Friday friend recipe #325–Tomi’s spaghetti

 

I must get this done!  At least to prove something to myself if not the Handyman...

 because...

...about 22 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an

  e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.

I decided to count those down!

Why?

because one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."

The Handyman/Mayor, who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said "you'll never EVER do that."

Well, maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings us to Tomi's 'Easy Easy Spaghetti Sauce'

Tomi does not drink, but I do, and spaghetti sauce just seems to beg for red wine, doesn't it?

Too bad I don't drink red wine. 

I don't know what else to say about pasta and meat sauce. It's good.  You can't go bad, putting the two together. 

It's like the corn song ---

--for me, I really like pasta. It's pasta!  It has the chew--have you ever seen anything more beautiful?

It's pasta--I mean look at this thing--long thin noodles with sauce.

It's got the sauce!

You get the drift, right?  Now I hope the corn song is not stuck in your head.

But pasta---it's the most beautiful thing.

And Tomi-- well, this is her last post in the cookbook countdown.

This is her 6th recipe.  You can check out all her stories and recipes right here. Just click.

LAST POST THO---LAST POST!

I'm saying goodbye to my friends!

Yeah, go ahead and roll your eyes, the Handyman did.

So on to a story. 

Tomi and her husband Stuart where game playing friends--board games, cards, etc.

We were all young, we were all poor, we all had small children, whom we just put to bed in at each other's houses.  We couldn't afford babysitting and believe it or not, (when you see the photos) we weren't drinking.   Well, Tomi wasn't drinking--the rest of us? Who knows. This is too far back to remember.

It was circa 1984.

We had a murder mystery party.  Do you remember when they were all the rage in the 80's?

There were 8 suspects, so Tomi invited 4 couples.  The sad part is that I can't remember who the 4th couple was/is. 

The other two, still friends to this day.

Murder was afoot at the class reunion!

The suspects were:

The preppy and the nerd

(Stuart and Tomi)

The 'pregnant' cheerleader and the hood

(Dink and Cash)

(he really was a naughty bad-boy)

Hood later married pregnant cheerleader and they had another child and lived happily ever after. 

The teacher and the floozy

(Rich/Handyman and me/debbie)

The girls

and I feel so bad at not remembering the girl on the right.

Man!  This really happens at reunions, right?

(I was most likely that girl, so I only went to one reunion)

That 'hood' that 'rebel without a cause' thought he was so cool!  

Too cool to show his face. 

Tomi the perky/preppy school spirit girl, looks the part. 

And look, the hood/bad boy is drinking!  I think that is a beer in his hand anyway. 

Fast forward 20 years and here are Tomi and Dink again.

Fast forward another 20 years (OMG!! how did that happen? 40 years in a flash.) None of us live in the same town anymore. We are apart by miles, but distance is just distance, it's not separation, because in our minds we've never really left each other.

Hmmm.... that sounds a lot like dementia.  Well, 40 years, who knows!?

But good friends are good friends are good friends!

I'm glad to have them.

And that, my friends is recipe #325.

Happy Eating!

Friday Friend Recipe #239 - Peanut Butter Bars

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook? I once had about 50 of my closest friends and family (from all over the county) on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends . At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 20 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday. (plus so much more....)

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who thinks he knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to this... recipe #239

Tomi's Reese's Peanut Butter Bars

These are good!  So, Soooo good.

They taste exactly like a  Reese's Peanut butter cup.

Reese's Peanut Butter Bars (a copycat recipe)

Tomi Pingree

1 lb. powered sugar

2 cubes melted butter

1 wrapper graham crackers--crushed

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

Mix all together and press into a 9x13 pan.

Melt 12oz chocolate chips and spread over the top.

Refrigerate till firm and cut.

These are  yummy beyond yum!

My mom always made the Buckeyes at Christmas time, but the rolling and dipping proved to be too much for me--perhaps that is the epitome of laziness, but these bars are to die for and they have the same ingredients, peanut butter and chocolate, so why not do what is easy?

This is Tomi's 5th appearance in the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown.
You can see all her recipes here.

I was looking thru some of my old Friday Friend Notebooks ( I secretly printed out sheets and sheets of emails ---I can be the WHISTLE BLOWER of the Friday Friend Forum--I know all their secrets!)  to see if something struck a memory to write a story about Tomi--I found a few of her answers to the everyday silly questions I would ask my 'Friday Friend Forum'.

In the fall of 2006, I asked these questions:
Do you like Applets and Cotlets?
Are you a hugger?
Do you wear rubber gloves when cleaning/doing dishes?
List 4 jobs you've had in your lifetime.

I know that For Christmas the year before, Tomi's mother-in-law received some Applets and Cotlets and that Tomi did not like them as they have a weird texture to them.
In her humble opinion.

Here is what she said about hugging...
To hug or not to hug.  You know that I am  not a hugger.  I do hug, but mostly my family and close friends.  I'm not a casual hugger. I like my personal space. I will admit that I'm getting better at hugging and being hugged--when you teach little kids, you're getting hugged all the time, so I've come to appreciate the spontaneous hug now and then.

Rubber Gloves when cleaning or doing dishes?
No I don't wear rubber gloves--they make me feel claustrophobic.  Weird, I know.

And four jobs in her lifetime:
Cashier at Skaggs Drug, ticket taker at the local movie theater, Credit Evaluator at a bank,  and teacher.
I would have to say that being a teacher has probably been the oddest and most rewarding job.  Odd in the sense that you never know what is going to happen-kids o and say strange things, and rewarding in the sense that teaching opens up possibilities to kids. 

Rewarding?  Perhaps, but the best story comes from her time as a cashier at Skaggs Drug.
A guy comes up with some condoms and Tomi, being young and naïve (high-school, 1974ish) called for a price check on Trojans.  
OVER THE INTERCOM!!

And that is my Tomi Story!
See... I do know everything!  About all my Friends!
And I never forget!! 

Below is a photo of Tomi (on the right) and our good friend Dink Gootman Schemenkminor on the left.  (it's a long story---her professional social worker peers just call her Dorothy Minor)
Dink/Dorothy never was on the Friday Friend Forum.  She said she didn't do computers once she was off work.
We've been friends for year, so once in a while I'll stick her photo in here too!

This was at one of my son's wedding receptions about 17 years ago.

Well I spent this past weekend trying to figure out exactly how many recipes I have left to do.

I have made 257 recipes.

This one will make 239 I've posted.

When I did a count of recipes not made yet, I came up with 99.

THEN I crossed referenced how many recipes of each Friday Friend I had left to make and I came up with 100.

I will recount sometime this week, as this will drive me crazy!

But for now--- this is where we stand.

My friends I bring to you recipe #239

Only 128 left to go!

(or 127 if my count is wrong )

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!