Sycamore, Illinois · The Brittney Forston notebook · Est. 2026

Real Family Recipes,
Cooked in a Home Oven

Giva Kitchen is the home-kitchen notebook of Brittney Forston in Sycamore, Illinois. These are the recipes we make at our own table, written down for anyone who loves this food as much as we do. No orders, no sign-ups. Just cooking.

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The Notebook

What We're Cooking Lately

The Sunday Sauce

Tested in our home oven · Serves 6 · Simmers 3–4 hours

Every family has one pot that defines it. Ours is a slow sugo: crushed San Marzano tomatoes, whole smashed garlic bloomed in olive oil, a fistful of basil, and the discipline to leave it alone on the lowest flame until the oil floats up orange on top.

  1. Bloom 4 smashed garlic cloves in olive oil over medium-low heat — fragrant, never browned.
  2. Add two cans of crushed San Marzanos, a splash of water, salt and a pinch of sugar.
  3. Tuck in fresh basil, drop the heat to a whisper and simmer 3–4 hours, stirring now and then.

From the notebook: the sauce is better on day two. Make it Saturday, eat it Sunday.

Meatballs the Way Nonna Made Them

Tested in our home oven · Serves 4 · Sunday tradition

Beef and pork in equal parts, breadcrumbs soaked in milk, an egg, grated parmesan and parsley — rolled by hand, never by machine. Browned first, then finished in the Sunday Sauce where they soak up forty minutes of patience.

  1. Soak half a cup of breadcrumbs in milk; mix with a pound of beef, half a pound of pork, an egg, parmesan, parsley and garlic.
  2. Roll into golf-ball rounds — compact but not squeezed.
  3. Brown in olive oil on all sides, then simmer gently in the sauce for 45 minutes.

From the notebook: one meatball always disappears before the table is set. Plan for six, serve five.

Garlic Knots from Leftover Dough

Tested in our home oven · Makes 12 · Ready in 30 minutes

The best thing that was never on the menu. Whatever dough is left after the pies gets rolled into ropes, tied into loose knots and baked until golden — then drowned in garlic butter while it's still hot enough to drink it in.

  1. Roll dough into ropes about a finger thick and tie loose knots.
  2. Bake at 400°F for 12–15 minutes until golden.
  3. Toss immediately with melted butter, chopped garlic, parsley and grated parmesan.

From the notebook: hide a few for yourself before they reach the table. You'll understand why.

Mozzarella en Carozza

Tested in our home oven · Serves 4 · frying required

The fried mozzarella sandwich that started a thousand cravings. Thick white bread, fresh mozzarella cut in slabs, a bath of beaten egg and fine breadcrumbs, then a shallow fry until the crust turns deep gold and the middle turns to stretch.

  1. Layer slabs of mozzarella between slices of thick white bread; press and chill 30 minutes.
  2. Dip in beaten egg, coat in fine breadcrumbs.
  3. Fry in olive oil over medium heat until deep golden on both sides.

From the notebook: rest them on a rack, cut on the bias, and serve with warm Sunday Sauce.

Sheet-Pan Sicilian

Tested in our home oven · Serves 8 · Thick and proud of it

When the whole family is coming, pizza comes off a sheet pan. Press the dough into an oiled pan, let it proof like pillows, then sauce on top of the cheese — Sicilian style — and bake hot until the edges are carved out of gold.

  1. Press dough into an oiled half-sheet pan and proof 45 minutes.
  2. Dimple with oiled fingers; mozzarella first, then a generous ladle of sauce over the cheese.
  3. Bake at 500°F for 18–22 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, cut into squares.

From the notebook: the corner pieces belong to whoever did the dishes. House rule since day one.

Chopped Italian Salad

Tested in our home oven · Serves 6 · Ten minutes of patience

The side that belongs next to every pie in this book. Iceberg, radicchio and romaine chopped rough and small, Genoa salami, provolone cubes, chickpeas, red onion — dressed with oregano vinaigrette and left alone for ten minutes to get acquainted.

  1. Chop the greens rough and small; add salami, provolone, chickpeas and red onion.
  2. Dress with olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, salt and pepper.
  3. Toss with your hands and rest 10 minutes before serving.

From the notebook: the salad waits for the pizza, never the other way around.

Free Download

The Family Pizza Handbook

Twelve of our most-asked-for recipes — dough, sauce and the classics — formatted for printing and taping to the fridge. No e-mail, no sign-up, no strings: just take it.

Download the PDF (free)
  • 12 kitchen-tested recipes
  • Works on any device — print-ready
  • No e-mail or registration required
  • Shared in good faith, like everything here

Our Story

Fifty Years on the Same Corner

Giva Kitchen began as a small kitchen notebook in Sycamore, Illinois — an index-card box, a well-used oven and a recipe book that lives right on the counter. The dough gets its overnight rest, the sauce is crushed tomatoes and nothing else, and every pie comes out of the oven when it blisters, never when a timer says so.

This site is the family's kitchen notebook — the recipes we cook at home, written the way we actually make them. It is not a shop and it takes no orders; everything here is free, and everything here has been tested at least twice — usually by the pickiest eaters we know.

  • Recipes tested in an ordinary home oven
  • No paywalls, no sign-up forms, nothing for sale
  • Corrections welcome — we cook, we admit mistakes