Aunt Cindy taught me about food as an expression of culture. Her Greek heritage was always evident at the table where we laughed as she shared the stories about her family. Her parties were always warm and inviting without being pretentious. The consummate hostess, she served, entertained and engaged her guest with grace and affection.

My aunt died at fifty-three. Everyone who knew her misses her but she lives in our memories and our kitchens as we honor our beloved aunt by making the recipes she taught us.

Here is our favorite recipe from Aunt Cindy, it can be made up to two days ahead and kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake. If you have to take a dish to a party this is always a great bet- it travels well and tastes great at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Aunt Cindy’s Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

1 lb. penne or rigatoni
1 pint heavy cream
1 quart milk
2 stick of butter
1 tbs. salt
16oz. Parmesan cheese

Grease a 9×12 pan and set aside.

Cook pasta and drain well. Set aside.

Heat milk in a large sauce pan over low heat until warm and then add  butter and cream.  When butter is melted and mixture is warm take out one cup and reserve for later.
Add pasta to pot and cook on low heat for five minutes or until thickened.
Sprinkle 1/3 of cheese on bottom of pan, then 1/2 of pasta and sauce. Next sprinkle 1/3 of cheese and second half of pasta and sauce. Finish with last of cheese and drizzle with 1 cup of reserved milk/cream/butter mixture.

Bake at 325 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until bubbles appear around edges. Cool for 40 minutes.

This is the best recipe for a buffet ever. It’s actually very good at room temperature. Take it to a party in a foil pan for easy clean up, but place a cookie sheet on bottom, its to heavy for one foil pan. I learned that the hard way.

*Jodi Note- Not crazy about Parmesan cheese? Use Swiss, cheddar or pepper jack shredded. This technique is a great basic, change the pasta shape and cheese, and you have a brand new dish.

Grace and Laurie 1976

This  is one of the the mantra’s of my youth. We grew up in a small Ohio city, in a neighborhood with tree lined streets and plenty of room to move. Middle class. Blue collar. It was a nice place to grow up and still is for the most part. Firestone Park is the name but we just say “the park” as if there could be no confusion. The best thing about the park is the inhabitants. Especially the women it produces! We Park Girls are an ornery and independent bunch.  Loyal, smart, hilariously funny, beautiful inside and out. Growing up being a Park Girl meant that you where cool, stylish and traveled in packs!

Take Grace, Laurie and Petie for example-Smart-Funny-Amazing! Park Girls! When I was little I thought my sisters where  supermodels (and then I grew up and figured out we were all really short). But you can see why I think these are women are some of the coolest people on the planet. I know, gorgeous right?

Laurie and Petie

I will be digging out my photo albums and chatting with the Park Girls I know and love (who are all on Facebook now) so that we can entertain you with our favorite stories. I might be a little prejudiced, but we have some good stories!

What’s your story? Where are you from? What brought you here? Tell us, we want to know!  Send us your pictures and stories, tell us about your girlfriends growing up. And then tell us what they are doing now that they are in the Menopause Mafia!

Send you stories to menopausemafia@gmail.com. We will be choosing one story to post each week for the next four weeks. 500 words or less, please!

No one will be chosen who includes an embaressing picture of me-I’m just saying.

I tease the shit out of my sisters, can’t help it. We have decided that being a smart ass is genetic, so I have a valid excuse; plus I’m good at it.  That’s what I was doing the day I called them the Menopause Mafia. Then I realized that my two beautiful older sisters were like the mafia.  Not the drug pushing, gamble and whores kind of mafia. More like the PT Cruiser driving, hot flash and housekeeping kind.

But there are times that the strong-arm tactics are still there…

See, I’m the youngest, I’m not married (sounds better than divorced doesn’t it?),  no children and I just turned forty.

*GASP*

This makes my oldest sister a little nervous. She’s a yenta and so she can’t help it. It’s a bitch being a romantic with a baby sister who is slightly jaded, outspoken, a professional smart-ass and has really bad judgment when it comes to men.

It doesn’t bother my other sister too much, but we do get a whole bunch of laughs out of the weird shit men say.  This sister is the one who reminds me that we all can’t wait to get a man and then can’t wait for him to go to work-the garage-the yard or the local bar!

So just for my sisters, who I love more than anything-even my shoes- we created have this fabulous place to come together! The Menopause Mafia Baby, Yea!

There are plenty of Menopause Mafioso’s around (you know them or if you are reading this you might be one) they drive cute cars (sometimes in purple with little roses engraved on the windows, hello sister!) they have teenagers or twenty something children, they are on massive doses of hormones and chocolate, their husbands live in the garage, the workshop or in front of the TV. They have wicked senses of humor, groups of friends from different periods of their life and might have gained a few pounds.

Those are the women this site is dedicated to. These are the women who often get ignored, marginalized and blown off because they are too busy cleaning the house, working, making dinner and doing laundry- to stop and say, “Hey, I have an opinion over here!” Well, guess what tootsie? I’m here, the sisters are here, all our friends are here and we are going to talk about the things that interest us.

We’re going to talk about things no one else does!

For example:

• What not to say when asked “Mom, did you like him?” When your daughter brings home a jerk.
• What to do when your family can’t get along on holidays or 10 illnesses and how to fake them on Easter
• How to get a man to leave the room in 5 seconds or less
• Advice no one gives that they should or How to make your child think when they don’t want to
• Irish Diplomacy 101 or how to tell someone to go to hell and have them enjoy the trip

Okay, those might not end up in print or they might- you’ll have to stick around and find out!

Anything you want to talk about? Let me know, but be warned, I have been known to wax poetic about the dumbest shit. I’m not kidding, I once wrote a poem to a new fabulous shampoo (which BTW is a dandruff shampoo for colored hair! hello, how could I not?)  I recently had a friend tell me to write about problems and solutions. That’s simple right? So, what the problem?  Tell the Menopause Mafia!

***For the record-I’m not in menopause yet. Still regular, still getting the monthly visits from the period fairy (that bitch). I’m only an honorary member of the mafia –so there!