Spaghetti and Egg Sandwiches

(Just a heads up, the time's a little off on this post because I wrote it last night as I was waiting for my video to finish uploading...which it never did, and I have to start over again.)

So I semi-successfully recreated by Dad’s “famous” spaghetti sauce last night for the second time, and successfully fed seven people, myself included. It was the first time I’ve made it from memory, and also the first time I made it in Scotland. This in itself is a feat, because if you’re an American and have been grocery shopping in a foreign country, you’ll know that the things you need are often named differently or taste just a little different. I say my Dad’s sauce is famous because, at least in my family, it’s what my Dad is good at in the kitchen, besides breakfast. I love my Dad’s spaghetti sauce, I think it’s the best in the world, and I’ve been to some pretty good Italian places. And it’s so ridiculous in its simplicity that I still don’t know how he does it. The sauce I made was pretty good…it was very good, but it still wasn’t my Dad’s. I think there’s just something about having something made for you, especially by a parent. It’s like the secret ingredient that isn’t really there. Whatever you call it, be it love, or magic, or genetics, this secret ingredient can make an ordinary meal extraordinary. My dad does it with his spaghetti, and my mom does it with her egg sandwiches. I used to ask my mom for an egg sandwich every morning before school (granted that she was home on a school day-that’s a different story) and she always made it just the way I liked it. Even when she cooked the eggs a little more than usual, it was still (yes, I just emboldened “still” for the second time) just the way I like it. I’ve remade both my Dad’s sauce and my mom’s egg sandwiches for myself doing the exact same thing, using the same ingredients, but it’s never been like the real thing, and it never will be. And I’m alright with that.

Today I didn’t have class. I worked out, and when I got home I had a bowl of cereal and I made myself a very delicious egg sandwich (yet again) with melted cheddar, ham, a couple of over-easy eggs in a toasted English muffin. For lunch I had a ham and salami sandwich with lettuce, cheese, and tomato. Again, delicious. And for dinner, I had two heaping helpings of leftover spaghetti with leftover sauce, and a nice big Caesar salad. At this point, I must permit myself to say that I think I’m doing pretty well for myself. I’m living basically on my own, and I like my roommates despite their drinking problems and complete inability to do dishes or recycle correctly. I’m working out, and I’m eating very well for myself, all the while keeping a pretty good budget. I split the weekly groceries with the guys, and between the five of us my cut ends up being around eight to ten pounds. That’s enough food to keep me fed for the whole week, all for around 15 bucks. I’d say that’s living pretty frugally. My overall spending has gone down since last month, just like my study-abroad advisors said it would, and it’s making me feel better. I’m still not studying enough, but my recordings are helping, and for some strange mysterious reason that is completely off-base to everything I know to be true…my textbook reading is actually somewhat enjoyable. So knock on wood, hopefully I’m not jinxing anything, but I’ve reached another point along this wild and crazy journey where I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of this European city life. I’m feeling…content. But maybe that’s just the spaghetti talking…it was a damn good sauce.

On a side note, I’ve become addicted to a new novel that I bought last summer. It’s a recent retelling of Zorro, entitled Zorro (go figure) by Isabel Allende. I know it’s a major distraction, but you know what I said about the textbooks being enjoyable? Well sometimes they still aren’t, and having something adventurous and swashbuckling to read can be a nice change of pace.