Gnocchi

Every year we go to Mary's house to celebrate her brother's birthday by making Gnocchi for dinner.  This celebration reminds me of how things probably used to be.  It is a very long process and it starts with Mary's parents - Leonard and Josephine.  Leonard will be 87 this year - the oldest in the bunch.  He is extremely healthy and completely has his wits about him.  The two of them get things started by boiling the potatoes and making the dough (potatoes, eggs, flour and nutmeg).  The dough is rolled out into long logs and cut into one inch pieces.  The rest of us gather around them and form the gnocchi using forks.  The gnocchi is allowed to dry a bit while we work and then they are boiled and served with red sauce.  We usually never have enough - they go down super easy but usually hit you like a brick about 15 minutes after you eat them.  This year we had  quite a bit left over (we made so much).  It is so nice to have this big family gathering with everyone helping from the 87 year old down to the 8 year old.  Good times I will never forget.