mama24

Thanks for the Cannoli advice....Waiting for the forms to arrive.. I know my husband and four kids will love them---We were in NYC in June and always See them at the bakeries--I have never tackled them--now that the kids are in College I have all this time !!

oh--i 'm mostly german----------I have lived in the south for 25 years--i miss the north- I love New York -----My thoughts and prayers have been with you all day NewYork ....the melting pot of our nation..God Bless

Thank you all so much for your input!! I have heard of all these ways of making this sauce and last week tried the all day cooking with pork and beef and sausage,added red wine,and chicken broth during the cooking. I removed the meat after 5 hours and it looked great but had little taste(the three labs got it-they loved it !) made the meat balls as in the cook book by david ruggerio. It is very close but not quite.. The woman i babysat for was young at the time-she had gotten this recipe from her mother in law(whose name was mosso)....I just wanted to see if there was some "secret" I didn't know about . Some odd ingredient to give it that special flavor... I will keep trying to inprove it and will use any tips anyone can offer.. I am now going to tackle 'cannoli"s" (i bought some forms today)I have only tasted them once in my life . My husband LOVES italian food and has a bad sweet tooth.I am not italian , I grew up eating sauerkraut in pennsylvania then married a southerner and had to learn to cook "southern" I still don't like the way they cook and miss the hearty northern dishes......thanks for all your help... She never would give me her recipe-I even offered to babysit for free !! All i have ever made is what i have found in books.and keep thinking there is some unknown ingredient missing....and there aren't very many Italians in the deep south...

I have been searching for a spaghetti sauce recipe for 30 years! Maybe someone knows what i will describe. : when i was a teen I babysat for an Italian lady. she would make this This thick red tomato sauce and there was always a layer of oil floating on the top. there were no "chunks" of tomato or anything else in it. She would make meatballs separately and at some point they would end up in the sauce. She would never give me the recipe and I never saw her make it from start to finish.. I do remember "tons" of cans of tomato paste sitting around and once she told me she NEVER used tomatoes(in chunks)- She made it one FOR me to serve to my boyfriend at the time but NEVER would she reveal how to make it. --that was 30 years ago, in another state. I have searched and bought many italian cookbooks and sampled lots of restaurants-- and have "experimented" many times --can't quite make it ...It was the very best I have ever eaten and haven't known anyone to make it since....any thoughts on this? I am obsessed with this I know!! Thanks--Paula