World Famous Spaghetti

My dad used to spend all day Sunday making a big batch of spaghetti sauce. We would come in from playing outside to this wonderful aroma infiltrating every nook and cranny in our house. I remember asking as I grew older if he would let me help. He would say, "No, it is a secret recipe". I then began asking for the recipe when I moved out and got my own home. He would say, "when you get married I will give it to you." So, I got married and asked again. He then said, "You really don't need the recipe. Just get a jar of spaghetti sauce and doctor it up a bit by adding fresh onions, peppers, and other vegetables. The jars are just as good." I was so disappointed. I really wanted that recipe. I had watched him from afar many times growing up and he didn't use a jar of sauce. My dad died a few years back and I immediately went after his cookbooks and his other files of recipes. No spaghetti sauce. We finally found it later on. He had written it on a file card and titled it "Herb's 'World Famous' Meat Sauce". He had filed it under MEATS. Here it is...

1 cup onion, chopped

1 lb. ground beef

3/4 lb. sausage

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. 14oz canned tomatoes

1 lb. canned tomatoes

1 6oz tomato paste

1/4 cup snipped parsley

1 TBS brown sugar (secret ingredient)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp MSG

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp thyme

1 bay leaf

1. Saute onion and garlic

2. Add meats and cook until brown

3. Skim off excess fat

4. Add remaining ingredients and 2 cups of water.

5. Simmer uncovered for 3 hours or until sauce is thick

6. Serve over spaghetti, shells or other pasta.

7. Top with parmesian cheese

(Remove the bay leaf before serving)

Dad always had a "secret ingredient" that he would put in that would make it all that much better and a bit different from the normal.

You can leave out the MSG and I am not sure but from reading this recipe it may be 2 cans of 1lb 14oz canned tomatoes instead of one big and one little can. You may have to play with the amount of tomatoes a bit. The recipe is unclear.

A new group of recipes

Over the course of the next couple of weeks or until I start to get bored with it, I am going to post some of my dad's great recipes. He was a wonderful cook and he had a wide range of recipes. My dad would take some recipes and "doctor" them up to his liking or he would add a "secret ingredient" that would make it just a little better. You will see these as I post the recipes. Some of his recipes he made up and others he got out of cookbooks. The ones he liked he would add to his file box of recipes, but wouldn't add the source of the recipe. So I am not always sure if it was an original or one from another book. But they were always yummy. I hope you enjoy them. Post a comment if you try it and let me know how it turns out.

What I am doing now...

Right now I am working on a baby blanket for the family that my work has adopted for the holiday season. There is a Mom and three kids. The youngest is a baby of 7 months. I am working on a new pattern for the blanket. It is a zig-zag crochet pattern, "ripple". Let me tell you, I thought it would be easy and thought I could adapt an adult afgan pattern for the baby one. No way! I screwed it up twice and finally went in search of an appropriate ripple pattern for a baby blanket size. It still is a bit bigger than I anticipated but I used a chunkier yarn and a bigger hook. I found the pattern on Bev's Country Cottage site and you can find it if you click on "Bev's Journeys" on the sidebar. I will post a picture later this evening of it so far. If I have time I would love to make hats for the family as well.

I am about a fourth done so I expect it to be done in another week. I still have Nicholas' sweater to finish and I am only still on the back in knitting it. The blanket is more pressing right now.

I have a funny for you. Remember the pirate doll I made for my son for Halloween? He said yesterday that it looked like Tigger in a Halloween costume! It really does!!

Pork Loin

We keep a pork loin in the freezer all the time. I cut them in half and that feeds my family for the evening.

One Pork Tenderloin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Put tenderloin in a baking dish. Sprinkle extra virgin olive oil on the top (about a TBS). Sprinkle salt, garlic, and black pepper on top. Bake in 350 degree oven until thermometer reads 155 degrees. Take from oven and let sit for about 5-7 minutes, then carve.

You can also put teriaki sauce on the top instead of the above. You can put Italian salad dressing on it too. (not with the teriaki sauce!)

My Pirate!

Here is my pirate that I finished last night for Nicholas. I got the pattern for this one and pumpkin off the Lion Brand Website. I adapted the pumpkin face to fit my liking. I made the ghost on my own with no pattern.

I gave them to the kids this morning and they LOVED them!!

An Experiment

I was talking with some co-workers and we were talking about how to make "Apple Betty". The conversation moved to an easy way to make a fruit cake. The men explained that you take a can of fruit in juice, put it in a baking dish. Then take a box of cake mix and pour it on top. (Yes the dry cake mix). Then put it in the oven and bake. The other gentleman said that he does it all the time with his boy scout troop in a dutch oven while camping. He said it works. The third gentleman then chimed in and asked me if I was going to make one. I said, "I'm game. Will you eat it if I bring it in tomorrow?". He agreed as he loves anything that I bring in to share.

It is in the oven now. I will let you know how it turns out.

The Ghost

I started the purple fuzzy monster (picture at the bottom of page), and I didn't like it so I decided to do a ghost. I got some white yarn and started on what I thought would look like a ghost. I finished the first side and it turned out to be a triangle. It didn't look like a ghost at all. I then got on line and started looking for bell patterns. I found one and started to work it up and it didn't look like a ghost at all. Then I started playing around and voila, I got my ghost. I added eyes and a smile and there he was. A few arms and we had our ghost.

Now I am off to work on the pirate and I will have all three done before Halloween.