On both sides of my family cooking has always been something we did together and passed from generation to generation. This pasta roller and the ravioli mold that goes with it has been passed down through my family from mother, to daughter, to granddaughter. My Nana and I love talking about when my dad was very young and she used to cover the house in fresh pasta. Sheets of pasta would be hanging everywhere from every possible surface. She had learned how to do this from her mother who had grown up in the Southern Italy and immigrated to the United States soon after being married. After arriving at Ellis Island the young couple settled in Seymour Connecticut where my Nana and Papa both grew up, and just down the street from my Nana’s childhood home is where my Dad and Uncle grew up. I may not be draping the kitchen in sheets of fresh pasta today, but it is still being put to good use. I have had the tweak the family recipe a little though, which tends to happen over time. Today, I send my Nana pictures of my gluten free ravioli and we are making new memories together. The food, recipes, and our passion we share for it binds together my family.

– Chelsea Bracci

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