Remembering the Sauce

I just finished a long chat with my grownup niece who lives in Michigan, the daughter of my late sister Deedy, the one who taught me so much about cooking. It was fun to rub memories with each other but what amused me was our discussion about spaghetti sauc. I learned how to make spaghetti sauce from my sister, the real stuff from scratch and I always thought it was wonderful. Remember, those were the days before jarred sauces so you began with browning the beef and adding tomatoes in the paste, sauce and whole forms. Lots of oregano and long cooking.  What my niece Sarah told me was a great surprise; she said that when she and her brothers were growing up, they literally hated that sauce. Imagine that.

As for my family, we were a two career family and so my husband was the cook and his spaghetti sauce was an adapted from scratch recipe so it wasn't my sister's sauce.   I think spaghetti sauce is a personal thing. I don't like any variety that is too sweet even if it is the best seller. If it is red and thick, I make it work.

Check OLLI's doc store for recipes

With the end of the spring term also came the end of our Ethnic Cooking class. I must say, we certainly did see a lot of good, varied cooking in those weekly 90 minute sessions and the variety was just delightful. Each week the students came in not knowing what we would be witnessing that day and they were always delighted and satisfied with the results. Each chef had his or her own individual style and discussions were unique since they had to do with the background of each chef.

Now you can check the OLLI doc store for the recipes except for the Lebanese that will come later when the chef gets back from her travels. Go to the website, click on doc store and scroll down to the F900 class and download the attachment there. Then cook  like crazy. Bon appetit.