Grandma's spaghetti

Matthew had his visit with the dentist Monday afternoon. His tooth will be fixed next Tuesday so he will be cute for pictures at my brother's wedding next weekend!

We had a pizza party on our carpet Monday night before all of the carpet was ripped up. We let the kids eat on the floor and drink open drinks in there. They thought that was the craziest thing and loved that we were letting them break the rules!

Half of the flooring is in and they should finish today. I am ready for all my furniture to be out of my kitchen. I am having to stradle our piano to get to the microwave.

Grandma's sphaghetti

My grandmother was born in Corinth, MS and later moved to Memphis. Her father was a C of C elder and big supporter of Harding Bible College there. My grandfather was the youngest of 6 who grew up in rural Alabama. The first one a girl, the last FIVE were boys! His father died when my Dagano was 3 which left his mother, barely 5 feet tall, to take care of the six kids. (Must remember that story when I am feeling sorry for myself).

Dagano was in the Navy when he was a teenager. He was at the Bikini Islands when the atom bomb was being tested. When they would fire the test runs and radiation would spew out, the sailors were told to cover their eyes with their hands for protection. This may explain why my grandfather and many other men there died of cancer.

After the war, my grandparents met while travelling by train. They were married shortly afterward. They had two boys then were sent to Bermuda by the Navy. My aunt was born there and my Dad attended kindergarten there. While in Bermuda, my grandmother befriended an Italian woman who was her neighbor. The Italian woman gave Grandma her recipe for spaghetti and the rest is history!

I blogged about this last year, but when I think of my Grandmother, I think of her spaghetti. Everytime we went to visit her in B'ham, we always ate her spaghetti, corn bread, and slaw (she had to make it a little Southern!)

She has since moved to Waco and will make it every few years for us, but it is definitely on of my favorite recipes! It reminds me of being a newlywed. I tried to make it during the first few months of our marriage. I was such a novice in the kitchen that it took me several hours to make! Now I can whip it out in less than half an hour.

I hope you enjoy the recipe! You have to follow the ingredients exactly for the taste to be like Grandmas. I try to doctor it up sometimes and it doesn't taste right. Also, I would recommend serving it with corn bread and slaw! Also, she fixed warm banana pudding for dessert.

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 onion chopped
1/2 large bell pepper, chopped
2 large cans tomato sauce (I like crushed Progresso tomatoes)
1 large can tomatoes (I leave this out sometimes and it doesn't mess up the taste)
1/4. t oregano
1/4 t. marjoram
1/4 t. tumeric
6 whole cloves
3 cloves of garlic quartered
1 T. worchestershire sauce
5 or 6 shakes tabasco (I like more!)
1/2 C ketchup
2 T. leaves of celery chopped

Brown onion and bell pepper in meat.
Add other ingredients and simmer slowly about 2 hours.
Cook spaghetti til tender. Remove cloves before serving.

I usually double the recipe and freeze half of the sauce for another time.