From Scratch

I made spaghetti and meatballs yesterday afternoon when I came home from my workspace.  It smelled so good when it was cooking that it was hard to wait until it was fully cooked.  I made my meatballs from scratch just like dad used to do.  He would start with top shelf ground beef, add an egg, some Italian dressing, spices and some salt and pepper.  Sometimes he used oats as a filler or crackers.  Mom made the sauce (Ragu, tomato paste, and mushrooms) as he mixed up the meatballs in a large bowl.  They were quite a team and the memory of them is still strong in my mind.  I conjure them when I make spaghetti!

  I used bread crumbs instead of oats that my sister had on hand for filler and followed dads process almost exactly.  I plopped them individually into the sauce that was already cooking as I rolled each one into medium sized balls.  I like to have meatball subs with the leftovers and it is easier to eat with medium sized meatballs as the large ones have a tendency to roll right out of the sub bun.  The only thing I didn't find to add was a bay leaf.  Mom always cooked her meatballs with a bay leaf!  I haven't made anything from scratch in a very long time.  I haven't made homemade spaghetti and meatballs for about 9 years as my X always fried the meat and added it to the sauce instead.  I will grant you it was quicker that way...but there is nothing like the smell of a pot of meatballs simmering for hours on the stove on a Sunday afternoon.  My sister made us a salad and I had brought some Italian sub buns home from the store.  It just doesn't get any better than that!  One of my favorite Columbus restaurants is Spaghetti Warehouse, but I don't ever get spaghetti there.  I always order something I can't make like Veal Parmesan or their famous Lasagne.  I know that if I ordered spaghetti and meatballs that it wouldn't be as good as mom and dads combined efforts.  I have to wonder if my other siblings make it for their families and if they follow mom and dads method.  I look forward to asking my sister for some of the old recipes that she may have here from our parents.  Nothing says home like a simmering pot of spaghetti on the stove made from scratch.  As I recall, it is even better on the second day.