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Recap/Review: The Real Housewives of New Jersey, S3, E4 – “Gobblefellas”

  • By

  • June 7, 2011

  • 8 mins to read

Airdate: Monday, June 6, 2011, 9:00 pm ET/PT on Bravo

Rating: ★★★★★

Who’s ready for Thanksgiving? I sure am, after seeing the feasts at Melissa and Joey G’s house, as well as at Teresa and Joe’s. Didn’t it make you the least bit hungry? Food aside, it looks like the Gorgas and Giudices are that much closer to a reconciliation.

Joe Pirrella, Lysa Simpson and Scott Simpson listen as Joe Gorga tells them about the ham that's going in the oven

Thanksgiving means an extended shopping trip to Corrado’s supermarket for Melissa and Joey G. They’re planning a real Italian feast, complete with turkey, ham, lasagna, etc., for her sisters, aunts, uncles, and Kathy and her family. Can I just take a minute to express how freaked out I was seeing that dead pig—snout, ears and cute little curly tail—mixed in among the hams for sale at Corrado’s? At least everyone had the common sense to tell Antonia, Melissa and Joey G’s five-year-old daughter, the pig was sleeping.

Albert helps Teresa with the bird

For Teresa and Joe, it means a trip to Goffle Road Poultry Farm, to buy a live turkey as Joe’s mother did back in the day. How funny is it that Teresa doesn’t know Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated in Italy? She’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Having previously celebrated Thanksgiving once with her parents and again with Joe’s parents, Teresa is now planning the first ever Friends-giving with the Manzos, the Lauritas and Kim D. She and Joe want to thank them for all the help they provided them during the past year. I can’t believe how annoyed I was with Joe’s back-seat driving, but it doesn’t seem to bother Teresa at all!  After seeing the dead pig at Corrado’s, I was in total sensory overload when the owner of Goffle Road takes Teresa and Joe in the back to “meet and greet before you eat.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to see the turkey I’m planning to have for dinner walking around the day before I plan to cook it!  Eww! Thankfully, Teresa and Joe don’t either as they opt for one that had been killed the previous day. $45? They’re spending $45 on a turkey they could have gotten in a regular supermarket for probably around $20? No wonder they were forced into bankruptcy last year!

Caroline and Albert are off with daughter Lauren to visit Vito’s family at their deli, The Best of Little Italy. The families have known each other for a long time since Vito and Albie graduated Fordham University. But this time, it’s a little different because they’re looking at each other as their children’s potential in-laws. Everyone seems to get along just fine, but I can smell a problem in the air. I think it has to do with the difference in their social status. I love how Albert tries to explain it. “I feel sorry for rich people, because they don’t how to be poor. My kids, they don’t know how to be poor. Hopefully, they won’t have to worry about it.” If that’s not double-speak, I don’t know what is!

Check out Melissa's mink apron!

I had to laugh when Ashley visits Chris and Albie, looking for support. Again she whines about commuting into the city and talks of getting a place of her own. Like good cousins, they totally shoot her down. Hey, they call it as they see it, as good friends and family should. Thankfully, she sees the light and gives up her dream of channeling Carrie Bradshaw, á la Sex and the City. At home, Jackie is wondering why not only the kitchen, but Ashley’s room is clean as well. What a shame neither Jackie nor Chris believe Ashley when she says she did it just because, and instead ask what the motive was behind the good deed. But after years of acting like a selfish brat, what else could Ashley expect? I like the encouragement Jackie and Chris give her when she says she realizes her plan needs to be put on hold … for now. But what about a new car? The girl just doesn’t stop.

Sisters Lysa and Melissa look like twins in their leopard dresses

Teresa has no help Thanksgiving Day, other than her girls, unlike Melissa who has her sisters. I totally cracked up when I saw Melissa and her sister Lysa both wearing leopard dresses. And what about the mink apron? Who the hell wears a mink apron to cook? Who even owns a mink apron? I must confess, I’m glad I don’t celebrate the holiday with my husband’s Italian family. I’m not of the mindset that the men should drink, snack, watch TV and sleep while the women are in the kitchen cooking. Sorry that just doesn’t wash in my house.

Kathy checking out her dessert table - check out that huge cannoli!

I was, and still am, totally blown away by the sheer amount of desserts and the way Kathy showcases them. There are mini apple and mini pumpkin pies, three kinds of tiramisu, peanut butter chocolate brownies, biscotti, a cake in the shape of a turkey and a whole host of different flavored cannoli housed under a giant cannoli. Who bakes like that?

Melissa is expecting a diamond or maybe a puppy when Joey G tells her he has a surprise for her outside. Everyone traipses outside and wow, is she ever surprised! There’s a mechanical bull on their front lawn! Joey G and Melissa get on the bull at the same time. Enough said, ok?

Melissa riding the bull

As Friends-giving starts, Teresa gets tears in her eyes as she thanks everyone for being there and for being such a big help to them last year. But as they sit down to dinner, Milania pulls Gia’s hair and then smacks her sister Gabriela. She’s in a full-blown temper tantrum that Teresa can’t seem to control. You ask me, I would have put her in an immediate time-out or worse. Needless to say, the letter Teresa wrote to Joey G is a topic of conversation in both households. He hasn’t responded yet so it’s interesting to hear his point of view. At least brother and sister would both like their relationship back and their friends and family encourage them in that respect. But when both households talk about the sprinkle cookies Melissa brought to Teresa’s last Christmas Eve (that she threw out) instead of bringing Teresa’s favorite, pignoli, I really began to laugh. Such pettiness! Besides the fact that Jackie brought sprinkle cookies to Friends-giving, to which Teresa responded, “My favorite!” I can’t wait to see what happens this Christmas Eve. Do you think the Gorgas will really celebrate the holiday with the Giudices? Seems unlikely at this point unless Teresa and Joe can put things aside and start fresh.

Speaking of starting fresh, the ladies of The Real Housewives of New Jersey are moving to a new day and time next week – Sundays at 10 pm ET/PT only on Bravo. Be sure to tune in as Joey G calls Teresa to tell her he’d like to go to Gia’s gymnastics meet.

All photos © 2011 Bravo. All Rights Reserved.

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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!
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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!