My Aunt Lois was a fourth-grade teacher and a cotton farmer’s wife. She was unfailingly patient and kind, even when issuing the occasional reprimand to her children and their rowdy cousins. And to our good fortune, she was an excellent cook. Biscuits and gravy, pot roast, fried chicken, ham hocks and beans. Black-eyed peas, fried okra, fresh tomatoes from her garden. Coconut cake, pecan pie, cookies and fudge. Her kitchen was a wonder of delights.
One of the earliest entries in the notebooks that hold my recipe collection is Aunt Lois’s Spaghetti Sauce, written in careful cursive as I called her long-distance to ask for her recipe. I was in my early teens and learning to cook. I remember that conversation and its frequent pauses as she estimated the quantities for each of the ingredients. She had never written the recipe down. I’ve tweaked it a bit over the years, and it’s a go-to standard for me, especially when serving a crowd. It’s best made a day or two in advance. I can’t count how many times I’ve given out the recipe – and been asked how I came up with the name Aunt Lois’s.
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ lbs. ground beef
1 ½ cups chopped onion
¾ cup chopped green bell pepper
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 (15 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1/3 cup red wine
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsp. salt
Dash of pepper
¼ cup brown sugar
2 cans mushroom pieces, drained
1 – 2 tsp. basil
1 – 2 tsp. oregano
DIRECTIONS
- Brown ground beef; drain.
- Add remaining ingredients and simmer partially covered 2 hours. Season to taste with garlic salt.
- When ready to serve, cook 1 pound of spaghetti (3/4 pound if you like a lot of sauce) according to package directions; drain.
- Add the sauce to the spaghetti.
- Serve with grated parmesan cheese.
Serves 6. The sauce freezes well and can easily be scaled up for larger crowds.
Isabel Booth is the pen name of Karen Jewell, a former trial attorney and now a writer. She holds an undergraduate degree in English, a Master’s in Business Administration, and a Juris Doctorate degree. When she’s not writing she loves to read, travel, and cook dinner for friends. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband.
