Gravy with a Side of Italian Horns

Tomato Sauce; guilt; Mother Teresa

Teresa knows this recipe by heart. She’s been making it or a derivative of it for the last forty years or so. She gleaned it when she was a child watching her Grandma cook every Saturday morning. She loved watching Grandma for two reasons. First, Grandma loved her and paid special attention to her. She had six siblings and was right smack in the middle—three older, three younger. She was rarely alone with either of her parents, but she was alone on Saturday mornings with Grandma, who talked to her about her life long ago and life as it was unfolding each day. Grandma made “the gravy” (most people call it tomato sauce, but not Brooklyn Italians) with a large beige dishtowel folded into a triangle and tied around her very short white-not gray-hair. The second reason Teresa sat and watched each Saturday was because as her reward, she got to eat one meatball right from the frying pan, no gravy. Grandma would put it on a saucer and tell her, “Be careful, it’s hot.”