a surprise for my mouth

spaghetti is a favorite dish around here. i have eaten it for as long as i can remember, starting early in life when my two sisters and i consumed countless cans of store-bought chef boyardee pasta for our supper. my mother was such an inventive cook during my childhood.

later on, as a young adult, i continued to eat large amounts of home-made spaghetti noodles, along with meatballs and tomato sauce.

then at some point i became jaded with the fare, and so returned to basics, adding only satisfying butter, salt and pepper to the pasta.

one night i had dinner with a friend who made and served up a typical meal of spaghetti, meatballs and sauce, but it had an unusual twist.

he offered me a small jar and invited me to try some of the green and pea-sized capers it contained.

spread some over your noodles, he suggested, so i did.

whoa! now that new taste sensation had me hooked all over again, at least for awhile.

then on a different occasion, i enjoyed another home-cooked meal with an italian friend of mine who had married a wonderful japanese lady. they both were gracious to me on that evening.

kimmy was already an excellent cook when she married don, but had since learned a few new tricks from her mother-in-law.

after he and i were seated, she sat a large plate before me, heaped with nothing but plain noodles. a steaming bowl of tomato sauce sat nearby, which i reached for and helped my self.

but as i began to eat, i discovered unfamiliar things lurking under my pile of spaghetti.

"what are these?", i asked, poking at two long objects with my fork.

don replied,

"those are italian sausages. you gotta try 'em."

so i did, and thereby discovered something wonderful again.

I am so pleased i got to meet kim that night and enjoy her creative cooking.

today, i refuse to eat spaghetti without having both capers and hot italian sausage to go along with the meal.

tomato sauce is still optional.