For the Longest Time

Wow, this past week has been a flurry of activity with wedding things, the future hubs got a promotion plus a sick kitty scare so it's been a really busy week.

So since I slacked off all last week, this weeks menu is going to all about Italian food. Mostly because I LOVE Italian in the fall with the tomato and it just warms you straight to the bone. Sadly, I'm a little broke this week so there won't be any extravagant posts about how to make REAL homemade Italian pasta sauce. Plus, it's  family secret so sorry 'bout ya. ;) I will happily give pointers on what your base should be for some real sauce. Screw the kind in a jar, this way takes more effort, but what you get from it is totally worth it.

1. Tomatoes. If you have fresh from the garden from your last harvest, use 'em for sauce. The flavor is so different than the cardboard flavored crap at Wal*Mart. If you don't have fresh home grown tomatoes, use the canned kind. San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes work very well in this case.

2. Herbs and spices - Bay leaves, flat leaf Italian parsley  basil, garlic, lots of garlic, more garlic... Depending on what region of Italy you may be from you can add nutmeg or sugar. 

3. Meat. Whether you prefer pork (his family) or beef (my family), sometimes even lamb is used, you need a good meat base for your sauce. I mean who really wants spaghetti without meat-a balls?

Now, my family comes from two different places in Italy, Calabria (18 on the map) and from Abruzzo (13 on the map) while my fiance's family hails from mostly the Abruzzo region, namely the cities of Pescara and Pacentro. It's been fun, comparing old family recipes since we aren't from the same provinces in those regions. (European geography can be so confusing sometimes) Since I have family from Calabria, my grandma still cooks some traditional fishy stuff (gag) like squid sauce (barf) but also a lot of eggplant, which I absolutely love. Eggplant Parmesan which actually was invented in the Calabria region of Italy. It will probably always be one of my favorite things she cooks for me. Here's a fun fact about Abruzzo: They are known for their lamb and goat dishes. My family cooks lamb every year for Easter with pepperoncinis. They also are the main growers and distributors of Italian saffron.