If Wolfy misses Chicago pizza and everything else you can eat in that city, then this Cleveland girl misses good kielbasa, pierogi, and of course, the chili from the other end of the state (I went to college there).
This was my mother's spaghetti sauce recipe; if you get really fresh tomatoes, it's got to be pretty good for you, too. I use the crockpot, but simmering it on the stove works, too (obviously, she didn't always have a crock pot).
Brown in deep pan:
1 diced garlic bud
1 green pepper
1 1/2 lb. ground beef (I use lean)
Salt and pepper well, and add:
1 large can stewed tomatoes
1 medium size can stewed tomatoes
Drain and reserve the liquid to add if the sauce is too thick
4 cans tomato paste
1 hot cherry pepper, finely diced
Cook 4 hours (or I let this go a good long time in the crock pot)
Serves 6 generously
One of my most beloved possessions is my mother's cookbook, copyright 1940. It must have been a wedding present. This recipe was on a laminated index card in her writing, and many of the recipes in the book have her notes in the margins. I never knew I'd treasure her writing
.