When I went home for Christmas this year my grandpa passed on a great family recipe for Bagna Cauda, which is a traditional garlic dip from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy, eaten with fresh cut veggies. I got the idea to post some pictures from this special event from Erbe in Cucina who has another version of this recipe on her blog.
There are several versions of this recipe due to large scale immigration in the late 1800s and, like most Italian recipes, to simple location variations. For example, Erbe's version uses butter, my grandpa told me the original recipe from his grandparents included cream which was then left out from the recipe we use because they just couldn't afford cream at that time.
Unfortunately I don't feel I have the right to post the full recipe. I might change my mind later, but at this point it would feel like a violation of a family secret. Let me say this though, the key to good Bagna Cauda is cooking the garlic for a long time, over very low heat. I guess this breaks down the acidity which causes a bad after taste and helps to avoid upset tummies-also my great grandmother told us always, never drink water because water and oil don't mix and will lead to upset tummies, that goes for drinking milk too, because it will curdle due to the hot temperature of the Bagna....so, the only option is to drink wine! Isn't that convenient! We usually drink a bottle of my grandpa's Zinfandel or Syrrah. Yum.
Look at all that yummy garlic 
The top picture on the right is my grandma being the supervisor...she took over the role when my grandma Lucy died, I think I'll take over when it's time.
In the picture directly to the right I think I am already getting in the groove, telling grandma she can't use her bread as a dish, just as an oil drip catcher (one of the fundamental grandma Lucy rules) -ha!
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