Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

Categories


All categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Add to Google

Subscribe with Bloglines

Saturday, January 19. 2013

Penultimate Classic Mommys of America Cheap 'n Easy suppers, #18: Spaghetti and Meatballs

It's not an Italian dish (it's an invention of Italian-Americans, poor immigrants from southern Italy who found they could afford meat in America), and it gives adults heartburn, but American kids seem to love it and it's easy to make.


I loved it as a kid, but now I feel it's an unpleasant meal. At least, we have evolved beyond Chef Boyardee. Here's Easiest Spaghetti and Meatballs.


One genuine Italian touch: Crazy Martha says to throw the drained pasta into the meat and sauce in the saucepan. That's the right way to do it. Pasta in the sauce, not the sauce on top of the pasta.

Posted by Bird Dog in Food and Drink, Our Essays at 17:20 | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

I LOVE spaghetti and meat balls. Reminds me of my college days and the early days of our marriage. Sometimes we'd put Lima beans in or corn in (meatless to stretch a dollar) and sometimes Italian sausage. Also love those hole in the wall family run Italian restaurants on the east coast with meatball grinders (needs to be on a really good bread with a real crust). Heaven. I even have a soft spot for spaghetti - o's. After all, isn't the context of food just as important? Oh the joy of a meal with the people and in the places we love (new, familiar or existing in the heart only any more)!
#1 Karen on 2013-01-19 17:40 (Reply)
Curiously enough, that's what we're having tonight. Huh - good timing.
#2 Tom Francis on 2013-01-19 18:04 (Reply)
I was wondering when this would be on the list.
#3 DrTorch on 2013-01-19 19:53 (Reply)
Chef Boyardee rocks; your concept of evolution is...irrelevant.
#4 Jephnol (Link) on 2013-01-20 02:56 (Reply)
Just thought I'd check back in because I'm eating some Beefaroni right now. In related news, on the weight-loss front I'm down 130 pounds. Crazy, huh? The emphasis has shifted from weight to losing that last little bit of jiggle; I'm aiming at 7% total body fat. There was absolutely no science involved in how I did this though, due to the fact that I'm apparently scientifically illiterate. Who knew? My getting it done was sort of like Chauncey Gardner walking on water in Being There. Didn't know it can't be done so I went out and got it done the wrong way. Surprise! (And they said it couldn't be done).

Anyhoo, when I cook pasta I put the pasta in the sauce, too, but right now it's Beefaroni for me.
#5 Jephnol (Link) on 2013-01-20 11:56 (Reply)
My version:

Add a little anchovy paste (careful here) to a good store bought marinara. Combine sauce in pan with cooked and drained pasta. Form meatballs around a pitted green olive. Link style Italian sausage. Transfer to a baking dish. Top with roasted red pepper, mozarella and a little parmesan. Under the broiler just long enough to melt the cheese. Chianti goes nicely.
#6 Roy Lofquist on 2013-01-20 15:17 (Reply)
My mother cooked a mean pot of Scots-Irish spaghetti. Though the sausage she used in the meatballs was Italian.
#7 Gringo on 2013-01-20 17:30 (Reply)

Add Comment
(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)

By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email
addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications.

Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u],
[url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here.

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

BBCode format allowed
 
 
A Chris Southern Consulting website.