Are Dinner Parties Really Doomed?

Every Christmas my family dives into our Italian roots and breaks out the old Imperia Pasta Machine to make authentic ravioli for our Christmas Eve dinner party.  How could the universally adored homemade delicious ravioli possibly be a controversial issue?  As knowledge regarding food, nutrition and allergies expands, meeting the needs of dinner guests becomes more and more complicated. This year the Bonaduce clan was faced with a huge issue: should we forgo our beloved ravioli for a new, gluten-free alternative?  The feedback from the posed question was overwhelmingly negative.  Both the foodies and the traditionalists were strongly against changing anything about our Christmas Eve dinner.  Preparing for the Bonaduce Family Christmas Eve Ravioli Bash is always a long and incredibly messy process.  Making hundreds of ravioli is no easy task and requires times and an army of dedicated Italians to accomplish. Despite the opposition to change we compromised by creating an all inclusive menu that would (hopefully) satisfy the masses.  Our challenge: prepare a ravioli dinner that caters to the gluten free, the vegetarians, vegans, as well as the traditionalists.        

Our Christmas dinner menu included both the Bonaduce's traditional ravioli and our new gluten-free ravioli, gluten-free lasagna, vegetarian lasagna, vegan, gluten-free spaghetti, braciole, chicken, caprese salad and vegan tomato sauce and homemade 8-hour tomato meat sauce.  It is a feast by anyone's standards, not to mention, the most politically correct traditional Italian meal ever imagined.  

The New Yorker published a cartoon this past Thanksgiving depicting the demise of family meals due to fad diets and picky eaters.  We put that cartoon to shame.  By simply planning ahead and experimenting in the kitchen, we put together a meal that satisfied everyone's dietary needs while not sacrificing truly fabulous flavor, texture and, of course, tradition.  

Buon appetito!