All of my life our Christmas Dinner has been spaghetti in my family! My Mom is Italian and it is a tradition that has been in her family for years. I grew up hearing so many stories about my Great Grandmother and Grandfather who we called Maw Maw Musso and Paw Paw Charlie! I was blessed with many years and memories with both of them and now that I have my own children I am really learning to see how amazing it is to say I knew my Great Grandparents for so many years. My Dad loves to tell the story about when him and my Mom were high school sweethearts and she wasn't allowed to do anything alone with him lol. If he wanted to take her out on a date they had to double date with her brothers or cousins and if he even wanted to think about seeing her on Sundays there was only one way to do that. He had to go to her Grandparents house for family Sunday spaghetti. And being the boy he was then and the man he is now he never misses a meal lol; so he went on Sundays to see her and eat. My Great grandmother was known for many things ranging from a big giving heart to having a wild temper when she got angry (that was always blamed on her Italian blood.) But one of the main things she was known for was her cooking. I can remember being a little girl when they had a camp next door to my Paw Paw Jerril's camp and she would stay in that camp for most of the day cooking while everyone was out on the water or on the pier fishing. Her meals were so lavish that by the time one meal was done it was just about time to start preparing the next, and when you have a big family like ours no meal is tiny lol. And her most famous trademark was her homemade family spaghetti.
All my life we spent Christmas Eve at my Great Grandparents house and for dinner they served homemade Italian sausage, baked beans and Whop Salad (an Italian style salad with mufflata mix dressing basically). So if you didn't like either of those you may just go hungry or you would have to wait till you got home cause when I was young McDonald's was not open on Christmas Eve lol. I remember when Brent started coming to our family Christmas gatherings and was shocked not only by the overwhelming amount of people we could fit into one house but by the menu we offered. He asked the very first time what we were eating and when I said Italian sausage he asked "AND???" I had to laugh and I said oh: "Italian sausage plain or Italian sausage on a bun!" His eyes were huge as I laughed and said yep those are your two options lol. Luckily by then fast food places had started staying open on Christmas Eve so he would always go through the drive thru as soon as we left. When we would leave my Great Grandparents house on Christmas Eve we would get to take home a pack of Italian sausage to add to our own Christmas spaghetti that we were going to eat on Christmas Day! Sounds kind of crazy I know because of the looks I get when people hear we eat spaghetti for Christmas, but it's all I've ever known. So that is what we did year after year, but it wasn't until I got older that I started to see just how much time and love was put into that Christmas Spaghetti. It is definitely not just something you can whip up fast! Through the years my Mom always told me I had to learn Maw Maw Musso's Spaghetti recipe before I got married just like she did. So the Christmas before I got married that is what we did. UMMMMMM can somebody say 24 ++++ hours is a process or what! Ever bit of it is worth it though and I love that we still continue it even though things have changed as we grow as a family and as we lose some of the family members that started the traditions I have always known. So for almost 10 years now my Mom and I have our own process for making Maw Maw Musso's Christmas Spaghetti. We usually pick 2 days at the beginning of December to make it and that way we can freeze it and thaw it on Christmas Eve and have it ready on Christmas Day for lunch and dinner. (oh yes mam if I am going to cook something that takes that long to make you can guarantee it is gonna be eaten twice in a day!!!) I must add that like most Italian cooks there is only one size recipe for everything.... and that is basically it has to serve 30 plus and nothing smaller. I literally have never seen my mom make a small pot of it because she honestly does not know how lol!
During the 2 days we have a lot of steps that go into the process and a few of them are:
- starting the gravy from scratch with Contadina Paste
- darkening the gravy by stirring constantly for at least 6-7 hours and more if time allows
( not joking either your arm is usually sore the next day )
- making 50 plus meatballs from scratch
( smelling and sometimes tasting the raw meat is a requirement to make sure the flavor is just right )
- my Dad must eat an open face meatball sandwich for dinner to test taste too as a requirement too
There are a few little secrets I can't reveal but it is tedious but ohhhhhh so good when it is done. Then once it has cooled down the next day it is bagged and frozen ready for us Christmas Eve to take out and thaw. Once it is thawed it is turned on Christmas morning to cook for even longer with more stirring lol and then we add in our Italian sausage and the big whammy is we throw in boiled eggs, which is my favorite part. For noodles we usually offer rigatoni and angel hair because like my Great Grandmother my Mom is always going to make sure everyone gets what they like!
The first Christmas we had after losing Braxton I honestly thought this tradition may stop. Neither my Mom or I seemed to know how to keep going when we felt so lost. Something in us made us do it that year and I know it was Braxton pushing us to do what we have always loved. Now it is even more special because we get to share this tradition with my kids. Leighton has been involved since the year she was born and for the first time this year Jean Paul joined in too. Since Leighton's first year cooking with us I have made a special shirt for her to wear to surprise my Mom with and I have done it each year since. Not only are Christmas memories special but there is something amazing about being able to tell your kids the memories you have had through the years making Maw Maw Musso's Christmas Spaghetti. I pray she is smiling as she holds my baby Braxton in heaven. And a part of me knows she is feeding him Spaghetti and Whop Salad in heaven while we enjoy ours around the table as a family too. Cause Lord knows if anyone can change the menu in heaven she can and if Jesus said he wasn't hungry I can guarantee you she is right there offering him food till he finally gives in! She always had an extra place setting and an extra chair at her table just in case someone showed up at dinner time. If her headcount was 20 you can bet her table was set and ready for 21. My Mom said it wasn't only because she wanted to be prepared it was because she never wanted anyone to not feel welcome!
We love you Maw Maw Musso and tomorrow we will be thinking of you as we enjoy our Christmas Spaghetti!
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