"Spaghetti Night"

One of the most important events in my family is our "Spaghetti Night."  About once every other week, we bring as many of the kids and their friends home and I cook an enormous pot of meat sauce and pasta.  We haven't had one in some time, because we usually shut things down over  break.

Basically, "Spaghetti Night" is an opportunity to bring as many people home as we can get--especially our children.  After the kids, we try to get as many of their friends as possible, then maybe some extended family.  It's great to have as many folks to cook for as possible!

The Spaghetti Sauce recipe I use is from my grandmother.  It's very easy to make--but it's a secret!  When we have many friends and family over, I triple the recipe so that I can put leftovers in tupper-ware and send home with poor college students.!!  I make gallons of the stuff!  I don't even have a pot big enough to hold the sauce, so I cook it in my turkey roasting pan and spread it over two stove top burners!

As the kids begin to file in, I make sure that the sauce is boiling, and that the bread is scheduled to be done at the time everyone said they'd be there (but never are!).  After the bread's done, I put it in an oven-safe dish with towels wrapped around  the bread and keep it in the oven about 200 degrees until it's ready to be served.

So that leaves the pasta.

And I'm sorry, but I AM a bit of a pasta fanatic.  When it's about three minutes from being done, I gather everyone into the kitchen for grace.  When that's eover, I tell everyone to grab a plate (or bowl), a fork, a drink, and to be ready.

"BECAUSE . . . "    (as all of the kids now can imitate!)  "PASTA WAITS FOR NO ONE!!'

When there's a special, or even minor occasion, we'll all crowd around our big dining room table.  If there's nothing special going on, and particularly if we don't have any older guests, we turn the kids loose to watch something like "America's Top Model," etc.

Unless there are extenuating circumstances, the kids do the dishes and clean the kitchen.

All in all, I think it has been my best idea since Susan left.