I grew up with a number of wonderful friends, many of whom I am still friends with today. We lived in neighborhoods that were close to one another, we went to the same schools and the same church. It was easy. Our parents all knew one another and we ran from one house to the other all day.
When I think of those days I am struck by how wonderfully dissimilar all of our homes were: some parents were good housekeepers, some not so much; some had two working parents, some just one; some had dogs or cats, others had no pets; some were big families of 7 or 8 children, some were small; some had very diverse backgrounds, some were simpler; some ate interesting foods, some ate uncomplicated meals. We were alike in our values and different in every other way imaginable.
My best friend, Mary, had an Italian heritage and her mom cooked foods that I thought were so very exotic because everything was so different than what my mom or dad cooked. Unlike Mary’s family, we are long-time southerners and dinner was typically “a meat and three.” For the novice that means meat of some variety and three other food items. It was delicious but simple and very different from Mary’s household.
One of the first times I ate at her home we had spaghetti but it was a side-dish! Spaghetti at my house was a big pot of ground beef mixed with a variety of tomato products, spaghetti noodles, salad with bottled dressing, and cloverleaf rolls from a package. I’m not complaining because this is how I still make spaghetti and we all love it!
At Mary’s house we would have a braised piece of meat, salad with oil and vinegar (yikes!), homemade bread, and a side of spaghetti noodles with sauce. It sounds crazy now that I was so enchanted by this “exotic” array of foods but it was unlike anything I was used to!
I was recently sorting through some old recipes and found copies of this “exotic” spaghetti sauce from Mary’s mom. Today, it certainly makes me laugh that I considered this “exotic.” It is still delicious and I hope you enjoy it too!
*Note that the recipes are typed on an old typewriter and index cards. A true treasure!
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