Free Republic

Sunday gravy may be the most indelible image of Italian-American culture. Sunday gravy – also called Sunday sauce — is a meat and tomato sauce served over pasta and a staple of home cooking in American cities with a large Italian immigrant population. A vat of sauce overflowing with sausage, meatballs, ribs, or whatever else your family told you was essential to making it, it's not a subtle dish. Instead, it's a weekly celebration, an embrace of bounty, and a tribute to the joy of food in one pot. Sunday gravy is also a classic family dish, not only because...

Ragu dared to go there. In its new commercial for pasta sauce, a young boy walks into his parents room without knocking. Need we say more? "A long day of childhood calls for America's favorite pasta sauce," says the narrator. Walking in on your parents or having your kid walk in on you might be a moment you want to forget. However, it would seem that the folks at Ragu want you to remember it every time you have spaghetti marinara. This commercial aired during NBC's Sunday evening coverage of the Olympics, a time when families might be sitting around...