Spaghetti Sauce

Recipe:

Spaghetti Sauce In olive oil -saute 1 chopped onion, 1 large clove of garlic (diced). Add 15 oz can tomato sauce, 15oz can diced tomatoes, 60z can tomato paste, 18oz water. Chop and add 1 large carrot, 1 stalk celery, 1 red pepper. Season with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tbs brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1 pinch of cayenne, fresh basil, 1/4 cup grated pecorino or Romano cheese. Simmer until thickened.

Recipe Story:

My mom gave me this recipe. It is a totally simple version of Italian-American spaghetti sauce -the basic way my mom usually makes sauce. I asked her for it over the years many times and she didn't want to give it to me (because she is Sicilian and these types of things have a sacred meaning...lol), but one day she just gave it to me with no big ceremony. It's strange, but I think of this sauce as my mom's voice. Both of my parents are still alive but sometimes I get a longing to hear their voices. With my dad I sort of try to hear his literal voice in my head --the tone of it and the way he says words... With my mom I don't think of her literal voice, I think of the smell of her spaghetti sauce and the feelings I associate with her making sauce in the kitchen. It makes me sad to think of it, but when she passes away, making this sauce (and the smells etc) will be my way of thinking of her.