On 12/26/2016 3:34 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2016-12-26 12:51 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>> Nancy Young wrote:
>
>> Growing up in Brooklyn I knew several Italian families that actually
>> did have velvet rops cordoning off their dining and living rooms, and
>> thse were just regular working people. Guests were received in the
>> basement where they did all entertaining and dining, there'd be a
>> fully equiped kitchen in the basement, they never used the upstairs
>> kitchen. I have to laugh when I remember their upstairs decor,
>> Italian Renaissance, all that gold gilt, crystal prisms, extra plush
>> carpet vacuumed in one direction, and plastic slip covers. I don't
>> remember the dining table set but there'd be several ornate
>> arrangements of plastic flowers. Some had a screened 3rd kitchen and
>> dining area in their back yard for warm weather use. I wonder if
>> that's still done.
>>
>
> This could be one of those cases where there is a good solid basis for
> stereotypes. There are a lot of Italians around here and they may live
> in the same old houses in the old neighbourhood, but when they work
> their way up the start getting better furniture and an upgraded kitchen
> that is not likely to be used. The cooking is done in the working
> kitchen in the basement.
>
> I have posted before about my neigbours. The next door neighbour is
> Irish and his wife is Italian. Her parents bought the house on the other
> side from ours. Entertaining was done in the family room, which was nice
> and very comfortable. There was a more formal living room, but there no
> one goes there. Unlike other Italian homes I had been in, they did not
> have plastic covers on the cushions and lamp shades.
>
> The first time we were there for dinner at the parents' place I was
> concerned for their well being because they had disappeared for over an
> hour while their daughter and son in law entertained us. It turned out
> that they were down in the basement kitchen cooking up a storm.
>
> The daughter is not like that. She has a nice kitchen and she actually
> uses it.
>
>
Apparently, there is a house in Canmore, Alberta, with a normal family
kitchen on the main floor and another in the walk out basement that is
devoted to baking. The latter has a large, maple top for kneading bread
dough as well as a marble topped area for pastry. The owner ran a
bakery-café so needed somewhere to experiment.
When I read about it, I was immediately jealous.