MATT ADAMS
  • About
  • Blog
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Ruby Tuesday

Spaghetti and Ketchup

4/13/2021

 
Introduction by Mark Adams

"One of my favorite stories about my mom and cooking that wasn’t in my monograph: My mom did not have much experience with Italian cooking when she came to America in the 60s. My father asked if she would make spaghetti. Mom not knowing what the red sauce was she covered the spaghetti with ketchup; dad smiled and said it was good. Not long thereafter, mom learned and made great Italian red sauces for pasta."

I followed up with my father about the above story and asked him if he could describe the meal and he said, “Well, Imagine having plain pasta with ketchup. I mean it's edible but it's not gonna get a 5 star review. That being said, at least it was filling, I mean I couldn’t cook either and she tried her best. By the time we were married a year or two, she was cooking quite well and as the years went by and she learned more, she got more daring and more creative and ultimately, she became a real gourmet cook. One of my favorite foods that she would make ended up being her spaghetti with meatballs, and sauce which was made with real tomatoes of course. As for the ketchup, that was pretty much reserved for hamburgers and hotdogs.”

A Man Dressed Like a Rabbit and the Egg that Saved The Day

4/4/2021

 
When I was about 10, my mom took me to Hills, a local department store where there was supposed to be an Easter egg hunt in their parking lot which was open to the public. When we arrived, however, all the Easter eggs were gone, even though it was supposed to still be happening. Most people would get in their car and go home, but not my mother. She wouldn’t accept that the event was done and asked to see a manager. I don’t know what she said, but within a few minutes, a man came out, dressed in one of those oversized Easter Bunny costumes and strolled towards us in upbeat fashion to hand me a giant plastic egg filled with jelly beans, that iconic green grass and a few chocolates.

I think of this from time to time, especially around this time of year and always think about what the interaction between the manager and the person dressed as the Easter Bunny must have been like. I’d like to think that the employee was having a smoke break when the manager approached him and said something like, “Hey Bill, we’re gonna need you to put the costume on for just a couple minutes. There’s this lady in the parking lot that isn’t gonna leave until her kid gets an en egg. Would ya mind?“
Picture

    "Ruby Tuesday" is a place for friends and family to share stories about my mother and show how she has  impacted their lives. 

    Blog updates every Tuesday for the full year to celebrate my mom turning 80.


    If you'd like to share something, whether it be a story, a photo, a recipe or even a drawing of hers that you kept, please e-mail me or use the contact form. The goal is to get as many voices on here as possible!

    Archives

    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed