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I was born and raised in St. Anthony Village, MN, which is just on the edge of Northeast Mpls. There was a small grocery store, and I mean small, named "Delmonico's. The Minneapolis Italian Food Specialty Store," a few miles from our home but I'm not certain if it's still there. They sold authentic Italian foods: pasta, tomato products, Italian seasonings, always a good supply of fresh garlic and ricotta cheese (Italian cream cheese), canned anchovies, a variety of Italian meats and several kinds of cheeses and breads. The store was in a "not many Italian people" area but they were always busy. While looking through my recipe files for what to write about today, I came across a flyer from Delcomico's in my Italian file dated October, 1978, which was a long time ago... the paper is even yellow! It has a few recipes and some info regarding how many cups, cooked or uncooked pasta equals how many ounces or pounds. Here is what it says: Eight ounces uncooked macaroni, shells, twists (corkscrew), rigatoni and fine, medium or wide egg noodles equal about 4 cups cooked. Eight ounces uncooked spaghetti will equal about 3 to 3-1/2 c. cooked, with extra thin (vermicelli or angel hair) equaling the smaller amount. Clip that part of this column and put it in your cookbook to refer to when you're not sure how much to cook.

Finally, it's Italian style recipes, from Delmonico's flyer.

RIGATONI WITH SAUSAGE 'N TOMATO SAUCE

1 lb. rigatoni pasta

5 qts. water

2 T. salt (I would skip the salt)

Romano cheese, grated (could substitute with Parmesan but Romano is better)

Cook rigatoni, al dente (cooked until just firm to the bite) in salted boiling water for about 20 minutes. Don't overcook. Drain and serve with the following sauce and Romano cheese.

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SAUSAGE 'N TOMATO SAUCE

1 lb. Italian sausage

1/4 c. olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-1/2 c. Italian tomatoes, crushed

15 oz. can tomato pasta

15 oz. tomato pasta can water

2 fresh basil leaves or 1 T. dry basil leaves

Pinch of salt

1/8 t. powdered oregano

1/4 t. pepper

1-4 oz. cans mushroom pieces

In a large sauce pan, fry sausage until no longer pink. Remove sausage into a bowl with a slotted spoon; set aside. With oil left in skillet, saute onion and garlic until lightly browned. Add rest of ingredients and simmer, covered, over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain rigatoni and sprinkle with cheese; combine with sauce and serve. It doesn't say how many servings but I would guess about 12. If there are leftovers, put it in the fridge and it will taste even better in a couple of days.

Note: I would start cooking the Rigatoni about 15 minutes before the sauce is ready, so it's hot.

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You might like to serve this salad with the Rigatoni

ITALIAN COLE SLAW

1 small onion, minced

1/4 c. vegetable oil (I would use canola oil)

1 t. sugar

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1 clover garlic, minced

1-2 oz. can anchovies

1 small head of cabbage (about 2 lbs., or 4 c.), shredded

1 medium carrot, grated

Put first five ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Simmer 1 minutes. Remove from heat and add anchovies. Cool. Put rest of ingredients in a large bowl; pour dressing over and toss lightly or fold in dressing. Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours. I'm thinking this amount would serve 8-10.

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CANNOLI CAKE

1 regular size lemon cake mix

1/2 c. oil (I use canola oil)

4 eggs

1 c. milk

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients; mix thoroughly. Pour into a greased and lightly floured 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 12-15 servings.

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CANNOLI FROSTING

2 c. Ricotta cheese, room temp.

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

In a medium bowl beat all ingredients until creamy. Spread over cooled cake. Dot with maraschino cherries if you wish.

TFD: We don't quit because we grow older...we grow older because we don't quit!

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