Mowing the grass both ways

Like most 10 year olds, getting to operate dangerous machines - like a lawnmover - was fun & exciting at first, but my newly appointed responsibility quickly became mundane. Mowing became especially tedious when Dad wanted me to start cutting cross ways (like the outfield of a nice ball park). He insisted that the lawn was a representation of the family and I needed to take pride in the work. Initially I thought this was a waste of time and energy, but with age began to see the his point. My siblings had all experienced similar, and like myself, have grown to appreciate my parents' lessons...to a degree.

Here's the pasta tie in. The quality of our pasta has been something my dad has again been "particular" about. When everyone else who tried to pasta thought it was good, he wasn't satisfied and pushed for the product to improve. Understandably so, as this is a product that actually has our family name on it. Eventually the rest of the family was sensing the limitations of our current pasta machine and feeling the need to augment the product. While we aren't equipped with the same ingenuity as our forefather Tancredi, who invented his own pasta machine (pictured here),

we wanted something better. Dad used his old, East Carnegie friendships to link with the Piacquadio brothers, who gave some useful guidance on the big decision (and great memories of the Calabrese pizzelle shop). Dad & Tancredi, Esq. trekked across the state and secured a new machine from Greg Listino in King of Prussia. This Rosito-Bisani TR110 machine can cut some elaborate shapes (including the elusive creste rigate) and do so more efficiently and consistently. We're so excited to put our new baby to work cranking out different shapes and sizes. We're just as excited to see how our growing & supportive customer base likes the new pasta. In the meantime, we'll keep mowing the grass both ways!