Heartwarming Food

Whenever I'm making a pot of spaghetti, I'm always taken back to Sunday afternoons at my grandparent's home.

When you think of a big Italian family sitting down to a meal together, you probably picture exactly what I remember at grandma and grandpa's. Their dinner table was long and extended to the length of the room. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and whoever else happened to be there when the meal was ready sat down to ate. They took great care to prepare pasta, meatballs (grandma and grandpa always sparring about the correct size of meatball), bread and salad each week. I can remember the table lined with RC Cola cans and grandma in her apron - always being the last one to sit down to eat. I sat quietly at the end of the table on my stool...just observing all of the grown-ups and all of the wonderful things they had hanging on the wall.

It was an experience that I love and memories that I will always cherish. Grandma and Grandpa have been gone for more than twenty years now; and, oh, how I wish I could see them today. I wish I could show them love and kindness through a heart warming meal like they did for so many others. Although they are physically gone, I am reminded of them each time someone comes through the door close meal time and I instinctively ask, "have you eaten yet?" I absolutely love sharing meals with my family and others around the dinner table. It's the one time of the day when we all get to look at each other, pray together, and have genuine family conversations. I highly value meal time and look forward to it each and every day.

Here's the recipe I use to make spaghetti in a hurry. It's not the big production that grandma and grandpa put on, but it's heartwarming and delicious all the same. :)

Quick Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 2 - 15oz Cans of Tomato Sauce
• 1 - 6 or 8oz Can of Tomato Paste
• 2 - Paste Cans of Water
• Minced Garlic (About 1 Tablespoon or 2 Cloves)
  
• Salt, Pepper and Basil to Taste
• Romano or Parmesan Cheese (about a handful)
  
• Fresh Mushrooms [[optional]]
  
• Onions (Slivered) [[optional]]
• 1/4 Cup - White Sugar
• 1-2lbs - Ground Beef/Chuck
  

Directions:

• Brown Ground Beef/Chuck
• While Beef/Chuck is browning, slice the onion (I slice it in really thin slices straight down (so you have a circle of onion after you've sliced it...then slice the circles in half so your slices look like C's). When the beef/chuck is brown or almost brown, throw in the mushrooms and onions. Continue browning the meat until the onions are see-through.
• Drain and rinse all then return to pan
• Add sauce, paste and water - stir
• Add all salt, pepper, garlic, basil, sugar - stir
• Cook on high until sauce mixture boils
• Once boiling, turn sauce down to simmer (or low) and let cook about half an hour.

Serve over pasta and enjoy :)