Short Story

Mom’s Sunday Pasta

Nancy's Notes šŸ–ŠļøšŸŽ¶

Written for Stream Of Consciousness Saturday –
where the prompt is ā€˜recipeā€™. Hereā€™s my stream.

My husband is as easy going as can be, so when he makes a request, I try my best to oblige. Last night he asked for Sunday pasta with meatballs. How could I refuse?

Homemade pasta with all the trimmings is something I can do with my eyes closed but when I first started out in the kitchen as a new bride, I had no idea what I was doing. Sure, I had watched my mother cook for years but itā€™s a whole different ballgame when youā€™re on your own.

Iā€™ll never forget the first time I tried to make Sunday pasta. Reading my motherā€™s recipe was no help. This is exactly what she wrote:

For your pasta dough mix flour and eggs, water when you need, pinch salt, oil maybe.

Thatā€™s it. No measurements, no amounts, nothing definitive. Her meatball recipe was no better:

Chopped meat, eggs, some salt & pepper, handful parmigiano, another handful breadcrumbs, dice onion, parsley, oregano, glass of water.

A GLASS OF WATER! Which glass? What size? At this point my eyes were frantically scanning the kitchen for a glass! I didnā€™t know if I should laugh or cry. Iā€™m sure my mother never referred to a recipe in her life so she had no idea how to write one!

Just then it hit me and I had a vision of my mother in her kitchen. She always used a Flintstoneā€™s Jelly Jar as her water glass when cooking; she said it was the perfect size. All I had to do was find an equivalent measure and Iā€™d be good.

I eventually mastered the art of Sunday pasta with meatballs but I sure do wish I had my momā€™s jelly jar .ā€¦ for old timesā€™ sake, you know?


NARĀ©2024
#SoCS

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 1, 2024

This is ā€œChe La Lunaā€ by my Sicilian paisano, Louis Prima

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantā€™s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not for use by anyone without permission. NARĀ©2017-present.

39 thoughts on “Mom’s Sunday Pasta”

  2. That’s the ways of old timers a pinch of this, a dash of that, a scoop give or take, … I HAVE to have a recipe to make any my recipes work…correction I have biscuits and pizza dough down pat but I still pull up my recipes so I won’t make a mistake. šŸ™‚ Your spaghetti and meatballs look delicious. This is one dish I keeps saying I want to make and haven’t yet. I really need to do something about that. Thanks for dropping in to cast your vote in my Battle of the Bands. Looking over some of your recent posts, it appears you and I share the love of music in common. Please feel free to link up with me anytime on Mondays Music Moves Me on Sundays! šŸ˜‰ Have a joyful and blessed week, my dear!

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  3. Would be a cherished item for you. I have not seen a Flintstoneā€™s Jelly Jar in ages. Delightful story Nancy, love the inclusion of her recipes. šŸšŸ’• There is nothing better than the aroma of homemade authentic Italian sauce!

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  4. I like hearing about traditions that are passed down, and I’m glad you figured out the meatball and pasta recipe by trial and error. My mom and granny did cooking the same way with no measuring. I finally learned how, and wrote it down for my daughters. I still get calls from them wanting clarification on some recipes, though. haha šŸ™‚

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    1. When our first son got married in 2007, his new bride said she wanted me to teach her how to make his favorite foods, especially meatballs, bracciole and other meats that go with Sunday pasta. I told her I’d be happy to teach her any time. Fast forward 17 years and I’m still waiting for our first cooking session together. I think that ship has sailed. šŸ˜‚

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  6. I ain’t got no Italian blood in me (got some Irish, some Scottish, some German, and some Mohawk — I’m a mutt) but I loves me some Louis Prima! I grew up hearing my Pa’s ‘Prima & Keely Smith’ albums. I fell in love with the song ‘There’ll Be No Next Time’ long before I was old enough to understand what it was about.

    Several decades later, I was blessed to be able to see – along with my Pa – Keely Smith and Sam Butera & The Witnesses play a set at The Sands casino in Las Vegas! That was terrific. Sadly, today, my Pa is gone, Louis is gone, Keely is gone, Sam is gone, and even The Sands casino is gone!! It’s hard to age and see so many beloved things go gone.

    ~ D-FensDogG

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    1. Hey Stephen! Nice of you to drop by and leave a comment. I appreciate it.

      To me it doesn’t matter where anyone is from; we all bleed red. It’s our likes, food, music, good people in our lives, family and decent morals that make us who we are. Too much damn fighting everywhere you look. We all need to settle down, share a meal and listen to some Louis Prima.

      Yeah, getting old sucks. Having people die on you sucks more. Thank God for the gifts we have and our memories of good times and loved ones.

      Nice to meet you, Stephen.

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    1. For me there’s nothing like getting dirty in the kitchen! No pasta machines for this Sicilian chick; just a doodad my cousin sent over from Sicily called a chitarra. My mom had one; all respectable Sicilian kitchens have one! šŸ˜‚Check it out:

      And if I want to make small pasta like cavatelli, I cut strips of dough into small pieces and use a grooved hand paddle. Gives my thumb a great workout! šŸ‘šŸ¼ šŸ˜‚

      Louis. Proud of his Sicilian roots! ā™”

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      1. Oooh a chitarra! I know that it is. Makes square spaghetti. šŸ˜ There’s this Italian chick in IG who makes all things Italian and the other day she used one. I can’t stand her because she’s got a foul mouth. Starts off her videos with hey there motherfuckers. And so on.

        Good for you on all things manual. šŸ˜Š

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        1. Well, there’s just no need for gratuitous cursing; it takes away from the gravitas of really good foul language when used appropriately. I don’t care how good a cook she is; it shows a lack of breeding.

          Yes, thin flat spaghetti … not wide like fettuccine or tagliatelle. Sometimes I get lazy and just use my pizza cutter! The spaghetti won’t be straight but it’ll be tasty! šŸ˜‚

          Buon appetito, cara mia! šŸ˜˜

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          1. Exactly. I find her very abrasive and she turns me off as soon as she opens her mouth. It’s too bad, because her videos would be good. I don’t appreciate being called a MF.

            Uh huh. I know. I might have to buy myself one, one day. šŸ˜‰ I enjoy making tagliatelle – have such fond memories of using our knif to pick up our creations šŸ™‚

            Grazie amica mia! šŸ˜˜

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  12. got there eventually….and mastered it too.
    it is an interesting recipe, Nancy…lol some things are meant to be figured out first then understood… wisdom in lessons as they sayšŸ„“l I still don’t get it though šŸ™ƒthe wisdom that is lol…
    and adding a yummy too šŸ’«

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    1. My sister and I are convinced my mother always left out one key ingredient when sharing her recipes bc she didn’t want anyone making her food exactly the same way she did! She made my dad a big batch of cookies every couple of weeks …. a very simple, plain cookie great for dunking into a cup of coffee. After all these years, neither of us has been able to exactly replicate that cookie. We’re sure a measurement is off or she left something out. It’s a complete mystery. šŸ™„

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    1. I took this on as a challenge after my first cup of coffee. eBay has the 1960s jars, and one old ad says it measured 4ā€x2ā€ approximately, which means according to a physics site with a converter I found, will hold 8 fl or slightly less than 1 cup .98% of a cup. šŸŒŸ I just gave myself a gold star. šŸ˜‚

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      1. I get the feeling you’re a bit more invested in the Flintstones Jelly Jar mystery than I am. šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚

        That was quite a hunting expedition you went on! I see why, at .98% of a cup, my mother said it was the perfect size. You really deserve that gold star! šŸŒŸ

        Don’t tell anyone but have a set of Looney Tunes jelly jars which I cook with all the time. Why mess with the tried and true? Thanks for a good laugh this morning. Time to make the pasta! šŸ‘©šŸ¼ā€šŸ³

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    2. A blast from the past! I love this funny movie and haven’t seen it in ages; may be time to check it out online. Bill always says I look like Sophia Loren; who am I to argue? šŸ˜‚

      My sons do a lot of cooking, also; with busy wives, they either pitch in or everyone goes hungry. The older grands are starting to feel their way around the kitchen, too. It’s a necessity!

      Thanks for sharing this incredible treasure, Willow! šŸ©¶šŸšŸ„–šŸ©¶

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