Making Holiday Memories in the Heart of Your Home: The Kitchen

I grew up in Central New York, in a small farm town with a population of 3,400 called Chittenango. It is known throughout most of New York because of the Majestic Falls that bears the name Chittenango Falls. In the winter, when the leaves had all fallen, we could see the falls off in the distance from our front window. Often, in the winter, the falls would freeze over. I found this image online that was taken in the winter. The falls had not frozen over yet, but I am sure it did later in the winter.

Chittenango Falls

For me and my younger sister, Lisa, winter was a magical time. We lived in snow country and could easily receive two feet of snow in a day. I recall, back in 1966, we had 4 feet of snow in 24 hours. We had more snow than Syracuse, but Syracuse got the attention. Check out this link! Every morning Lisa and I would crowd around the radio or television to see if we would have school each day. We would listen to the long list of closed schools around our area and often found that our school would be open. Chittenango had the most robust plowing and salting organization in all of Central New York. 

We lived in a house high up on a hill, and our driveway was very steep. Everyone in town knew us by the treacherous driveway. I remember going to school with my sister after a snowstorm turned into a freeze. That morning, we neglected to check to see if school was open. The two of us slid down the long driveway, across the street, and up a smaller hill into the neighbor's front yard. The neighbor saw us and had us come in the house and called my mother and asked if she was "nuts"!!! We all got a laugh out of it. The trick, then, was to get back up the driveway. I remember Lisa and I on all fours, crawling up, sliding down, etc., for quite some time until we got back home. 

As a child, some of my fondest memories were made in the kitchen. We had a huge kitchen with a round table that comfortably sat six people. My mother had a passion for cooking and an even greater love for company. Without exaggeration, we had guests for dinner two to three nights a week. She had this amazing way of inviting people to dinner—sometimes people she had just met—and making them feel like family.

That said, the memories I hold closest to my heart are those surrounding Christmas. Our home was always filled with friends and family, and we’d gather around that round table for hours, savoring every moment. For me, the conversations of the adults were far more interesting than anything my peers had to say. Those dinners were more than just meals; they were events—occasions to cherish. Every year, my mother and father made Timpano. We looked forward to that meal for weeks. Timpano is a showstopping Italian dish that’s as much an experience as it is a meal. Originating from southern Italy, it’s a dome-shaped, baked pasta pie filled with ziti, cut-up hard-boiled eggs, salami, provolone, and parmesan cheese, as well as small meatballs, all soaked in ragu. The dish gets its name from "timpani," Italian for "drum," because its appearance resembles a drum or timpani shell when unmolded. Timpano gained a cultural spotlight in the movie by Stanley Tucci called Big Night (1996), where it played a starring role as the ultimate labor of love in an Italian-American feast. This moment cemented its status as an iconic symbol of Italian cooking for many food enthusiasts.

Looking back, I can’t help but think about how much easier life would have been for my mother if she’d had one of my workstation sinks. The time and effort she poured into preparing those luxurious meals could have been cut down significantly, giving her more moments to spend with her family and friends.

Of course, we can’t go back in time, and there’s no way for me to make her past life easier now. But every workstation sink I design is crafted with that thought in mind: to make life simpler so others can spend more time on what truly matters—creating memories with the people they love.