| This seems to be a common theme in many Italian households. Everytime people come to visit, they must be totally starved from the journey. The Moms and Grammas then begin to cook enough food to feed Alexander the Great's army, where the custom may have originated.
I had friends who refused to come over to my house because my Mom would make them eat. "You're too skinny, here, have a lasagna and two pizzas until the dinner is ready."
Then again, some friends came over because their mothers couldn't cook hot dogs without large volumes of smoke and flames. Everyone knew that they could eat when they visited... whether they wanted to or not. | 
