I finally tore myself away from the computer this afternoon to cook a meal. Although my work is not finished by a long shot, I felt it was time to give my husband food that did not come from a can or a box. In my defense, he’s perfectly capable of cooking just as I am, and the long hours I put in at the computer are rarely frivolous or useless.

 

At any rate, I was hungry for spaghetti so I assembled the ingredients. I only had one small can of tomato sauce – hardly enough – but I didn’t feel like running out to the store. Instead I used a large can of whole tomatoes with the juice, to which I added more water, cooked hamburger with onions and fresh garlic, sliced zucchini and black olives. Spices included parley flakes, white pepper, salt and a dash of olive oil. When the sauce started to bubble, I sprinkled Romano cheese on top and let it soak into the liquid before stirring. In a separate pan, I cooked meatballs shaped from sweet Italian sausage; after draining I added the meatballs to the sauce.

 

Two days ago my husband brought home a jumbo zucchini; one of his co-workers is inundated with the vegetable and kindly gave us the largest of the lot. I thought it might be too much for the spaghetti sauce, but as usual the zucchini cooks down and gave a nice flavor to the mix.

 

A small salad completed the meal. My husband was so very grateful he cleaned up the kitchen, leaving me free to make another pot of coffee and head back to the computer…