"Mom Sambito's Cacciatore"

Near the start of this project I received a letter from my mother-in-law whom I am so blessed to be very close with.  Enclosed was a hand-written note and recipe for "Chicken Cacciatore", and she also included a donation for our Jars.  We were so grateful to receive this as "Grandma Sambito" is such an integral part of this project--our children are her descendants, and she is here as one member of the "first-generation" straight from Sicily, Italy!  Grandma Sambito's parents, Josephine and Cono, arrived on Ellis Island shortly before World War I.   They settled in Brooklyn and started their family.  Grandma Sambito was the second child born to Josephine and Cono, with Grace being the first, and their childhood was filled with traditional family values and lots of home-cooked meals.  Other than the local Italian deli in her Brooklyn neighborhood, "fast food" was not part of her or her family's days...rather, home-cooked, hand-made meals were what brought the family together. 

In our fast-paced present suburban life here in California, I am trying so vehemently to implement these old-time, traditional and meaningful values into our children, all centered around the family table.  Statistics show that the more meals shared as a family with meaningful conversation, the lower the odds of alcohol or drug abuse in the children as they mature.  I believe it!  When a child has a sense of belonging, and a sense of feeling "important" in a family home, their self esteem is encouraged and nurtured.

I heard Carrie Underwood's new song titled, "Temporary Home" recently, and it brought tears to my eyes when I really paid attention to the lyrics.  It begins with a boy who is placed in a foster home, but he knows that his "permanent home" is really in Heaven...then goes on to a single Mom's struggle with the same belief, and ends with an older man who knows that this "was" his "temporary home" as he is on his death bed and sees God's face...beautiful song and validating lyrics as to what I believe. 

The fact that there are so very many people without homes here on Earth, and so many children being placed in foster care, and so many single-parents on their own with children--I pray that they can know that this is just a "temporary home", and that there are people who really care and who are trying to make even the slightest bit of difference.  I pray that more individuals will day-by-day perhaps "give" a little here and there.  Never mind what is going on with the government, or in the financial sector...for this is all so temporary--your struggles, along with your triumphs, are all too accurately "temporary".  So, enjoy each day and know that everyone has some cross that they are bearing.  Do what you can to make a difference because the biggest blessing of all is in helping others less fortunate than you.

Temporary Home Lyrics:


Little boy, 6 years old
A little too used to bein' alone
Another new mom and dad,another school
Another house that'll never be home
When people ask him how he likes this place
He looks up and says with a smile upon his face

"This is my temporary home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this is my
Temporary Home."

Young mom on her own
She needs a little help got nowhere to go
She's lookin' for a job, lookin' for a way out
Because a half-way house will never be a home
At night she whispers to her baby girl
Someday we'll find a place here in this world

"This is our temporary home
It's not where we belong
Windows and rooms that we're passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where we're going
I'm not afraid because I know this is our
Temporary Home."

Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers don't cry for me
I'll see you all someday
He looks up and says "I can see God's face."
"This is my temporary Home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This was just a stop,on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this was
My temporary home."

This is our temporary home.

I made my mother-in-law's "Chicken Cacciatore" recipe which received unanimous thumbs-up!  I am not going to publish this recipe, though, because I think it important to hold on to a family recipe that is most likely closely-linked to Italy!  A family secret so-to-speak...I will, however, share one secret:  it involved a Crock Pot!  We loved it!