Last week was my good friend’s birthday and like me, she popped out kids back to back, 16 months apart, which meant we both had the same momentary lapse of judgment. Date nights are rare events, not because we’re lame, married, boring people, but that trustworthy sitters are really hard to come by. The good ones, i.e. kids with no arrest record, know that they’re in high demand, thus can play the game of extortion and can charge as much as a car payment and require a 20% tip.

Even a bigger deal is when we want to double-date with my friend and her husband. The planning started 2 weeks ago, going back and forth on a suitable date, scoring a sitter each, keeping our children quarantined in a bubble so that they wouldn’t catch any dreadful diseases, and of course collecting every bit of loose change into a jar just so we could afford a good night out without having to turn dish-washing tricks in a restaurant kitchen to pay for our meal. Read the full story

If there’s one thing that I absolutely cannot stand, it’s wasting vibrant, perky produce. But when a recipe calls for only 1 tbl of fresh, minced herb and the store only sells them in gargantuan bunches, my palms sweat as I begin planning my week’s menu all around this stupid little herb, just so every last bit of it gets used. Cooking is no longer fun when I have to come up with concoctions like Chocolate Parsley Ice Cream, Oooey, Gooey, Caramel Oregano Buns or even Lucky Charms with Marjoram Sprinkles just to avoid the guilt of being a wasteful human being and risk bad veggie karma.

Wouldn’t it be cool if produce stores sold herbs by the fraction of an ounce? Like, I could go and pinch a teeny, tiny little bud of dill that weighed 2 grams, because that’s all the recipe called for. I’d gladly pay double the price just so I don’t have to open my refrigerator door and have this dill monster shaking its now soggy, flaccid fist at me, screaming, “Curse you, vegetable sinner!”

Last fall, inspired by my friend, Jan, I began planting my own herb and vegetable garden to combat this problem. I had visions of running outside on a whim, caressing my beautiful, lively herbs, inhaling its sweet, grassy fragrance, and only plucking what I needed for tonight’s supper. Dreamily, I purchased 3 tomato vines, 6 different herbs, a selection of 4 gourmet lettuces, broccoli, 3 chili peppers, and 3 lime trees. I could hardly wait!
It’s been 4 months. So, you wanna know what really happened? Well, the plants grew fast and furious – the tomatoes shot up 3 feet in one month and started popping out hundreds of green tomatoes, the herbs went hopping mad and took over the entire side of the lanai, especially the mint, which began its hostile takeover of garlic chives. The colossal broccoli leaves cannibalized all available sunlight and left poor chili peppers to crane its neck this way and that just to reach a spot of warmth.

The garden totally consumed me – from figuring out what to do with a bucket of lettuce leaves every other day to scolding mint bully to back the hell off of chives. I began giving away bouquets of herbs to friends, neighbors, the mailman. I left bags of tomatoes in unlocked cars at the gas station. I hid herbs in my purse, pouncing on anyone browsing in the herb section, “Hey, ya want some free herbs?” And no, Thai Basil is not smokable.

It was bad, outta control bad. Thankfully, the “Giant Arctic Florida Freeze of 2008” happened in January and the frost took down about half of my crops.

BEFORE AFTER ARCTIC FLORIDA FREEZE

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When I only have 30 minutes to make dinner, this is a favorite to make. The secret to great sauce is to use 1 teaspoon of sugar in the sauce. The sugar softens out the bite of the tomatoes, and yields a rounder, less acidic, and more mellow tomato flavor. I also use Italian crushed tomatoes labeled “San Marzano” - the flesh is thicker and richer tasting than regular plum tomatoes. The tomatoes are grown in the volcano soil next to Mount Vesuvius in Italy. While that sounds so romantic, quaint and exotic, they are really only $2.29 for a 28oz can at your local market.

The Italian sausage that I use is freshly made at my local market - they usually come in a package of 5 sausages, its pre-seasoned and so convenient. I just squeeze the sausage out of the casing and use it like ground sausage or you could use scissors to snip them into smaller chunks.

This is such an easy recipe and leftover sauce is even better the next day. The ingredients just seem to settle and get cozy with each other overnight. As always, use good Parmesan cheese to finish.  The best compliment?  When my Italian friends come over and request my Spaghetti for supper.

My Favorite 30-Minute Spaghetti

yields a big ‘ol potful….enough for 6-8 people
for GF - use GF pasta

3/4 lb Fresh Italian sausage - remove sausage from casing
1 T minced garlic
1 small onion, minced
2- 28oz cans Italian crushed tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
2 bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt ground pepper

1. In a large pot over medium heat, add the sausage when the pot is hot. Fry the sausage until nicely browned, about 2-3 minutes. Add onions and garlic - fry 2 more minutes, stirring frequently so that nothing burns.

2. Add all remaining ingredients. Simmer for 25 minutes on low heat. Stir the pot every so often. Taste - adjust salt and pepper.  Is it still too acidic? Meaning, when you taste it, is there too sharp of a tomato flavor?  Add another teaspoon of sugar.

3. While sauce is simmering, boil a pot of water and cook spaghetti according to package directions. If you have fresh basil, mince and add to sauce before serving. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.