Courthouse Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce

Welcome to my first foray into Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook. I approached this with caution given my past experience with Alice's Brady Bunch Cookbook, but optimistically as well since things didn't seem too bad with Mary Ann's Gilligan Island Cookbook. Afterall, you can't judge a book, or a sitcom, by it's cover. Except, why do books have covers if not to be judged by them? Anyway, I have to say this recipe had trouble from the start given the anachronism of the notion of a crock pot in Mayberry. We know that the crock pot "technology" was not commercially available in the early 1960s (for a complete crack pot's crock pot history,  see Split Peabody and Sherman Soup). Nevertheless, I  proceeded, mostly because I had all of the ingredients in the pantry/fridge. What resulted (in less than half the time and portion size the book stated!) was a fairly decent bolognese - not a term that would have been uttered in Mayberry, I realize. It actually reminded me of meat sauce served in one on my favorite Italian restaurants from my childhood - DeLuca's - which my really old friends (who, ironically are the same age as me) may also remember. In the future, I would make this recipe from the past again, only I would double the ingredients because although it said it served 6, it really was only enough for 3. And, possibly cut the cooking time because although the recipe said 10 hours, it smelled like it was burning after about six.

The Andy Griffith Show set in Mayberry, Hometown, USA.  A true fixture in my 1970s childhood of reruns. Featuring Andy Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor and of course the great Don Knotts (see The Ghost and Mr Chicken Pot Pie) as Deputy Barney Fife. While Andy's Aunt Bee and son Opie (a very young Ron Howard) kept the home fires burning, Andy and Barney played host to a town full of kooks at Mayberry's courthouse, which next to Floyd's Barbershop (both literally and figuratively) was the center of "downtown" Mayberry.  It was also a gathering place for folks like confirmed bachelor Howard Sprague and filling station attendant Gomer Pyle (aka Jim Nabors) until he joined the Marines and was replaced by Goober Pyle (who I think was his non-identical cousin). It was also where they regularly jailed the town sot, Otis Campbell, and were flummoxed by the perpetual nuttiness of chicken thief Ernest T. Bass. Occasionally, some law and order took place by the sheriff without a gun and his bumbling deputy, like when grifters posing as FBI agents came to town ostensibly to admire Mayberry's crime fighting techniques. In reality, they really came to case the bank, and luckily Andy figured this out all the while Barney waxed poetic about the new jail in Mt. Pilot. Hijinks, and a lesson or two always ensued, making me want to whistle my way all the way to the fishin hole....

The Recipe:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, browned
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
1 14 1/2 ounce can tomatoes
2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf

In a crock pot combine all of the ingredients. Stir thoroughly and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours (or 6), or on high for 4 to 5 hours. Serves 6 (or 3).