Friends & Family Collection of Recipes – Volumes I and II
From Abruzzo to Your Family’s Table
The landscapes of Abruzzo are part of the story preserved within Friends & Family Favorites. Luigi's family history includes his grandfather's visit to Altino, a small community in the Province of Chieti, a story remembered within the pages of the collection.
Luigi also selected a vintage postcard from nearby Palmoli to accompany the collection. Together, the images of Altino and Palmoli offer a glimpse of the Abruzzo landscape and communities that form the Italian backdrop to so many of the traditions represented in these pages.
Their inclusion is a reminder that recipes rarely begin on a printed page. They travel through places, families, kitchens and generations before eventually finding their way to our tables.
The People Behind the Recipes
Friends & Family Favorites brings together recipes contributed by 24 family members and friends, along with recipes from credited published and online sources. Each recipe identifies its contributor or source, preserving the people behind the dishes as carefully as the recipes themselves.
A complete list of contributors is included within the collection.
How to Enjoy the Collection
Friends & Family Favorites was created to be explored, searched, cooked from and returned to often. With two volumes gathered into one complete edition, there is a great deal to discover.
For the best experience, we recommend viewing the collection on a desktop or laptop computer. The complete edition is a searchable PDF, making it easy to look for a favorite recipe, contributor, ingredient or culinary term. Use your PDF reader’s Find/Search feature, usually Ctrl + F on Windows or Command + F on a Mac, and enter the word or name you are looking for.
You can also browse the collection traditionally using the Tables of Contents and comprehensive indexes:
- Volume I Table of Contents: PDF page 12
- Volume I Index: PDF page 325
- Volume II: PDF page 333
- Volume II Table of Contents: PDF page 339
- Volume II Index: PDF page 680
- Glossary of Culinary Terms & Definitions: PDF page 689
- Complete Index of Volume I & Volume II: PDF page 777
Luigi’s Glossary of Culinary Terms & Definitions
Beginning on page 689 is a special reference created by Luigi to accompany the recipes. The glossary brings together the Italian culinary words, ingredients, preparations, techniques and other food-related terminology encountered throughout the collection, with definitions and explanations intended to make the recipes more understandable and accessible.
It is more than a list of translations. Luigi painstakingly assembled the glossary as a companion to the collection, helping preserve not only what these recipes tell us to do, but the language and culinary traditions behind them.
Browse from the beginning. Search for an ingredient. Look up a contributor. Follow the index to an old favorite. Or simply open the collection somewhere in the middle and see what finds you.
However you enter, the hope is the same: use it, enjoy it, and bring something from these pages to your own table.