EASY RECIPE
How about a super easy great meatball and bow tie pasta recipe that has a simple but delicious sauce? I’ve got just the thing.
Recipe serves 4.
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. pork breakfast sausage
Bow tie pasta
7 oz tomato sauce (about half can)
1/2 red bell pepper – thin slices
1/2 green bell pepper – thin slices
1/2 onion – sliced in rounds and halved
1/4 C fresh basil – chopped
1/4 C red wine
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese – grated
1 and 1/4 tsp fresh oregano – minced
1 tsp cilantro – minced
2 cloves garlic – minced
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme – minced
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
In a large mixing bowl add ground beef, and sausage (remove casing if sausage is not in bulk form). Add cilantro, thyme, garlic, 1/4 tsp oregano, and Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
Mix the meat and herbs with hands, and then form 12 meatballs.
In a large pot add olive oil and heat to medium. Add red and green peppers, onion, and saute for 2 minutes.
To pot add tomato sauce, red wine, oregano, basil and salt and pepper. Simmer while preparing the pasta and meatballs .
Prepare pasta in amounts and as directed on box.
In a large fry pan, fry the meatballs on medium high heat turning often until cooked through (time depends on size, make a slice in one you will eat to check). When done set aside and cover with foil if pasta not yet done.
Plate pasta and 3 meatballs for each serving. Add sauce to pasta and meatballs, and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Sit back and enjoy your super good and easy meatball and bow tie pasta dinner.
AND STUFF
Encore – Memorial Day Salute
I have always loved air shows. When growing up my parents would take my brother and me to air shows at the Minot Air Force Base. I remember as a child watching in awe as the USAF Thunderbirds performed precision maneuvers in their brightly colored jets. Later we waited for an F-106 Delta Dart to do a fly by at a speed above the sound barrier. The air show announcer kept announcing how close the jet was getting and then, he instructed us to look to the east, and just then the Delta Dart jet burst silently into view and streaked past overhead, followed a moment later by the blast of the sound barrier and the roar of the engines. Back “in the day” things were a little looser in the world and if you were at a military air show in the geographical center of nowhere military jets were allowed to break the sound barrier at air shows, and man was that cool. I carried on the tradition of attending air shows with my wife and children.
One of my vacation ideas is the great air show held at the famous Top Gun School in Miramar, California. Nowadays, the planes are not allowed to break the sound barrier, and the shows are masterfully controlled to assure the safety of the crowd and the pilots.
At Miramar they put on a show to be remembered. But in the morning I like to view the planes displayed on the tarmac. It is just amazing to walk around and examine up close just about every type of airplane that exists. The display includes amongst other aircraft, WWII airplanes, Cobra or Apache Helicopter Gunships, the F-14 Tomcat, an F-18 Hornet, and even a B-52 Bomber likely flown in from my hometown. And I even got to walk up the ramp and through the cargo hold of the gigantic C5 Galaxy transport plane. One year they even had a stealth fighter on display with a rope around it so you could not get too close, and to make sure distance was maintained every so many feet an armed Marine kept watch.
Viewing the static plane display would be enough for me, but the show just keeps building. Next they start the civilian stunt pilot show which exhibits the skills of amazingly talented civilian pilots.
And finally it is time for the military show to start. The military portion of the air show starts with the Army Golden Knights parachuting in freefall and then grouping together one by one to form a stack formation, which from the ground looks like each Golden Knight is standing on the Golden Knight below him.
The last Golden Knight trails the American Flag for presentation. Finally, they break formation and each Golden Knight performs a stand-up landing on the designated dot right in front of the crowd. What an inspiring way to present the Flag.
After the Anthem is song, the show kicks into high gear as the Marines execute a full Air-Ground Assault Demo. The Demo includes: Harrier jets, attack helicopters, heavy lift helicopters carrying Marines, canons, and assault vehicles, and it is all executed in perfect precision. They even simulate bombing runs with pyrotechnics producing blasts so large you can feel the heat. 
At the completion of the Demo the young Marines parade by the viewing stand on foot, or sitting atop tanks and assault vehicles to the nonstop ovation of the crowd.
At Miramar, the last event of the day is always the Navy Blue Angels who demonstrate the absolute ultimate in precision flying skills.
All too soon, the inspiring, and at times emotional, show is over and it’s time for the crowd of thousands to leave. While walking with the mass of people along well controlled paths, on the way the way to the parking area, I passed many young men and women Marines offering assistance and directions. I saw our servicemen and women up close. I saw their young faces, their proud focused eyes, and observed how well they conducted themselves. They are maybe 19 or 20 years old. And then it hits me, the show stopper is not the wonderful airplanes and complex equipment. No, the show stopper is the marvelous young men and women of the United States Armed Forces. We are so blessed by their devotion to God and Country.
While enjoying your Memorial Day barbecue, take a moment and join me in remembering our heroes.
Good Eating and Table Talk,
Roger
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