An unexpected family gathering of sorts... :)~

Last Thursday my cousin Rose and Frank stopped by after thier hair appt. up the road from me at our cousin Annmarie's hair salon. Normally I would have gone up there to hang with everyone, but I was waiting for the DISH Network people to finish installing....By the way, I love it way better than Cablevision/Optimum....and it's much cheaper. $68/month...180 channels & Showtime & Serious Radio stations....Plus we definetly get way more than 180 channels...

Ok, I went a little off track...So I wound up taking Rose & Frank to Aunt Lucy's to meet her parents there. They were having a late lunch there , and asked me to join them. My Aunt is always yelling at me to come over more often, so I did....What was supposed to be 8 people turned into 19 family members within 45 min. We just kept adding folding chairs to the 3 long tables..... Typical.....Of course she had more than enough food to go around. Did you have any doubt?... :)~

It started with homemade pasta (tagliatelle) w/ light red sauce, and garbanzo beans. I asked Frank, " Are we just having this, or do I need to make room." He just laughed, and shrugged his shoulders. That was a stupid question!!! As soon as the pasta was gone in came all the rest of the food. Pork chops, stuffed baby aubergines (eggplant), oven potatoes, tomato and mozzarella, greens salad, and some great bread. They got it at The Bagel King....Humph! Who knew!.....and Ohhhh, let's not forget the homemade wine. Mmmmmmmm.

Frank and I went outside to have a smoke, and check out the garden. You would not believe the size of some of the squashes they've got growing up the fence. They have two of them craddled with a macrame netting. There are plants every where. And my aunt uses everything. Her pantry is filled with canned and jarred food from the garden, as is most of my Italian Aunts pantry's. I also got to see the new crusher, and old family wine press. They must've just bottled it, cause everything was still out...and the wine was still bubbling in their open vats. He had both white and red. Can't wait to try the 2006 batch. They said the grapes were great this year!

Stuffed Aubergines (Eggplant)

3 small eggplant
1 onion diced
1 red pepper diced
1 shredded large carrot
1/2 c diced mushrooms
diced eggplant from the scooped out pulp
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp fresh chopped basil
S & P to taste
fresh mozzarella sliced

Halve the eggplant lengthwise. Score the pulp deeply with a sharp knife, being careful not to pierce the skin. Scoop out to leave a 1/2 inch shells. Sprinkle with salt and invert on paper towels to drain for 30 min.

Sautee the diced onion, red pepper, carrot, mushrooms, and eggplant pulp. Add oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Cook til tender.
Brush scooped out eggplants with olive oil. Skin too.
Stuff with mixture, and top with sliced fresh mozzarella. Bake for 30 min at 350, or till eggplant is tender.