Cook N Up Something I Probably Shouldn't Have Bought...

I love spaghetti. (*heavy sigh)



It is the food that brings me great comfort...the food that most reminds me of my childhood and Sunday dinners at my grandparent's home.

My mother tells me that my great grandfather, Alessandro Cesaro, used to make homemade sauce that would simmer for days- it was the best sauce she ever tasted. He would eat his spaghetti with a spoon and a fork. The spoon was used to wrap the long pasta around and around the fork. Alas! I do not remember him or his sauce because I was very young when he died.

My grandmother used to make spaghetti and meatballs every Sunday. We would come together with aunts, uncles and cousins and grab a plate of pasta and a few meatballs, sprinkle it with parmasean cheese. We would grab a slice of garlic bread, a scoop of sweet corn, and tear off a bit of lettuce from a wedge. A little Thousand Island and a Pepsi and we were a happy lot.

Spaghetti was the obvious choice because it is fairly quick- Grandma made hers from scratch, but she didn't do it the same laborious way her father did. She used Heinz tomato paste, as I recall. And her meatballs were always perfect-I really wish I knew her secret. Cost is another obvious reason for the Spaghetti dinners of long ago- whereas my Italian grandmother was all about bringing the family together with food, my Dutch grandfather was all about frugality.

Well, tonight, I think both my grandmother and grandfather would both be shaking thier heads in dismay. Not because I bought and served my husband spaghetti sauce out of a jar....but because I actually paid $9.99 for it.




Article 1: The $9.99 Jar of Marinara....it was 100% natural!



Grandpa would certainly wonder if there was gold laced tomatoes in the mix, and well, grandma would laugh it off with a twinkle in her eye. She would be much more forgiving, and probably pleased to see me taking such good care of my man (she would have really loved Simon and his English accent!)

I loved my grandma...I think everyone who knew her, loved her.

The $9.99 Spaghetti sauce was an impulse buy. I sometimes do extravagant things when I am in the pasta aisle at the grocery store. I am like a cat with catnip. I can't help myself.

My assessment:

Very tomatoey..and good roasted garlic flavor...but I really cannot justify the $9.99 here. I think I can make something as good, if not better.



Husband's response was "it okay", meaning: "It will do. I am hungry and it took you a long time to notice that I was just wasting away over here while waiting for you to stop facebooking and make me some dinner"..I don't think he has tastebuds either-he just likes to eat... but he would have liked my grandmas spaghetti dinners. I guarantee it!


Another important note...Grandma would never have let him wash the dishes...although she would have been very impressed that he does. "And he does dishes too?" I could hear her exclaim, followed by a playful attempt to get him to go sit down.


But grandma would agree with me that it is best that we just don't tell Simon what I paid for that sauce...he is a lot like my grandfather in that regard.



Grandpa and Grandma VanderHouwen, 1946

Cook N up a Light Supper: Dijon Pork Tenderloin with Beet and Carrot Slaw

This recipe satisfies a few of my resolutions. It is definately a light and healthy meal (about 300 calories for one broiled tenderloin the size of a deck of cards and one cup of slaw), we can have leftovers for lunch tomorrow- so it is frugal, and it looks and tastes good!

The color of the slaw is vibrant. Beets and Carrots are high in beta carotene - your liver will love them. The beet greens are high in Vitamin C and all three ingredients supply a good quantity of fiber.

The pork is easy to make. Salt and pepper the tenderloin and place it under the broiler. Cook throughly until no pink remains, turning it over to brown each sides. Slather on a dollup of dijon mustard and add a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Place this under the broiler for a few more minutes until nicely browned.

The recipe for the beet and carrot slaw can be found in this month's Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine (pg 21)

Beet & Carrot Slaw

1/4 c fresh orange juice

2T olive oil

2t red wine vinegar

1-1/2 t Dijon mustard

Salt and Pepper

Whisk these ingredients together in a large bowl- this is the dressing.

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated.

Add the carrots to the dressing in the large bowl.

1 medium bunch beets with greens (approx. 1lb)

Separate the greens from the beets. Rinse them, dry them and remove the leaves from the stems. Slice the leaves into 1/4 in strips. Peel and grate the beets into a large strainer. Rinse the grated beets until the water runs clear. Squeeze the wet beets dry with a paper towel.

Add the beets and greens to the carrots and dressing. Mix well. Let set for 15 minutes.

Tomorrow Simon and I will have leftover pork and slaw wraps for lunch, along with orange sections and some avocado. I am betting that the flavor of the slaw will intensify a bit more in the fridge over night.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig...

Got in yesterday evening and promptly went to bed. The flight from England was 9.5 hours, and while we were fortunate to be upgraded to more comfortable seats- that is still a long time to be confined on an airplane.

Today we unpacked, did laundry and paid bills. Tomorrow I will spend some time scheming our new years resolution: lose weight.

The biggest challenge will be finding a happy medium between my passion for cooking and my need to get fit. I am going to make a heartfelt attempt to post healthy recipes here, although I am contemplating a once-a-week splurge. One day a week I should be able to eat whatever I want, right?

If there is one thing I know about making positive changes that stick, it is that we must make small changes and not grand sweeping ones. A little more exercise...a little less junk food. My goal is to lose 5lbs per month. I will let you know how that goes.

On the plane home I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about New Years Resolutions. Even though only 18% of people who make resolutions stick to them after 2 years, simply making a resolution improves your chances of success by ten fold. There are many ways to ensure success:

• Make sure that your goal is specific and realistic
• Write it down
• Enlist friends and family to share in your journey, or to simply ask how it is going!
• Predict the roadblocks and setbacks and plan ahead for these.
• Be gentle with yourself - allow yourself to begin again. You don't have to be perfect!
  

On another note....I made a commitment early this year to donate all money earned by the Home Cook N Blog to charity. We didn't make a killing, but Simon and I matched the $20 earned by my blog last year and donated $40 to the American Lung Association in rememberence of Simon's father who passed away in 2008 from Lung Cancer. Thank you to everyone who used the search engine I had provided on my site and who clicked on the ad boxes!

**the beautiful pen and ink drawing on this post is by UK artist, Mike Budden. Please take a moment to enjoy his site at http://www.mikebudden.co.uk/pen_and_ink_magic_001.htm

I really like his bird prints!