Tomato Sauce
   with Meatballs

Bobby DelVecchio

From as far back as I can remember, my family and I have always spent Christmas at my great-grandma's house. We usually spend Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family, and for Christmas Day, we go to my Grandma's house. On Christmas Eve, most of my mom's family comes over my house. My mom usually cooks up a juicy piece of pork tenderloin, which I enjoy very much, just not quite as much as Great-Grandma Bea�s ravioli and meatballs.

I think what really makes it so good is her tomato sauce. Her homemade sauce is the best tasting tomato sauce I've had to this day. I'm almost spoiled because when I have to eat out at restaurants and I order some pasta, I just don't enjoy it as much because it doesn't taste like my grandma's.

I look forward to every Christmas at my Grandma's house just because I know that she'll be making my favorite meal. I'll usually put down about 20 ravioli and about 5 meatballs, and maybe some sausage, just because it's so good. It's almost like I don't even get full. I can just keep eating. We always have a glass of wine with our meal too, although I've been drinking soda up until about the last year or two.

Although I love my Grandma's tomato sauce, I think I love her meatballs even more. They're unique tasting, and I can't seem to find another place that has meatballs as good as hers. I don't know if I like them so much just because I'm just used to having them, but nowhere I go has meatballs quite like hers.

The Ravioli my Grandma cooks up for our Christmas lunch is the only thing that isn't her own. She buys them at a little local grocery store called Jimmy's, so they're basically homemade because you can't really seem to find them anywhere else. My mom even drives to go get them because no one in my family can stand eating cheap ravioli.

My grandma has given my mom her recipes for the sauce, and my mom does a pretty good job following them when she makes the sauce, but whatever it is my Grandma does, hers just tastes a little bit better. One thing that I'm looking forward to in college is going home and eating some real home cooking. Hopefully I'll see my Grandma so that I can have a nice filling meal, with something I haven't had in a while.