Every food in my family comes with a day you’re supposed to make it. See notes.

Main courses and side dishes

Breakfast
- Dutch pancakes (breakfast)
  - Oven pancake
Dinner / beef
- Picanha
  - Brazilian roast on the grill
Dinner / turkey
- Thanksgiving turkey
  - Everything’s better with pecorino Romano cheese!
Dinner / side pasta
- Pasta (Sunday dinner)
  - Basic recipe for fettucini, angelhair, etc.
- Pasta sauce
  - Basic recipe for tomato sauce.
- The Giant Meatball
  - Basic recipe for meatballs, stuffed peppers, and turkey stuffing.
- Lasagna / baked ziti / manicotti / stuffed shells
  - Variations of layered baked pasta and cheese
- Ravioli
  - Cheese-filled pasta squares
- Capelletti (Christmas and sometimes Easter dinners)
  - Round, meat-filled pasta, looks like ‘little hats’ (thus the name)
- Gnocchi (a birthday request favorite)
  - Potato dumplings (not for the timid chef)
- Summer pasta salad
  - An alternative to mayo or salad-dressing-based pasta salads, and a perennial hit at our friend’s Memorial Day BBQ
Dinner / fish
- Baked fish
  - Tilapia / white fish in a pan in the oven
- Shrimp Scampi
  - Shrimp and pasta with lemon garlic butter sauce

Desserts / snacks (by holiday, which is how we do it!)

March – Shrove Tuesday (day before Lent)
- Castagnoli
  - Dough sweets for Mardi Gras / Shrove Tues, the day before Lent begins.
March/April – Easter
- Irish Potatoes / Easter Eggs
  - Candy for St. Patty’s Day and Easter, of course.
- Pastiera (Italian Easter rice-pie)
  - My grandmother’s recipe, like a mixture of cheesecake and rice pudding, made only at Easter
- Easter Bread
  - Braided Challah-like egg bread with drizzle topping.
Fall (not Italian, but there are still sometimes rules)
- Gingersnaps
  - Gail’s recipe, and one of my dad’s favorite cookies.
Christmas (can be used for weddings, other events)
- Italian Wedding Cookies
  - Cookies for Xmas, mostly. Make with white sprinkles for weddings.
- Pecan Dainties (aka Mexican Wedding Cookies)
  - Cookies for Xmas.
- ‘Flat’ Cookies (aka butter-press cookies)
  - Cookies for all year around!!! (one of the few recipes approved for year-round use by the Touch family)
- Pignoli (almond macaroons)
  - Yet another pignoli recipe; this one has flour, eggs, and baking powder, though. Made mostly near Xmas.
- Boil cake
  - Rum-soaked raisins help make this spice cake/fruitcake moist.
Anytime (these aren’t Italian, so there are fewer rules)
- Fudge Oatmeal Cookies
  - President Nixon’s favorite, and the first cookie I made myself, for a bake sale in 4th Grade.
- Grand Marnier Almond Brownies
  - Janice’s recipe, a very dense, very rich brownie, with hints of orange.

Other