Lunch boxes are being packed, new clothes pressed and ready, kids are headed back to school. Parents, exhausted from a summer filled with activities, are putting their feet up on the coffee table, switching on the morning news, enjoying their first cup of hot coffee and breathing a collective sigh of relief. Not that they don’t love their offspring but most parents by the end of the summer find themselves much in need of a little “me time” to recharge their batteries.
I was a working mother. There would have been nothing I would have enjoyed more than spending time with my little ones but as we all liked to eat, it was necessary someone provide the wherewithal to do so.
Always as a kid it was exciting and a little daunting preparing for a new school year. My mother took me “school shopping” which included new clothes, new shoes, new underwear and school supplies. Now from what I understand there are lists supplied to parents for them to fill. According to my son he buys whatever is on the list for his two children plus they contribute about $30 per student in additional supplies which go into sort of a public pot for the school. Tennis shoes apparently now cost nearly $100 per child if they’re to be accepted by their peers and then there are laptops, notebooks, and backpacks. Lockers in the lower grades mostly do not exist anymore. When you reach high school they reappear and there are “locker supplies”, optional of course, to be purchased. Someone, terribly clever to my mind, came up with the idea of locker decorations ranging from wallpaper to stick on mirrors, etc. Wow, that has to have been a windfall for whoever came up with that idea.
We had books, books, and more books. Not only did I walk ten miles in the snow to school but I carried a sack full of books. Actually I caught a ride to school, but I did walk home with friends more like two miles then ten and I can’t remember the last time it snowed in Southern California.
The summer between third and fourth grade my mother married my first stepfather and we moved from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Santa Ana, California. More than simply a big jump on the map, for me this was a huge cultural adjustment. Climatically it was major change for sure but more than that it was a totally different vibe on the west coast. Between fourth grade and twelfth grade I was to go to eight different schools. Being the “new kid” every time I changed my underwear gave me a leg up for the rest of my life where I was to move as of this date thirty-seven times. Some of us are rolling stones, I would guess, where others plant roots and remain firmly entrenched where they began.
That first day of a new school year was always filled with anticipation. In my day we had Peechee folders which by the end of the year would have doodles covering their covers and bent corners, but on that first day they were pristine and filled with lined paper for notes. Notes were taken in pen or pencil, I have no idea how they are taken these days, and there were no devices of any kind other than the teacher’s pointer or possibly a phone on the wall in the classroom to distract the kids seated there. I know!
We had homework in each class on most days in high school. My mother worked so I was expected to come home and so whatever work was assigned to me before she arrived home around dinner time. There were late summer days where the pool in the backyard summoned me and I didn’t get this accomplished, but most days I stuck my nose in my books and did what was needed to be done. I understand a teacher in Texas has decided to experiment this year by not assigning any homework to her second grade class. Rather she encourages them to go home and spend this extra time allotted them with their families. First there is no P.E. so our children are alarmingly out of shape. Now we’re eliminating homework so their minds can be out of shape as well. When did we become so afraid of a little work? I don’t know that I endorse hours and hours of homework but I certainly don’t think an hour a day is asking too much.
My hairdresser was saying her two young children are enrolled in a local charter school. As a parent you are expected to put in a mandatory number of hours of volunteer time if your children attend such school. I believe she is finding this difficult as her husband is disabled and she works a full work week. I remember juggling work and home so many times while my children were young. There is guilt when you have to work leaving small children at home and much regret at missing milestones that occur while they aren’t in your charge. I volunteered as often as I could. Working with children has always been fun for me. They’re so willing to accept the unacceptable and open to world’s we as adults have long put behind us. When my daughter entered kindergarten a flyer was sent home asking parents to come up with creative fall ideas to entertain the classroom. Putting my creative beanie on I thought the kids might get kick out of making caramel apples. Let’s see thirty five year old’s and hot caramel, what could go wrong? Exactly. After the debacle the harassed teacher said she was picking sticky wads of caramel of everything including Laurel and Hardy the two pet rats the classroom adopted. Sorry.
I miss those little people these days and my grandchildren are shooting up so there aren’t any little, little ones anymore. I guess the next thing will be their children coming along one day. Good Lord. Someone is getting old.
At any rate, this sauce is absolutely to die for. I give it five nom’s. If you’re having four hungry people seated at the table I would double the sauce.
Crockpot Tagliatelle with Wine Short Rib Sauce
5 slices pancetta, chopped
2 1/2 lbs. short ribs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
1 15 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles and juice
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 12 oz. can tomato sauce plus 1 can water
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 lb. tagliatelle
1 Tbsp. butter
Parmesan cheese
Spray bottom of six quart crockpot with cooking spray.
Brown pancetta in large skillet over med-high heat until crispy. Place in bottom of crockpot.
Mix together flour, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Dredge meat on all sides in flour mixture.
Heat olive oil in same skillet. Brown meat on all sides. Place in crockpot. Add onion to pan. Cook 6 mins. until tender. Add garlic. Cook 1 min. Carefully add wine to pan and cook for 1 min.
In large bowl mix all remaining ingredients up to but not including tagliatelle also adding onion and wine mixture. Pour over meat. Cook on low for 9 hours stirring twice. Remove bones.
Cook tagliatelle according to pkg. directions. Toss with butter. Serve with sauce and top with Parmesan cheese.
Serves 4
This sounds fantastic! Thanks.
Thanks for stopping by. It’s pretty delicious.