Tomato sauce

Ingredients:
Crushed plum or vine-ripened tomatoes, 16 oz (alternatively, 3 cups of chopped fresh plum or vine-ripened tomatoes)
Garlic, crushed, about 5 cloves
Crushed hot red pepper flakes, 1 tsp (alternatively, 1 chopped Italian long hot pepper)
Salt, 1 tsp
Sugar, 1/2 tsp
Fresh basil, chopped, 1/4 cup
Flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped, 1/4 cup
Olive oil
Water, 1/4 can (1/2 cup)

Directions:
1. Sauté garlic in olive oil until softened.
2. Add remaining ingredients and simmer about 30 minutes.
3. Serve over pasta, with lasagne or eggplant involtini or drizzled over mozzarella in carrozza.

The story:

My grandparents and
my aunt Ann Marie, c. 1945

My grandfather Peter grew his own tomatoes, hot peppers, and herbs. When he came home from work, he would take off tie, suit jacket, white shirt, dress pants and shoes and go to tend his garden. (There were actually two - a small one behind the garage of the house where my mother grew up, where my great-grandparents, grandparents, great-aunt Na and their children all lived, and another, larger one at my aunt Ann's house.)  His ingredients were always fresh from the garden, so he made the best sauces. My grandmother Ida canned the fresh tomatoes with basil for the winter.

My grandfather Peter after gardening,
with his two oldest grandchildren,
my cousins Michael and Lisa, August 1967