Who Stoled Gramma's Meatball

For as long as I can remember, I have spent every Sunday afternoon until I was a teen, around the table at Grandma's house. However, I, the oldest grandchild Annie, had the honor to sleep over Grammas the night before. So, I had the privilege to be there every Sunday, before the rest of the family arrived.

As soon as Grandma and I would return from Sunday Morning Mass at St Joseph's Parish, Grandma got started on the gravy. I know most people call it sauce, but in our family, we called it gravy!

Ever since I was just two years old, Grandma would always allow me, her only granddaughter, at the time, to sneak a meatball before dinner was served. There was something about that snuck meatball. For some reason, it tasted so much better than the one she placed beside my macaroni, once we all sat down.

That is saying a lot, because my Grandma Ann's meatballs were out of this world awesome! By the way, we called it macaroni, not pasta. Macaroni and meatballs and extra gravy please, with grated cheese! Thats the way we did it Sammarco style!

My Italian Gramma had a way of keeping tabs on all of her meatballs, to make sure no one snuck a meatball but me, who she gave that special VIP sneak. How did she do it? Well, she would make my "before dinner meatball "slightly bigger than the rest. Then, once the gravy was cooked to perfection, she placed it aside on her special plate.

This was the special plate, that Grandma rested her spoon on, after tasting her sauce every Sunday, to see if it was done to perfection or needed a pinch more of this or that. Italian Grandmas never measured! No one knew their secret recipes, until they are about to be with Jesus, then they would try to pass it along to their daughters and daughter in laws who would someday try to pass it along to their kids. Never able to duplicate Grandma though.

Getting back to the story, Then, she would walk over to me and give me a wink. That was my cue to come into the kitchen for that extra pre dinner treat. Once she served dinner, if that big one was the only one missing, things were good, if any of the other carefully counted meatballs were missing, Gramps or Uncle Frankie were in big trouble! No OREOS for Uncle, he snuck a meatball she would say!

It was all in good fun! My Grandma Ann and Uncle Frankie both have gone on to be with Jesus. I would gladly in a New York heartbeat give up meatballs for life, if it meant I could have just one more dinnertime hearing Grandma tease my Uncle Frankie about sneaking one of her meatballs before dinner.

I strongly recommend everyone to always hold silly family banter and traditions dear. However silly they may seem now, someday you will wish you were right there in those moments. Fast forward 32 years since her passing, although my sons and I have a few family traditions of our own, I miss the glue that held the entire Sammarco family together, that would be my sweet Grandma Ann. Now everyone has gone their own way. Sure, a specially selected chosen few occasionally gather for weddings and funerals and a few other occasions. But it just is not the same.

Grandma made the best meatballs. Always cooked just right. The right amount of breadcrumbs and parsley, and you would always find her bay leaf. We were never able to duplicate her secret recipe, although my mom comes fairly close, Grandma's meatballs still were the best.

Even if I was not her only grandchild to have always been granted secret access, I would have gladly risk being cut off from Oreos to sneak a peek any day! Just to see my grandma's sweet smile and eyes light up, she was a tiny woman, under 5 feet, but smart as a whip, and so much love in her heart and wisdom to share. I treasured my moments at Grandma's house so much.

The meatball stealing contest was all fun and games until Jeanine came along. Allow me to introduce you to my sister Jeanine, my Gramma's second granddaughter, born five years after me, just three years after I fell in love with Gramma's yummy meatballs.

My younger sister Jeanine was quite the fussy eater. She did not care that her gramma made the world's best meatballs, or that our mama made almost as yummy meatballs as her mother has. All Jeanie Bean cared about was being done with dinner as fast as possibly so she can go back to playing, and so she can get her evening snack, cocoa and popcorn.

Jeanine knew the rules. She knew no snack unless you finish your dinner at least 90 percent. Jeanine was not giving up her favorite snack, she knew she had to develop a plan! That she did! She did indeed! So, one day when she was given a meatball on her plate, she stole that meatball alright. She stole it right off her dinner plate. However, rather than it making its way in her eight-year-old mouth of hers, it found its way in her bedroom closet!

Yes, you heard me right! My little sister smuggled that meatball and hid it in her bedroom closet, so she can pass herself off as finishing her dinner and can be free to go play, and then afterwards be rewarded hot cocoa and popcorn later that evening for finishing her dinner.

Nothing was going to stand in the way of Jeanine and her favorite go to snack! Our mom had no idea that she was up to mischief. You see Jeanine would break it up in tiny pieces and casually spread it across her plate, to make the amount left on the plate look less and less. As soon as my mom got up to start clearing the dinner table, my mischievous sister would somehow manage to drop the food into a napkin in her lap. That napkin will slowly but surely make its way into her sweat jacket/hoodie pocket.

Once Jeanine had appeared to be all done with dinner, she would ask to be excused. Once given the thumbs up to leave the table, off to her bedroom my little sister would go to hide the goods. One day when my mother was vacuuming our bedroom, she noticed that something smelled funny. My curious mother followed her nose to the back of our clothes closet. Sure enough, there was about 4 weeks of our family dinner meatballs hidden behind all of our summer jelly shoes! HAHA.