My family loves pasta, so much so that it seems we have it at least 3 times a week! I also love cooking and since I have to make sure my family is well-fed, I cook tons of pasta dishes for them. Unfortunately, I cannot get to crazy since they are all picky when it comes to any toppings. My boys love it with just butter while my husband likes just sauce. No fancy schmancy toppings are chunky sauces in this house.
One of my personal favorite pasta dishes is super easy and delicious: Buttered pasta with fresh basil leaves and chopped tomatoes, sprinkle with fresh Parmesan and you have a simple and tasty meal. I like to use Barilla pasta because the selection is unbeatable and the price fits my budget.
This past year, Barilla launched “Share the Table,” a program aimed at empowering families to make the most of dinnertime. To me it doesn’t matter that we are all eating different dishes, what matters most is sharing that family time at the dinner table. I’ll be honest, in this fast paced and digital age, we often eat dinner apart but that is slowly changing.
Barilla’s “Share the Table” website provides more recipes from famous chefs like Mario Batali. They even have a free placemat creator to make mealtime even more fun! Although the food is important, I think the time spent together trumps even that.
To help families get started sharing the table, Barilla now offers “Pasta Friday Sweepstakes” with weekly winners of pasta and pasta sauce giveaways. They have also created the “Mealtime Moments Contest,” which gives families who commit to enhancing mealtime the opportunity to share their stories and win select prizes throughout the summer. For each person that becomes a fan of meaningful meals at Share The Table, Barilla will donate $1 to Meals on Wheels Association of America, helping seniors at risk of hunger get the nutritious food they need.
How do you spend time with your family at dinnertime?
Dianna Ranere