Sentimental Family Recipe

Today was a very restful Sunday for me. I seem to have caught the same thing my Mom recently had. I’ve got the basic cold symptoms, but have been extremely tired.

When I finally made it downstairs this afternoon, Chris had done some organizing in our office, already cleaned and waxed both our cars, and was chopping veggies for dinner. When I inquired as to what we were having for dinner, his face lit up. With excitement in his voice, he said, “we’re having my Dad’s spaghetti!” When he was sorting through a couple boxes in our office, he found a letter from his Dad. His Dad had written it to him during his last days in the hospital. It’s three pages of fully scripted hand writing, front and back, on college lined paper. Wayne, his father, started off with a 3/4 page note to both his boys.

“You’ve both always told me that you liked my spaghetti and turkey stuffing (I hope you were being honest!), so I thought I’d write them down for you. The stuffing recipe was your grandmother’s (my mother), and every time I made it, it always brought back memories of her. Cooking these recipes always brought back childhood memories, so perhaps one day you too may decide to make it for a holiday meal, and remember me as well. It’s a small thing, but I hope you each enjoy making something for someone else, that your father made for you, that your grandmother made for your father.

It may be awhile before either of you wants to make one of these recipes, but I hope you’ll put these on a computer disk to save,  just in case the urge hits to do some cooking! Love, Dad”

How sweet is that?! So, Chris and I sat down to a wonderful meal of his Dad’s spaghetti. Chris substituted the ground beef for the ground venison we had in our freezer, but other than that, he followed his Dad’s recipe exactly as written. It was a rich, tomato based sauce, full of Italian sausage, bell peppers, parsley and lots of spices! I never got to meet his father, so it’s these little things that give me an insight into the man that he was. Chris has cooked so many flavorful, new and impressive meals, but this lazy Sunday dinner, will forever be one of our most memorable dinners.