. After reading No Angel (see below) I couldn’t wait to start the 2nd book. A friend said to me that she liked #2 better than the first one, and I think I agree. It carries on the saga of this gentrified family in the publishing business in WWII era England. There are wartime injuries, even deaths as the family spreads out some (France and America), but it’s still about the London-based core family group that get themselves into trouble at several junctures. Loved this one. Do read them in order, though.
. No, not that Homer, but Homer, the blind cat. It’s a charming, funny, sweet, riveting book that any animal lover should read. We haven’t owned cats for decades, but I enjoy reading about them even if I don’t have one. Homer was a tiny kitten when found, with a dangerous eye infection. The vet who saved him had to remove his eyes, so the little kitten never knew sight. He’s adopted by a patient gal who is a writer already, and I can imagine that little Homer almost wrote the book himself. He’s very brave, willing to take risks – she almost loses him once. If you love animals, you’ve got to read this. I found it at Costco, but it’s also cheap at Amazon in paperback.
by Sarah McCoy. A really really interesting story. About WWII but told from the side of loyal German Hitler-loving citizens. The kind of local people who could be your neighbors, who were very nationalistic and truly believed Hitler was leading them to a better future. I’ve never read anything with a German perspective. The book isn’t political. In a way it’s a type of chick lit (which is why I didn’t suggest my DH read it) as it’s got a moderate amount of romance in it. The entire book is enveloped in the story of the family, who live in Garmisch (a place I’ve visited twice), who own a bakery. Mostly it’s about one of the bakery owner’s daughters. One daughter goes to a 
– by Erik Larson (hard copy) – wow, what a book. In all the literary fiction I’ve read about Nazi Germany, I’d never read that much about what it was like living in Berlin leading up to Hitler’s demonic rampages. This biography is about America’s ambassador to Germany from 1933-37, William Dodd. An academician, Dodd was probably unsuited to the job, yet he brought a kind of humility and clarity to the unrest. Accompanied by his wife and two adult children, they assimilated into the gay life of diplomacy. Dodd was not liked by his counterparts at home, yet he had the ear and appointment specifically because of Roosevelt, but only after 5 other career diplomats turned down the job. Dodd took his position very seriously, hoping that he’d make time to write a book he had worked on for much of his life (a detailed history of the American South). With no internet, no commercial jets and little but old fashioned typewriters or often written by hand, communiques sailed back and forth in diplomatic pouches. Dodd originally was lenient with Hitler, wanting to believe the hype Hitler broadcast. In time, though, he came to realize that Hitler had an insidious master plan. Dodd’s vivacious and beautiful daughter dated all manner of diplomats, Nazis and Russians, and very few Americans. She leaned left. Very far left, to the point of socialism. She had affairs – very inappropriate ones (says me), which undermined her father’s role (yet he seemed oblivious). This book is a real picture of the day to day life back then, well written, well researched and riveting. The Ambassador never did finish his book. But this book – well, everyone should read it. Erik Larson is the famous author of 
– by Willa Cather (on my Kindle) – what a joy to read. I’ve been a big fan of Cather’s writing most of my adult life, although I’ve not read all of her books. She had such a gift of words – such an ability to write a liquid picture – a conjurer of time and place that just doesn’t happen anymore in today’s writing world. The story revolves around a young girl (yes, it’s a coming of age novel) the daughter of a minister in the Midwest who has a musical gift. Her mentors help her to go to Chicago to study. Thea, the heroine here, is a very serious and studious young woman and not given to joy in life. She struggles with loneliness, yet seems to have no ability to reach out of her box to find friends or companionship. As with any young person who moves to a new place for work or study, there is that soulful pull from “home.” Does she give in? I’m not telling. A very good read.
– by Penny Vincenzi (hard copy from the library) – when two friends of mine recommended this book I knew I needed to read it. It’s not new (2004), but it is part of a trilogy by this English author. And I just refused to pay the very high Kindle price so that’s why I visited my local library and found it on the shelf. Vincenzi writes about the day-to-day lives of English gentry, and since I’m addicted to Downton Abbey these days, it sounded like a natural to read this book. It chronicles the lives of this particular family including marriages, births, affairs and chicanery, with their lovely home as the surround, the life style of the then-rich-and-famous, formal dinners. See? Downton Abbey. The difference is that there’s not much in this book about the servants, the below-stairs family. It takes place during the same pre-WWI era (1910′s). Prominent in the story is the book publishing business the family maintains (and with difficulty during the war years run by the two women left at home). Now I need to find the next in the series. If you enjoy family sagas, this one is a gem.
(Stacy Schiff); 
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Yes, I can hear it already . . . spaghetti sauce and meatballs . . . how terribly bo-rrr-ing, you say? And don’t we all have such a recipe? I suppose, but not THIS one. It’s an oldie but goodie for me. I’ve been making this version of spaghetti sauce and meatballs since about 1966. And before I lose you, let me just say that what makes this version a bit unique is the fresh celery leaves and the freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano IN the meatballs. That’s not common, I know it’s not.
So hopefully you’ll continue reading about this recipe and maybe print out the PDF to try sometime. I’ve not shared this recipe before – I haven’t made spaghetti and meatballs in the 3+ years I’ve been writing this blog. I’ve been meaning to, but we don’t eat much pasta anymore, even though we love it. I do serve it now and then, but haven’t felt the desire to make this old tried and true recipe in a long time.
The recipe came from an old homespun Military Officer’s Wives’ Club cookbook I have. One I’ve referred to over and over, and have shared many a recipe from its pages. And it’s certainly not a 30-minute meal. You’ll want to do this when you have half a day to devote to the different steps. My daughter Dana is visiting and she helped me make it, thankfully. Otherwise I’d have been in and out of the kitchen for upwards of 4 hours. I hope that doesn’t scare you off from making this, though. I always make this in a large quantity so I’ll have some to freeze. I freeze the meat sauce and the meatballs separately – that way I know what I’m getting, quantity-wise – when I defrost both packages. This recipe is something I used to make frequently when our hungry teenagers were in the house. And I heard the other evening, from my daughter, as she slurped up her meatballs from this batch, “oh, this takes me back to my childhood.” Indeed.
So what’s involved? The sauce contains ordinary things like ground beef, onions, garlic, oodles of herbs and spices, canned tomato stuff (paste, sauce and puree). The meatballs are the different stuff: good, highly seasoned Italian sausage, some ground beef too, bread crumbs, onion, milk, eggs, garlic, some cheese and the minced celery leaves. And if you happen to have ample celery leaves, add more. The new celery head I used only had about 1/2 cup of chopped leaves. Not nearly enough for my taste. The meatballs, by the way, are baked for 20 minutes, rather than fried. So much easier!
The sauce doesn’t require anything special, really. I’ve learned to wing it here and there, adding a bit of water sometimes if the sauce is spending too much time spouting medium-sized plops out of the pot. It all depends on the thickness of the tomato products – some are more watery than others, you know. So use your own judgment. Over the years I’ve made some changes to the recipe – different tomato stuff, less water, and a lot more seasonings. Originally the meatballs had that awful dry parmesan cheese in the green foil can. The addition of the real cheese made a huge flavor jump for me! I’ve made it with ground turkey (not as good, so I sometimes use half beef, half turkey) but I always add in the real pork Italian sausage. We buy our Italian sausage at a local Italian deli that makes their own. This batch had some of those and some Sicilian sausages (which contains mozzarella cheese) in it. Whatever I do, I never compromise, though, on the sausage. I buy good stuff. For many years I made this recipe exactly as written (using canned tomatoes with the juice) and the watery sauce always spread all over the plate. Once I changed to using only tomato puree, paste and sauce that didn’t happen any longer. I prefer thin linguine for this sauce, or regular linguine works too. But really, it doesn’t matter what kind of pasta – your choice.
This recipe is going onto my “Carolyn’s Fav’s.” It’s really good. Just ask my daughter. She’ll tell you.
printer-friendly PDF
Italian Spaghetti Sauce & Meatballs
Recipe By: Adapted from a Military Officer’s Wive’s Cookbook, circa 1965
Serving Size: 14
Note: Usually I serve this on linguine – thin linguine if you can find it. Or any kind of pasta will work.
SAUCE:
1 cup onion — chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil
8 cloves garlic — minced
3 pounds lean ground beef
12 ounces tomato paste
16 ounces tomato sauce
3 pounds tomato puree
4 teaspoons sugar
12 ounces mushrooms — chopped
1/2 cup parsley — chopped
2 small bay leaves
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon basil
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 cup water — approximately
MEATBALLS:
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 pounds Italian sausage — if using ground pork increase seasonings
1 cup onion — minced
4 tablespoons celery leaves — chopped
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup Italian parsley — minced
1/2 cup milk
2 whole eggs — beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes — or to taste
2 cloves garlic — minced
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese — grated
1. SAUCE: In a large pan heat olive oil and add onion. Partially cook, then add the garlic and cook just a few minutes. Add ground beef and sauté for 5-10 minutes until meat is no longer pink. Add the remaining ingredients for the sauce, heat almost to a boil and simmer for about 2 hours. During last 20 minutes add the meatballs and allow them to heat through.
2. MEATBALLS: Combine all of the meatball ingredients and form into small 1-inch balls, or smaller. Bake in a 350° oven for about 20 minutes. Pour off grease and add meatballs to the spaghetti sauce. Or, you can freeze the meatballs separately and add to the sauce before you serve it.
3. FOR FREEZING: Measure cups of the sauce into freezer bags, lay flat to get out all of the air bubbles and seal well. These are best if allowed to freeze on a flat surface (like a cookie sheet), then you can stack any number of them together in the freezer and they don’t get crunched (and stuck) together. Defrosted overnight, the sauce and meatballs will be ready for reheating and serving a quick meal.
A year ago: Grilled Caesar Salad, a how-to
Two years ago: How to Pick a Peach (a foodie book)
Three years ago: Cream of Tomato Soup (sometimes I just crave this soup it’s so good)
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