Leap Year Thursday

Most of us know why we have Leap Years. Our calendar is based on how long it takes the earth to travel around the sun. While the calendar says 365 days, that’s not entirely accurate. It actually takes a little longer. The Gregorian calculation of a solar year is 365.2425 days, and that’s not perfect.

Julius Caesar was actually the first to introduce the concept of Leap Day. During his time in Egypt, Caesar became convinced that the Egyptian solar calendar, which featured 365 days and an occasional intercalary month which was inserted when astronomers observed certain conditions in the stars was far superior to the Roman calendar. Caesar thought it was far easier to add an extra day every forth year than to make calculations on based on the stars, thus Leap Day was born. To make adjustment, Caesar also added two extra long months to the year 46 BCE. Unfortunately, his math was still off.

By the 16th century scholars noticed that time was still slipping. Caesar’s calculations overestimated the solar year by 11 minutes. While that might not sound like much, it created a problem within the Catholic Church. Easter had drifted away from its traditional place as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox by roughly 10 days. (Yeah, that’s confusing all on its own, which is why I rely on my Parish calendar and those far wised than me to tell me when to celebrate Easter). Anyway, Pope Gregory XIII commissioned a modified calendar to correct the problem. Leap Day every four years still existed, but was eliminated on centurial years not divisible by 400. (In case you were wondering 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, while 2000 was). While the Gregorian calculations are still off, it’s only off by about a day every 3,030 years – so it will be a while before further adjustments are necessary.

One final note on Leap Day itself. Tradition holds that in 5th century Ireland, Saint Brigid has complained to Saint Patrick that women were not allowed to propose marriage to men. I’m not sure why she would complain, but legend has it that she did. Anyway, Saint Patrick came up with a solution. Women would be free to propose to men only on a day that does not occur annually. That would be Leap Day. When I was a girl, we had a Sadie Hawkins Dance held on Leap Day. Girls were to ask boys to the dance. And did we have a field day with that!

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Today is also Thursday. Now if you’ve been around a while, you know I like to whip up something Tuscan inspired on Thursdays. Growing up, my mom never opened a jar of pasta sauce. She used canned tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce with a big helping of spices to make a sauce that old school delicious. Every now and again, I like to do the same. My guys really liked this simple yet delicious supper. Hope you give it a try.

Simple Spaghetti
1/2 small Yellow Onion
4 Garlic Cloves
1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 lb Ground Beef
Black Pepper to taste
1 (16 oz) can Diced Tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can Tomato Sauce
1 (6 oz) can Tomato Paste
1 cup Beef Stock
Dried Basil to taste
1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1-1/2 teaspoons crushed Oregano
Pinch Red Pepper Flakes
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
12 oz Spaghetti Pasta

Cut onion in half, reserve half for another purpose. Peel and dice remaining half. Peel and dice garlic, set aside.

Using a large skillet, cook onions and garlic in a small amount of olive oil until tender, about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add ground beef, break up meat with a spatula as it cooks. Drain most of the grease from the skillet, return meat mixture to the pan. Season with pepper.

Add diced tomatoes with liquid, tomato sauce, tomato paste and beef stock to the skillet. Stir to blend. Season with basil, garlic salt, oregano, pepper flakes and Italian Seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken as it cooks.

While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta al-dente, about 11 minutes.

Using a spaghetti server (long handled spoon-claw) to lift pasta from the water and transfer to the sauce. Stir to blend. If needed, ladle some of the pasta cooking water into the sauce to thin as desired.

Serve and enjoy with slices of Rosemary Pizza Bread.

Garlic Pizza Bread with Rosemary and Tomatoes
1 (10 oz) tube Refrigerated Pizza Crust
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
3 sprigs Rosemary
8 Grape Tomatoes or more
Olive Oil as needed
Salt to taste

Heat oven to 425-degrees. Remove dough from the refrigerator, open packaging and lay out on a cutting board for about 20 minutes. This will make the dough easier to work with.

While the dough rests, peel and finely mince garlic. Strip rosemary needles from springs. Slice tomatoes into thin rounds. Set aside until ready to use.

Brush cooking stone with olive oil. Light oil hands with a little olive oil, too. Stretch and press pizza crust into a 12-inch circle on the baking stone. This will take a few minutes, be patient and don’t force the dough too quickly.

Brush the top of the pizza crust with olive oil. Lightly sprinkle with a kiss of salt. Scatter rosemary needles, minced garlic and slices of tomato as desired all around the pizza bread.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until beautifully brown. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

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Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.