Spaghetti-Feed the Multitudes

Tis the season for company.  Have you noticed when the weather gets cooler, and the soccer games come to an end, that we all head to visit friends and family?  I think most everyone remembers their mother's spaghetti sauce.  Spaghetti was one of the very first things I learned to cook. 

Mom taught me how to make spaghetti sauce over the stove in the kitchen of our trailer.  We had a big stainless steel, copper bottomed pot, a cast iron pan to brown the ground beef and onion, and assorted slotted spoons and colanders.
The house smelled of garlic and spices, and I loved chopping the onions and green peppers.  Mom's spaghetti sauce was chunky with bits of vegetables, ground beef, and lots of tomatoes.  No one else's sauce ever measured up or tasted quite right.  We always drained our pasta when it was cooked and rinsed it under cold water.  Mom always said that rinsing it would keep the pasta from sticking together.
My dad loved spaghetti and we always had it once a week.  There is something  very warm and comforting about coming home to a spaghetti dinner.   We would have spaghetti, garlic bread, and green salad and shaker Parmesan cheese out of the green can.  Sometimes, Mom would make meatballs to drop in the sauce.  Large, cold glasses of milk would wash it all down. 
My hubby's mother will  make great pots of spaghetti sauce when the family comes home to visit. (She has 5 children, 10 grandchildren, and to date 3 great grandchildren.  A family meal is an event!  An ordinary family dinner is well over 15 people.  Pasta fits the bill nicely.  Kettles of pasta cook, while Granny fills her crockpots with sauce.  Spaghetti works because folks can choose between sauce or no sauce, plain or with cheese.   Many of her grandchildren when dinner is over will  leave and take home canning jars filled with her special sauce.  One of my nephews even requested containers of Granny's sauce for his graduation present so that he could store it in the freezer for ready made meals!
So when company comes calling, bring them down memory lane and serve spaghetti.  Ditch the green can and get a nice wedge of Parmesan cheese, grate it over the hot pasta.  Change it up, and serve pesto with the spaghetti sauce.  Toss in a handful of shrimp instead of ground beef.  The "pasta"-bilities are endless!   Do you remember rolling your first fork full?  

***Recipes can be found in the Pages section of the blog.***

Monday
Spaghetti w meat sauce***
Garlic bread
Green Beans

Tuesday
Pork Tenderloin (braised in the Crock pot)
Couscous
Applesauce
Carrots

Wednesday
Chicken Parmesan (with sauce from Mon)***
Rotini noodles
Green Salad

Thursday
Easy Clam Chowder***
Rolls

Friday
Ham Steak
Scalloped Potatos
Brussel Sprouts