Kathleen Ripley Leo
Aperitivo translated means aperitif in English, drinks and appetizers for cocktail hour(s). Oct. 24 was the date when seven PebbleCreek Italian American Club members opened their homes for Aperitivo, thanks to organizers Cheryl Neel and Lois Olson-Lynch.
One home featured a favorite appetizer: meatballs in sauce. Sylvana Smidt graciously agreed after numerous attempts by attendees to ascertain what was in that delicious sauce, to reveal her recipe. After all, she’d brought that sauce before. Here it is: two packages of frozen meatballs 3 hours in a crockpot with a 10 oz jar of grape jelly (not jam) and a 10 oz jar of any brand cocktail sauce. So simple, so delicious.
On the tables at the hosts’ home were many offerings: sausages in marinara sauce, radicchio wraps, mozzarella and sundried tomatoes with pesto, to name a few. Dottie Palamara treated her guests to “Old Fashioned Homemade Vanilla Malted Ice Cream.” Thanks to Shoray and Dale Wolfe, Dottie and Alan Palamara, Catherine and Steven McLamb, Shelley and Jack Coate, Diana and George Houle, Roberta Diles and John Donovan, and Melinda Kresek for opening their homes for Aperitivo. Mangia, mangia, meet new friends!