My friend Yvonne Therrien shared her sparerib recipe with me. She has made this recipe for over 50 years and it is still her family’s favourite way to enjoy spare ribs.
The cheesecake recipe was from a co-worker of hers during the early 1970s at a Toronto library. Each payday someone would bake something special for their co-workers and Mary Yarhi, Yvonne’s friend, baked this cheesecake. It was so good that she just had to have the recipe and Yvonne still enjoys making it for her family.
I recently made this beef and cheese pasta and it was really tasty. I used tomato sauce instead of tomato puree and my own Italian seasoning instead of the basil, oregano, parsley, and thyme. This is definitely a recipe I would make again. I am going to try it with ground chicken and chicken broth instead of the beef. I froze the leftover portions.
I had a can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls that was soon going to expire according to the date on the can, so I decided to bake them. I used some of the remainder from the package of cream cheese for the beef and pasta dish and cut it up into pieces. I unrolled the crescent rolls and spread a teaspoonful of orange marmalade on them. I put the piece of cream cheese on them and rolled each one up into a ball. I then baked them on a cookie sheet as per the directions on the can and I really liked them.
Spareribs a’ la Yvonne
- 4 lbs. spareribs
- 1 cup sliced onion
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup vinegar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp. paprika
Preheat oven to 350. Cut spareribs into serving pieces. Brown them in a baking pan with a small amount of oil over low heat until they have browned a bit. Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the ribs. Cover pan and bake for 1 ¾ hours then spoon the sauce back over the ribs. Do this two or three times while they are baking. Uncover them and bake 15 minutes more. Enjoy.
Pasta and Ground Beef
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp. oregano
- ½ tsp. basil
- ½ tsp. parsley
- ½ tsp. thyme
- Salt
- Pepper
- 8 oz. pasta shells
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 – 15 oz. can tomato puree
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Dice the onion and mince the garlic cloves. In a large saucepan cook the beef and onion together over medium high heat, breaking the meat up as it cooks. This will take about 15 minutes. Drain any excess grease from it. Add the garlic and spices and mix together, cooking about a minute more. Add the pasta and the rest of the ingredients, except the cheeses, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the pasta is tender and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile cut the cream cheese into small pieces. Turn the heat off and mix in the cheeses, letting them melt into the sauce. Serve.
HINT: When making pastry, freeze the butter for at least 30 minutes and then grate it.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Kindness is like snow; it beautifies everything it covers.
