And so, the early afternoon found me cutting up ham and potatoes in huge but equal amounts, and rolling out crusts for my biggest baking dish. Served with broth from the cooked ham and taters, and topped with freshly-chopped yellow onions, the ham meat pie was a greatly-appreciated success.
It's an easy dish to make, and since I had no other wrenching demands today, I opted to spend more time in the kitchen. I made more fresh butter and ranch dressing from heavy cream, and because tomorrow I plan on riding, I pushed on and made meatballs and sauce.
This is just one of those things I look at in my life and ask why the hell I never tried to figure out it out before. I remember loving Tony's Cottage Inn and their spaghetti with meatballs since I was a tiny child. Yet it is only in this past year that I attempted to make meatballs, or the accompanying sauce.
Of course Bernie and I have made spaghetti with meat sauce since we were first married. We used hamburger and put tomato sauce, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper into it, and we were content. When we could afford it, we went to Tony's for the real deal, though, which wasn't often. Nearly a quarter century has passed since we lived on that side of the continent; I managed one meal of spaghetti with Tony's meatball (one is costly, two is exorbitant) when I was back there five (can it really be five?) years ago.
Meatballs and a good tomato sauce are an investment. The money to fly back East, stay at a hotel, order an entree -- wow. So much more thrifty, especially when I eat whatever is left over from the main meal for breakfasts, delicious meatballs every day, not a single one going to waste.
Right now I'm still making them by eye and smell ... I have no solid measurements yet.
But oh, they're even better than Tony's.
1 comment:
I should like to point out that the dining experience is always enhanced if there is a little whine before dinner.
Just sayin'.
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