Aunt Marie's Red Sauce

I come from Italian-American roots. Unfortunately many of our family recipes have died off since my great-grandmother and great-aunt's death close to 20 years ago. Sadly, in my early 20's I had 0 interest in cooking. So now I am left having dreams of various dishes that those ladies made us throughout my childhood. Over the year's, I have perfected my own sauce to mirror my taste buds' remembrance of my late Aunt Marie's Red Sauce. I remember spending days with her as the sauce sat on the stove in low a simmer. We would have a taste of the ruby-red sauce over white sandwich bread for lunch as it was building itself up for a substantial dinner. She used pork in her sauce, and I have deducted that they were country-style spare ribs. Beyond that I have been playing with it ever-since.

Here are the bare-bones of the recipe; give it a try if you'd like. Staying true to my Great Aunt's cooking, I haven's a precise recipe...It evolves and is ever-0changinf each time I make it. Brown pork ribs in olive oil. Set aside. Add 1 chopped onion and some minced garlic and saute until softened. Add 1/2 cup red wine and boil until reduced. Re-add pork, 2 cans crushed tomatoes and bring to boil and then cook over low heat for several hours. Then enjoy.

A Project For Global Warming

Due to this crazy, non-winter weather here in NC this year, I have taken to not wearing any coat, just usually a sweater and layers. With this shift in our winter climate, I was needing a large and chunky wrap that I can throw around as I trot off to take Kate to school and HD to Little Gym. With this end in mind, my version of the increasingly popular cowl that we see all over the place was born. Behold the Global Warming Circle Scarf:

I needed this project quickly as the daffodils are pushing their way through the ground and my sinuses are showing that first sign of of stress by spring pollen... You'll need bulky weight yarn , about 300 yards. I actually used 2 strands of worsted weight yarn together and a huge hook(I used size 10). One can use any stitch pattern that they take a shine too, I used Catherine's Wheel. One of the best suggestions that I was given when I was teaching myself crochet, is to get a *basic crochet stitch book and work with different stitches whenever you can. Scarves are a perfect practice for that. Here's what I did, but you can work it any stitch pattern you like or have been wanting to try...remember crochet is very forgiving. Catherine's Wheel as described by The Harmony Guides 330 Crochet Stitches Volume 6(*my basic crochet stitch book)

Chain 147. Special Stitch: CL (cluster)_ work [yo, insert hook, yo, draw loop through, yo, draw through 2 loops] over the number stitches indicated, yo, draw through all loops on hook 1st Row: 1 sc into 2nd chain from hook, 1sc into next chain, *skip 3 ch, 7 dc into next ch, skip 3 ch, 1 sc into each of the next 3 ch; rep from * to last 4 ch, skip 3 ch, 4 dc into last ch, turn. 2nd Row: 1 ch, 1 sc into first st, 1 sc into next st, *3 ch, 1 CL over next 7 sts., 3 ch, 1 sc into each of next 3 sts; rep from * to last 4 csts, 3 ch, 1 CL over last 4 sts, skip tch(turning chain), turn 3rd Row: 3 ch (count as 1dc), 3dc into first st, *skip 3 ch, 1sc into each of next 3sc, skip 3ch, 7dc into loop which closed next CL; rep from * to end finishing with skip 3 ch, 1 sc into each of last 2sc, skip tch, turn. 4th Row: 3ch(count as 1DC), skip first st, 1 CL over next 3 sts, *3ch, 1sc into each of the next 3 sts, 3ch, 1 CL over next 7 sts; rep from * finishing with 3ch, 1sc into next st, 1sc into top of tch, turn. 5th Row: 1ch, 1sc into each of the first 2sc, *skip 3ch, 7dc into loop which closed next CL, skip 3 ch, 1 sc into each of the next 3sc; rep from * ending with skip 3ch, 4dc into top of tch, turn. Rep 2nd - 5th row until you reach the desired width of scarf. ( I did a total of 9 rows) Seems ends together with a simple sc. DONE. (I did 3 of these in 2 evenings=super-easy!)