Aunt Amy left us during a terrible storm on January 1, 2006. I'm still pretty mad at God. She wasn't harming a soul. She was sweet and loving and still strong enough to walk to Mass every Sunday. Why not leave her where she was, in her cute little old-fashioned house with the wooden floors she polished until the very end?
The good news is my oldest sister and her daughter visited her several months before she died and they wrote down some of her recipes. Friends, if you have any elderly relatives, gather ye recipes while you may.
So read on to find out how to make Amy's spaghetti and meatballs, the ultimate Italian-American comfort food.
Meatballs are a perfect example of the cleverness of the Italian cook. Many Italian-Italian recipes combine meat with some form of pasta. Thus meatballs are not fake Italian, but a fabulous New World variation on a familiar theme.
Snobs may shun meatballs as fake Italian, but they are everybody's secret vice. Recall that meat was a luxury in Italy at the turn of the 20th century, when Italians came literally in waves to America. But food was far more plentiful on these shores, and cooks could experiment and come up with bold new concoctions. Juicy little meatballs, smooth and parsely-studded, often starred at
Sunday dinners. Is there a child (or a non-grump adult) who doesn't love them? Please. Be honest.
I guess there are people who don't like brownies or chocolate chip cookies either, but I don't want to meet them.
So let's look first at who Amy was, she of the silver hair, eternal cigarette and big throaty laugh.
Her parents were, of course, my grandparents.
Amelia's parents: Antonio Scarcello married Josephine Esposito, both of Pedace, Italy, on December 7, 1912. Grandma Josephine was 21 years old; he was 29 years old and were attended at the St. Aloysious church wedding in Spokane by Pasquale Mele and Pasquale Esposito. Their second child Leonida Amelia Scarcello was born May 19th, 1915 at 12:10am.
Amy married Carmen Anthony Garcea (always known as Chet) on October 27th, 1934. He died Nov 13, 1951, and Amelia died in January, 2007 at age 91. Both are buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Spokane. Amelia's children are Raymond, Richard, and Joseph, known as Ray, Dick, and Joe.
Here's my sister's report of our final visit to Amy:
My daughter, 14 at the time, and I visited Aunt Amelia in early November 2006, only two months before she died. She was having a remarkably good day, up and about, interested as always in her visitors, and pleased at our interest in her.
Ray and Dick got out the boxes of photos, and we all had a fine time looking through the albums and reminiscing.
My daughter and I specifically wanted to ask Amelia how she cooked certain Italian dishes, apropos of Candace's website, and I told her what a wonderful cook I thought her to be. She demurred, saying that she in general carefully followed published recipes.
Nevertheless, we got down to brass tacks and she obliged, taking us into her kitchen, telling us how she made her spaghetti and meatballs, and for good measure, her way of making the zucchini casserole dish that came over with her parents, Josephine and Tony, from tiny Pedace, up in the mountains at the tip of the boot of Italia.
That November, Aunt Amelia was a charming old lady, though I did not think her old. She had beautiful snowy white hair and that Italian contralto voice, giving instructions about the recipes and calling each of us 'honey.' She was in full possession of her mental faculties. She was hard of hearing though had good vision, and had a number of heart-related conditions.
The image that I have of that day is of my 91-year old auntie hopping up on a low stool in her kitchen to show us the ingredients kept in her spotless and orderly cupboard, the makings of meatballs, sauce, and the pasta that she recommended. She would have you believe that she followed carefully the recipes on the box, so to speak.
Let's let Amelia speak: Meatballs: "2 lbs hamburger, very lean, 1 cup bread crumbs. Must not be dry. Honey, you take onion, 1/3 large onion, grated on cheese grater, not fine, coarse--enough to taste (small grate) 1 tablespoon parsley--just, level dried commercial parsley. 2 chunks garlic, not too much--chopped up. 2 big cloves, that's plenty of garlic. (Sylvia's recipe, she used a lot) 1/3 cup already grated Kraft I don't like eggs (Carmela 3 eggs, Amy 2 eggs) You've got to use a little salt or they're tasteless--I use a skimpy 3/4 teaspoon salt. You've got to use a little black pepper, too--you've got to use your judgment--to bring out the flavor. 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce.
When I mix, I use a knife, butter knife and a bowl. Use a medium-large bowl. I don't get my hands in it. If I find it's too dry I can add a little water. The secret is your onion and garlic, your parsley. Then you fry them--Mama used to fry them in deep fat but you don't need to--you can use canola oil or lightweight. You can fry them on the stove or bake them in the oven. Sauce:
When I make my sauce I use a blender.
2 cans tomatoes
A little basil, parsley, onion, garlic.
I don't have a special recipe.
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