delicious. We also make homemade garlic bread and we dip it in all three sauces. We have homemade meatballs as well as spicy and sweet sausage. The meatballs have chunks of bread in it to soak up the red sauce and it makes them so much more juicy and delicious. The Italian spicy and sweet sausage are cooked to perfection. Also a secret ingredient is to put spicy italian pepperoni into the sauce to give it a little kick. To top it off we have a salad with homemade caesar dressing that my Grandfather makes from scratch. If you have ever been to an Italian restaurant and they make table side caesar dressing, it is nothing compared to my grandpas. My family all sits around a table while we feast on the most delicious meal to ever exist. All you can hear is laughter and music playing while everyone enjoys their food. I have the most special memories from our pasta dinners. I have been slowly starting to learn to make all the homemade sauces and the meatballs so I can carry on the tradition. I love this meal so much and it will continue to be my favorite meal from now on. 

My Grandma knows that this dish is so special to all of us, she takes so much time out of her day to prepare it. My Nana says “this dish means so much to me, I have grown up with my Grandma making it for me and the recipes have been passed down for so many years”. While I talked to her on the phone she told me all about the process of preparing the sauces and how she makes the dough for the pasta. She said the red sauce takes five hours to make but the vodka sauce only takes about one. The red sauce is so simple yet so complex. There are so many spices and other things in it that you never would have guessed. I can confidently say that I will never eat jarred pasta sauce after learning how to make my nanas red sauce. I have tried before to watch her make the sauces but it takes so much time to prepare. My grandmother knows how much I absolutely love her homemade pasta meal. While I was on the phone with her she laughed when I asked her if she thought I liked it. She says “of course you like it! It is your favorite meal!”. She told me that she knows for a fact that I love it because it is the one thing I always request. When I asked her if it was her favorite meal, she told me that she wouldn’t say it is her favorite food but it is the most special to her. She said her favorite food is definitely fish and chips seeing as we are from a small beach town and we have the best fish and chips. Even though it isn’t her favorite meal she says it is her favorite to make and it creates the best, most heartwarming memories. Lastly I asked her why she carried on this tradition throughout all these years. She told me “my mom carried on this tradition to me so that I could keep it going. I remember when I used to sit in my grandma’s kitchen and watch her make the homemade Ferris family red sauce because I wanted to learn so badly. I am so joyful that all my grandchildren love this meal because now they can pass it onto their kids and keep the family recipe alive.”