A Very Gaga Thanksgiving

While some of you may have turned on your TV to catch "A Very Gaga Thanksgiving" this year, we had a very Gaga Thanksgiving in the flesh! As much I would have enjoyed eating our Thanksgiving meal to the melody of "Bad Romance"as we all incubated in large eggs, I'm talking about the first and original Gaga, not Lady Gaga... our grandma! Me being the oldest grandchild and genius baby that I was, came up with the nickname Gaga, and 23 years later, I can safely say I was a fan of Gaga before anyone else.

Usually, my family spends Thanksgiving at Gaga's house in Westchester, NY with our cousins, aunts and uncles, but this year was a much more intimate affair at our house in Westborough, MA with just my direct family and, of course, Gaga. Though we knew it would be small, that was no excuse to skimp on the food. No, no. Not when a Costanzo is in the house! (Costanzo is Gaga's last name). In case you couldn't tell, Costanzo is obviously Italian, so any family get together - especially Thanksgiving - is going to involve a lot of food... obviously.

We all joked about the different food theories between my mom's family (Italian) and my dad's (Irish). In the Costanzo house, there can never be enough food, which is probably why we had six desserts for the six of us on Thanksgiving! For the Colberts, what you have is always more than enough. (To give you an idea of what I mean, my dad's mother used to feed a family of seven children with ONE can of tuna!!!) And even though my dad's family is full of great cooks, I'm gonna have to go with the Costanzos on this one. You really can never have enough good food.

But regardless of how big or small that turkey is, or how many pies you make, the food is just a vehicle for bringing us all together. Making jokes, laughing together, and sharing memories of loved ones. Now that I live on my own, not so close to my family, I've really come to appreciate the time that we do spend together. And the fact that my family lives loves to eat, makes these times even better.

The superstar herself... Gaga! 

Michael and Emma hard at work icing cookies!

Baked brie en croute with walnuts and cinnamon

Haricots verts with roasted shallots and fennel

Dad and his pride and joy

More sides! Sweet potato pie, roasted butternut squash, and stuffing...mmm

Familar Food: Making Pizza

Pizza is a Friday night tradition at home. Even though the pizza selection in Westborough, MA is quite limited, I always looked forward to this ritual as the true beginning of the weekend. As I grew up and my palette matured, I started to realize that pizza in Westborough really is not good. At all. To keep up with our Friday ritual without sacrificing taste, I started to make pizzas for my family. The best part about this was that I could easily customize our pizzas to fit the varied (and limited) taste buds of everyone--peppers and mushrooms for me, broccoli and ricotta for mom, plain ol' cheese for Emma. Pizza Fridays made for a stress-free, yet tasty (and much better than Papa Gino's) kick-off to the weekend.

Now that I no longer live at home, Emma has taken on the role of pizza-master. While both delicious, we each have our signature pies (mine has a crispier crust; Emma's a little softer). But just because I live in Pizza Paradise, also known as New York City, doesn't mean I can't carry on the family tradition here.

Luckily, homemade pizza is a cheap and easy solution to cooking with friends. Everyone can chip in with favorite toppings, and everyone can take on a task: rolling out the dough, chopping the veggies, sprinkling the cheese. It's a fun and nostalgic way to get those friends in the kitchen who don't usually cook for themselves. So that's just what me and a few of my friends did this Monday night. Albeit, it wasn't a Friday night and it wasn't with my family, but sharing laughs and good food with friends made the next 4 days until Friday seem just a little less threatening.

Veggin' it up!

Teamwork

Classic cheese pizza with fresh tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, and mushrooms

Feta cheese and pesto pizza with sliced tomatoes and mushrooms--the favorite!