Kitchen Thoughts
When did a 5-lb bag of sugar become only 4 lbs?
Tuesday was Roma tomatoes day. The Romas get plucked just before they ripen as I noticed how easily they fall off the vines when they near the ripened stage. Years ago I bought an Italian cookbook, La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio by Wanda and Giovanna Tornabene, but never tried any of the recipes. Back then I only sat some evenings, exhausted from correcting and writing positive comments on papers, entering grades, writing progress reports, answering parents emails and notes, immersing myself too much in the school process, and just read about the Sicilian family's restaurant and recipes. I longed to immerse myself into the Italian culture starting with the foods, always the foods. The pleasure in chopping and preparing fresh ingredients and speaking Italian to those who visit my kitchen.
When we were children, Nona's backyard abutted ours and she always made her own pasta and sauce. I've never tasted that sauce anywhere since nor have I been able to recreate it. This is what I've searched for through the years. My mother used to tell me to go watch Nona make her sauce and listen to her speak Italian. But a child only thinks about playing and I couldn't be bothered by that and anyway, Nona would always be there.................
So the now the quest for a sauce that is Nona. Haven't attempted the homemade pasta yet, but will, probably this winter when we're in the house more. Using our garden Romas and other garden varieties, I made Salsa di Pomodoro exactly as the Tornabene family made it. From here I can play with the recipe in search of the lost sauce.
This recipe required a food mill so just figured with the huge population of preservers, canners, and food storers here, I could buy one at Wal-Mart. But Wal-Mart doesn't carry them. They sell pressure cookers, Ball canning jars, rubber rings, and everything else needed to can or preserve. In town we have the most versatile hardware store we've ever seen. Dickey Supply is an old family hardware store that has been tended through many generations. It has about everything a human could possibly ask for in every nook and cranny, hanging from the ceiling, stacked on shelves, hooked on nails and stored out in the back of the old building. Dickey's only carries a few of some items and they will order what you need if it's not in stock. Lucky for me, the delivery truck had just arrived and after hunting for 10 minutes, one of the owners found the only Foley 2-qt food mill that had been ordered.
What does any of this have to do with a 4 lb. bag of sugar, you ask? The recipe that is printed under the RECIPE tab calls for 5 lbs. of ripe tomatoes. I don't have a kitchen scale. As a matter of fact, I don't have a scale at all in the house. Threw the scale away when we moved. So the 5-lb bag of sugar was to be my "balance" if I closed my eyes holding tomatoes in my left hand and a 5-lb bag of sugar in my right. Very scientific!!!
Tuesday was Roma tomatoes day. The Romas get plucked just before they ripen as I noticed how easily they fall off the vines when they near the ripened stage. Years ago I bought an Italian cookbook, La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio by Wanda and Giovanna Tornabene, but never tried any of the recipes. Back then I only sat some evenings, exhausted from correcting and writing positive comments on papers, entering grades, writing progress reports, answering parents emails and notes, immersing myself too much in the school process, and just read about the Sicilian family's restaurant and recipes. I longed to immerse myself into the Italian culture starting with the foods, always the foods. The pleasure in chopping and preparing fresh ingredients and speaking Italian to those who visit my kitchen.
When we were children, Nona's backyard abutted ours and she always made her own pasta and sauce. I've never tasted that sauce anywhere since nor have I been able to recreate it. This is what I've searched for through the years. My mother used to tell me to go watch Nona make her sauce and listen to her speak Italian. But a child only thinks about playing and I couldn't be bothered by that and anyway, Nona would always be there.................
So the now the quest for a sauce that is Nona. Haven't attempted the homemade pasta yet, but will, probably this winter when we're in the house more. Using our garden Romas and other garden varieties, I made Salsa di Pomodoro exactly as the Tornabene family made it. From here I can play with the recipe in search of the lost sauce.
This recipe required a food mill so just figured with the huge population of preservers, canners, and food storers here, I could buy one at Wal-Mart. But Wal-Mart doesn't carry them. They sell pressure cookers, Ball canning jars, rubber rings, and everything else needed to can or preserve. In town we have the most versatile hardware store we've ever seen. Dickey Supply is an old family hardware store that has been tended through many generations. It has about everything a human could possibly ask for in every nook and cranny, hanging from the ceiling, stacked on shelves, hooked on nails and stored out in the back of the old building. Dickey's only carries a few of some items and they will order what you need if it's not in stock. Lucky for me, the delivery truck had just arrived and after hunting for 10 minutes, one of the owners found the only Foley 2-qt food mill that had been ordered.
What does any of this have to do with a 4 lb. bag of sugar, you ask? The recipe that is printed under the RECIPE tab calls for 5 lbs. of ripe tomatoes. I don't have a kitchen scale. As a matter of fact, I don't have a scale at all in the house. Threw the scale away when we moved. So the 5-lb bag of sugar was to be my "balance" if I closed my eyes holding tomatoes in my left hand and a 5-lb bag of sugar in my right. Very scientific!!!
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