Spaghetti: two versions

School year Spaghetti: noodles, beef, jar of sauce.

1. Boil noodles in one pan.

2. Brown beef in another pan.

3. Open jar and pour.

4. Add cooked noodles. Mix it all up. If it’s been a good day, I might grate some parm. If it’s been hell on wheels, I might drain the noodles first, but that’s as fancy as I get. And if it’s been a REALLY bad day, I’ll serve this masterpiece on a flimsy paper plate because busy teachers can’t be bothered with such chores as rinsing dishes. Or using the bathroom at any time other than “lunch” or “after school”.

Summer spaghetti: Lots of stuff.

1. Boil noodles in one pan.

2. Mix up ground beef, freshly grated parm, chopped basil from the garden, 1 egg, salt and pepper, and chopped garlic.

3. Roll into meatballs and cook slowly in a shallow saute pan.

4. Add fresh-from-the-freezer pasta sauce made from last year’s tomato and basil plants. Add splash of good red wine, not the “cooking” wine.

5. While that is cooking, take another moment to enjoy the basil and rosemary from the garden.

6. Pat self on back for all the hard work.

7. Admire the new chopping block while I’m at it.

8. Try to remember where I put the oil to seal this thing after I make some nasty knife gashes in it.

9. Forget to check the noodles and cringe at the angel hair that now looks like Rastafarian dreadlocks.

10.  After everything is finished cooking, spend a ridiculous amount of time making pasta twirls so it looks pretty on a real plate.

11. . Top with carefully selected photogenic meatballs.

12. Top with more parm and a basil leaf.

13. Take a bunch of pictures.

14. Eat. Enjoy. And look forward to having all this leisure time to rinse dishes. And enjoy the freedom to take a bathroom break WHENEVER I WANT TO!!

ETA: Guess all my stewing over pasta twirls was worth it. This picture was accepted by Foodgawker and Tastespotting!