Parents engage in verbal dance
Mangia! Mangia!
ANTOINETTE JACKSON

My parents didn't go out much during the time my brother John and I were growing up.

On the rare occasions when they did, the conversation between my parents and Grandmother Providenza typically went like this.

Mom: "Would you look after Antoinette and Johnny while Matt and I go to a wedding Saturday night?"

Nonna: "But why can't I go with you?"

Mom: "Because you don't know these people and you weren't invited, Ma?"

Nonna: "Go. Have a good time. I'll watch them. " Then striking a martyr's pose, and in her best dramatic voice, Grandma added, "But if I die, I die."

Daddy (refusing to accept her guilt trip): "Providenza, if you die, you die. And we'll cry for three days."

Nonna: "I donno Chicago," meaning she did not understand the New World ways of not taking the grandmother along to social events.

This exchange sounds a bit cruel, but it wasn't really. It was a verbal dance my parents did each time Grandma was asked to watch us.

The next morning, Grandma usually managed to live through the evening and was healthy enough to join the family at the breakfast table.

When I asked, "What did you bring me, Mommy," my mother always had a little something.

If it was an Order Sons of Italy Dance, Mom brought home the little favors from the table.

If they went to a wedding, Mom brought us the almonds. There were usually three or four sugarcoated almonds wrapped with white net and tied with a shiny white bow.

At some wedding receptions, they served Italian roast beef sandwiches. Thin slices of beef were piled high on a hard roll, topped with au jus and then wrapped in paper. The caterers served the sandwiches through the half door at the kitchen.

Guests could walk up and ask for any number, then go back to the table and enjoy the sandwiches with the bottle of Chianti on the table.

Knowing how much we liked them, Mom was sure to stuff a couple of roast beef sandwiches in her purse for us. Even the next day, they were the best tasting sandwiches in the world to us. But most of all, my brother and I knew Mom and Dad missed us and thought of us while they were away. This, incidentally began my lifelong habit of bringing remembrances to those close to me.

Several years ago, during a visit from my Cousin Angie and her husband Carlo, we reminisced about family and old times. I mentioned those memorable sandwiches

Mom and Dad used to bring home.

I asked Carlo, who owned Sprino's

restaurant in Elkhorn, Wisconsin," without divulging any business secrets, what made them taste so good?" I quickly noted his answer onto a 3 x 5 card.

To scale down Carlo's recipe for home use, I called my cousin Annie who owned The Hut in Elkhorn. She helped me whittle down the size of the ingredients.

Both recipes follow.

Carlo's	Italian	Roast	Beef	Sandwiches
for Large Parties

18 to 20 pound sirloin tip or beef roast

3 / 4 cup water

1 28 oz. Italian plum tomatoes, crushed

1 teaspoon oregano 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 to 2 teaspoons salt

1 / 2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Wash and pat dry roast. Season with salt and pepper on all sides.

Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the top of the roast.

Bake for 3 hours in an oven heated to 350 degrees.

Allow to cool for about ten minutes. Slice thin, heap on Kaiser roll and top with some of the meat juices.

Makes about 70 to 80 sandwiches. Annie's Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches 3 to 4 pound sirloin tip or rump roast

3 / 4 cup water

14.5 oz. can Italian plum tomatoes, crushed

1/2 teaspoon oregano 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 to 2 teaspoons salt

1 / 2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Wash and pat dry roast. Season with salt and pepper on all sides.

Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the top of the roast.

Bake for 3 hours in an oven preheated to 350 degrees. Allow to cool for about ten minutes. Slice thin, heap on a French or Kaiser roll, and top with some of the meat juices.

For extra flavor, top with jarred giardineria.

Makes about 7 to 10 sandwiches.

!

Antoinette Jackson is a Bullard-area resident. You may reach her at Antojxn@aol.com.