Spaghetti Sauce - From Scratch!

Ok folks.  Here it is.

A spaghetti sauce recipe.

Spaghetti sauce can intimidate a lot of people.  I know for me, I have this picture of this short, italian lady in the kitchen with a wooden spoon, hovering over the stove all day, adding in a pinch of this and a pinch of that.  I picture her with an apron covered in flour from making fresh pasta and as she  speaks Italian, she dabs her brow and tosses the kitchen towel over her shoulder as she continues to work feverishly to make the best sauce for herself and her famiglia.

I have this picture in my head because it is what I would see in my grandparents kitchen when they were still alive.  I have roots that go deep into southern Italy and memories and recipes alike.  I am so thankful for my Italian heritage and the experiences I had with my grandparents in the kitchen.

So, here is one of my recipes for homemade spaghetti sauce.  It's flavorful, full of depth, and yes, there is butter.

What?!?!!?!?!!

Butter?

Yes..... butter.

First step is taking the skin off the tomatoes.  KEEP READING!  You are probably ready to throw in the towel already!

You can follow these few simple steps to remove your tomato skins or, if you don't have the time to do it that way, you can simply buy a 32oz. can of crushed tomatoes.  ;)

For starters you will need:
6 large beef steak tomatoes (large ones).

Boil a pot of water.

While your water is coming to a boil, take your tomato and make an "x" on the bottom of it (this is called scoring).

Should look something like this.

Do this to all of your tomatoes.

Once your pot of water is boiling, drop in your toms.

Allow them to boil for 8 minutes or so.  You will know they are done once you see the skins loosening up like this.....

Remove the pot and drain the water.  Place your tomatoes in a bowl of ice cold water because when you de-skin them, they are gonna be HOT!

Once they are in the cold water bath, the skins will be easy to remove.

Once you have removed the skins, cut out the core of the tomatoes (the end where the brown/green leaf is).

Now, place your skin free tomatoes in a bowl.  Take a potato masher and mash away!  Crush those suckers!

You are finished!!!  What you end up with is crushed tomatoes!  Wasn't that easy?!?!

Now, onto the recipe.

You will need:
6 large tomatoes (skin free & crushed or 1 - 32oz. can of crushed tomatoes)
1 large onion (chopped)
1 celery stick (chopped)
1 large carrot (diced)
3 minced garlic cloves
salt & pepper (to taste)
1/2 cup olive oil
5 basil leaves (sliced)
2 dried bay leaves
1/4 cup sugar
4 tblspns butter
1/4 teaspn sage
1/4 teaspn red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspn italian seasoning
1 small can of tomato paste

First......

Dice your celery, carrots, onions and garlic.

 Heat your olive oil in your pot.

Next, drop in your chopped onions and garlic.  Make sure your heat is not too high, otherwise your garlic will burn.

Let those saute for 2-3 minutes until translucent.

Next, add your celery and carrots and let those saute for around 6 minutes to soften.

Now, add in your crushed tomatoes.  Toss in your salt, pepper, bay leaves, basil leaves, red pepper flakes, italian seasoning, sage, and sugar. 

Mix everything together.

Add in your tomato paste (this will help thicken your sauce).

Stir everything again.

Let this simmer on your stove for 1 hour.  Make sure to taste along the way to make sure you have added enough seasonings.

This is what you should have when you are done!  E bellissimo!

Add in your 4 tblspns of butter at this point.  This will add depth to your sauce and it will give it a glossy appearance.

Before you serve, don't forget to remove the 2 bay leaves and discard.
I personally like my sauce a little chunky and thick, but if you like your sauce to be smooth, you can take your sauce and put it in your food processor to break it down more (I would do half at a time and remember it is hot).  This would make a smoother sauce.

You should get 4-6 servings

I hope you enjoy this spaghetti sauce!  Let me know what you think and cucina felice!!

Ciao!

Date Night! I Dare You!

So my husband, Colin, and I always say we are going to have a regular date night each week.

We promise each other we won't miss one.

We say we will do something each week, whether it be a dinner date, getting ice cream, or just going for a walk in the park; blocking out an evening each week to just be together.

We even pinky swear on it (because that's when you know it's for real).

Then, time and time again..... we fail.

We get caught up in the business of everyday life between work, household stuff, running here and there, taking care of our rental property.  Just life.

Bottom line ..... we suck.

Does anyone else suck?

I have to remind myself every so often that you do what you make a priority.

For example, I go to the gym because it's a priority for me.

I make time to take my dog for a walk every single day, because that is important to me.

I do a daily devotional so that I spend time with God because I value that time with Him.

So why not make my husband a priority then, too?  Why do I fail in this area? 

Does anyone else promise their spouse or significant other that they will devote one evening a week to a date night?  A night where the kids are left behind.  Where we don't talk about bills or have-tos.  Where we can just enjoy each other and not worry about our jobs, the homework, the laundry, the errands that have to be ran, the lunches that have to be made and the spinning around and chaos that everyday life brings to us all.

Anyone?

So, I thought that maybe we needed to do something more than just pinky swearing each other since that didn't seem to be working.  We needed something more.  Something fun.  Something that would take the guess work out of it and make it easy.

So I created a Love Dare Jar.

The idea came from the Love Dare book written by Stephen & Alex Kendrick.
The book involves a 40-day challenge for you and your spouse.  Each day the book instructs you to do something with or for your spouse, whether it be praying together, spending quality time together or surprising your spouse with a special small gift.  It was created to bring you closer to your spouse.

So, I decided to take that idea and turn it into a weekly Love Dare for Colin and I.  My idea was to fill a jar with ideas (date nights and love dares) and each week, we would pick an idea and do it together for our date night.  

The project was this:

I bought popsicle sticks from Michael's Arts & Craft Store (super cheap). 

I painted the sticks 3 different colors (I used white, light blue and teal).  Use any paint colors you have around the house.

The different colors represent how cheap or expensive the date nights will be.  For example, I painted  half of the sticks white, because those will represent cheap or free date nights.  Some ideas for those would be going for a walk at the park, finding a playground and swinging on the swings, flying a kite, or watching a movie at home together.

 The light blue sticks represented probably 40% of the popsicle sticks.  On these were written  inexpensive date nights that weren't free, but didn't cost a lot of money either.  Some examples of date nights for these would be going to the zoo, trying a new restaurant, or going to a museum or water park.

The teal sticks represented only 10% of the sticks.  These would be date nights that needed some planning in advance and they were generally more expensive.  Some ideas were camping, going to a professional sports game, or taking a weekend trip together.

On each popsicle stick, I used a sharpie and wrote out the date nights/love dares.

Once they were done, I put them in a jar!

I decorated the jar and VOILA!

We have a Love Dare Jar!

So each week, we pull a stick from the jar to see what fun date night we will be doing each week!  We hardly have to plan, we don't need to try and be creative or think of an idea on the spot (especially after a busy or stressful week).  If we want to pick a more $$ stick, we pick one and then plan that love dare out for a future week.

Below is the full list that we used for our Love Dare Jar.  You can personalize your sticks to the venues and events in your community. 

Cheap or FREE 
Take out & board games
Bake cookies together
At home massage night
Go to Geddes Park together
Cook dinner together (make it a theme night)
Go to dollar store and buy each other a gift
Living room camp out night (make a tent, movie, snacks)
Build a snowman, carve a pumpkin, fly a kite, farmers market (seasonal)
Listen to old music from high school days - reminisce
Organize photo albums together
Watch wedding video together and dance to our wedding song
Build a model Porsche together
Take a long drive
Volunteer together at the animal shelter
Volunteer together at Forgotten Harvest
Riverside Park and picnic
Board games with snacks
Ice Cream
Nature photo session
Take a walk through the neighborhood
Take the dog to a dog park

Inexpensive 
Salvation Army Trip
Irish Pub for apps
Movie night out (her choice)
Movie night out (his choice)
Try a new restaurant
Go on a lunch date
Dessert date only
Event at Rock Financial
Do something nice for a neighbor together
Pay it forward at a coffee shop
Zoo
Botanical gardens

Planning required $$$
Camping
Restaurant Hop: Different place for appetizer, dinner, dessert
Go to a Tigers game
Weekend get-a-way (somewhere new)
Hocking Hills

I hope maybe you were able to find some of this useful and maybe you, too, can create a Love Dare Jar for you and your significant other!  Love Dare Jars could be fun for the entire family, too!  Make one for Friday Family Fun nights with the kids or for Sunday Funday with your clan!

Whether you pinky swear, shake on it, or create a Love Dare Jar, my hope for you is that you find a way to invest in each other and maybe find a little creativity along the way!

I dare you!

Grandma Clara's FAMOUS Pineapple Zucchini Bread

If you have taste buds, you are going to LOVE this bread!

This family recipe is from my husband's grandma, Clara.  She knew what she was doing in the kitchen and from the stories we've been told, you would find her elbow deep in flour pretty much at all times.  From homemade biscuits, to rich white breads to this fantastic zucchini recipe.... she knew how to do it all!

Below is the recipe and instructions.

The  best thing about this recipe is that it makes 2 - 5x9 loaves!  One for you, and one for your neighbor!  (or both for you! :)

Grandma Clara's Pineapple Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1 cup salad oil (that is what they use to call it back in the day.  We call it vegetable oil)
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large zucchini (this will yield 2 cups of shredded zucchini)
1 - 8oz. can of crushed pineapple (well drained)
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Start out by beating together 3 eggs.  Then, add 1 cup of salad oil, along with 2 cups of sugar.  Add in the 2t. of vanilla and beat mixture until thick & foamy.

Next, coarsely shred your zucchini.  One large zucchini should yield 2 cups.
(I was doubling the recipe so that is why there are 2 zucchinis below.  You would just need one.  Do as I say and not as you see :) 

Toss your zucchini into your wet mixture along with the can of crushed pineapple, making sure to drain your pineapple well first.

 

Next, combine all of your dry ingredients into a separate bowl together.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Mix together your dry ingredients (I just use a large wooden spoon to do this) so that everything is mixed together.

Then, gently and slowly, add your dry mixture into your wet mixture, a little at a time.  Otherwise, it will look like it snowed in your kitchen.

This is also where you would add your chopped walnuts if you were using them.

Do not over mix your mixture.  

Once combined, divide the yumminess equally into two well greased and floured 5x9 pans.

Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

This is what the magic looks like when finished

At our house, this bread doesn't last very long.

It is usually eaten plain, with a little butter spread across it, or with some cool whip dabbed on top!

Either way, a favorite in our household!  Especially delicious with cinnamon hot cider during the fall and winter months!  

Hope you enjoy this family recipe!  Don't forget to share it with your neighbors!

Oh!  One more thing!  Why is it named "Grandma Clara's FAMOUS Pineapple Zucchini bread"?

Bake it and give it away and it will be FAMOUS to everyone you know, too!

Happy Baking!!

Go Jump in the Lake!!

So, do you have that one thing in life that you've always wanted to do but you've just been too afraid to actually do it?!!  I am sure we all have something, right?  Or is it just me?

Well that thing for me has been right in my backyard for years.  We live on a lake and we use the lake for various adventures like fishing, jet skiing, tubing, boating, floating, etc.  But there is one thing I have always been afraid to do.

To jump in the lake.

I know.

It's totally ridiculous.  I have been in the lake before like when I fall off the tube, or when I fall off the jet ski, or when we go to the sand bar and swim with our dog.... but, I have always been too afraid to jump off our dock into the lake.  Why?  Well, because there are unknown things in there.  Like..... jaws, or human eating snapping turtles, or ..... jaws.  There are things that I can't see in the water which makes me feel nervous.  It makes me feel scared of the unknown and what could be there.  What if there is a fish hook?  What if a fish bites me.  What if I touch the gross, nasty, spongy bottom?  All reasons to completely avoid the unknown.

Until today.

I have been fortunate enough to live next door to one of my best friends for a few years now.  She lived here when we moved in and we "fell in friend love" after that.  She's the friend you can be honest with.  The one who has seen me cry, laugh till I pee, and who has seen me in the morning hours, just after I've rolled out of bed (you know, with zero make-up, teeth not brushed and no bra).  I've seen her kids grow and we've been through happy times, hard times, fun times and today...... a time of conquerment (that is not a word but it is in my head).

So, there it is.  The dock.  The lake.  The unknown.

My girlfriend.... the girl next door, moved away today.  It was her last day in their house as they embark on a fun and exciting new journey for their family.  Lucky for me, it's only going to be a few miles away.  But still, she is moving.  She won't be next door anymore.  Her kids won't come and ring my doorbell.  They won't ride their bikes in front of my shop window anymore and wave.  There won't be "Hi Brenda" screamed from the car, or running over in pajamas for breakfast.  Who knows what she will do now that I won't be next door to borrow spices from.

Her last day at the lake was today.

So there we were.... me in my car with my window down and her jogging next to it as I drove down the street.  A few simple questions were tossed back and forth and then the words I will never forget came from her mouth.....  "You wanna go jump in the lake?".

I think I stuttered for a second and said something like, "Wha, wha, what?".

"Do you wanna go jump in the lake?"

"Are you serious?"

"YES!  Let's go jump in the lake"?

And without even second guessing, I said, "Ok!"

Something I have been afraid to do for years and something that I have pondered and thought about every season was now a quick "YES".  All of the thinking I had done over the years and the desire to do it but the fear that was holding me back just flew out that car window in one breath of "YES"!

So, to the dock we went.

In our clothes.

Down.

To.

The.

Dock.

Without a second thought.
 
We got there and I stood just staring at the unknown.  A rush of heat ran through my whole body and I was thinking of all the things that could be in the water.  We threw out ideas as to who would go first and it was decided that we would jump together.  I mean, is there really a better way?

So we started at the back of the dock, furthest away from the water.  And the countdown began....

She said out loud....

1.......

(I can't believe I am about to do this)

2......

(Am I really going to do this?)

3.....

(Here goes!  Just jump in!)

We ran.  We didn't walk.  We ran.

We ran down the dock towards the water.

We ran, heading towards the unknown, not knowing if we'd come back with all of our limbs, if the sea monster would pull us under or if the mucky ground would suck us in to it's sandy abyss.

We.

Ran.

The last thing I thought was, "Here goes!".

And we jumped!

I hit the water with a warm inviting splash.  I went under and the water swallowed me whole.

And up I popped.

I WAS ALIVE!

I DID IT!

I jumped into the lake!  It was over in a flash.  A split second and it was done.  My years of fears swallowed whole by the triumphant success of just jumping in.

We laughed and pulled ourselves out; clothes dripping.  Mascara running.  A smile across both of our faces.  A fear conquered.  A battle won.  A goodbye made into a memory that will last a lifetime.

I learned 2 important things today.

1.  Cherish your friendships.  Whether you are right next door, a few blocks away or miles apart.  Cherish them.

2.  Conquer that one thing that has held you back.  That one thing that you've always wanted to do but fear has gripped you.  Make each moment.... count.

Today I did something that I have always wanted to do.  Today I did something that I will certainly do again.  My wish for you is that you do something now, that you've always wanted to do.  Maybe it's mending a relationship, or making a phone call.  Maybe it's as easy as conquering a recipe or finishing that project.  Or maybe it's something as simple as jumping in the lake.

Whatever it is for you, I hope you push that fear aside.  Do it.  Push it away.  Conquer it.

Make it count. 

Go jump in the lake!