[REDCART]

Donna, I'm Italian-Irish, 3rd generation on both counts. The joke is funny but like humor generally, quite accurate. I don't ever recall my grandmother telling us that we needed to bring something. It was just the way we did things. Maybe it was genetic imprinting. We never went anywhere without bringing at least cake if we were going for coffee, a bottle of wine and desert if we were going for dinner. Even when my grandmother visited us, she would bring either fresh baked bread or cookies, a pound of coffee, cheese and sopressata. I like the tradition and would never think of doing thinigs differently.