Tossing Santos

Above: Digital Illustration.
Disgraced Congressman George Santos is soon expected to be expelled from Congress.
©2023 Daniel Boris

Elon's Enemies

Above: Digital Illustration.
Elon Musk made news again this week.
Below: Sketch.
©2023 Daniel Boris

Editor's Choice!

 

Above: Digital Illustration.
The cartoon I created yesterday was selected as the Editor's Choice
on the international Cartoon Movement website.
©2023 Daniel Boris

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

Above: Digital Illustration.
Below: Sketch
©2023 Daniel Boris

My Grandma's Spaghetti and Meatball Recipe

(Above Photo: Meatball Ingredients)
Today I am taking a break from the usual editorial cartoon posts to document my Italian grandmother's delicious spaghetti and meatball recipe.

My grandparents on my mother's side were off-the-boat Italians who moved to America and became American citizens in the middle of the 20th Century. Some of my best childhood memories include visits to my grandparent's home in Altoona Pennsylvania, and enjoying my grandmother Rubino's amazing Italian cooking. Everything she cooked was nearly entirely made from scratch. Her signature dishes included spaghetti, lasagna, pasta fagioli, pastine soup, and of course Italian bread.

Below I have posted -- to the best of my family's recollection -- my Grandma's spaghetti and meatball recipe. And a quote I'll never forget that my dad once uttered as we were all enjoying that very meal:

"I believe the greatness that once was Rome is now embodied in your grandmother's cooking."

---

 Grandma Rubino’s Spaghetti Sauce and Meatball Recipe
(serves 8-12 people):

    Materials Needed:
    -Two large frying pans.
    -Two large (sauce) pots.
    -One large bowl (or two smaller bowls).
    -Cooktop/Stovetop.

    Ingredients:
    -Approximately 2lbs Italian Sausage (both sweet and spicy).
    -Approximately 6lbs of Ground Beef (80/20 lean/fat ratio).
    -Six 1lb/13oz cans of tomato sauce.
    - Parmigiano reggiano cheese.
    -Onions.
    -Garlic.
    -Oregano.
    -Parsley.
    -Basil.
    -Olive Oil.
    -Eggs.
    -Salt.
    -Sugar.
    -Italian bread crumbs.
    -Milk.

    ——

    Preparing the Meatballs:
    In a large bowl (or two smaller bowls):
    -Add ground beef.
    -Add 1 egg per pound of ground beef.
    -Add 1 large onion, diced finely.
    -Add approximately half cup of bread crumbs.
    -Add 1/4 cup milk.
    -Add a little garlic powder.
    -Add a little salt/pepper.
    -Mix ingredients.
    -Roll meatballs until ingredients are gone.

    ——

    Creating the Spaghetti Sauce:
    -Coat bottom of frying pan in olive oil and apply medium heat.
    -Add chopped, or very thin slices of garlic. Cook garlic until lightly brown.
    -Add 1 1/2 large onions and Sauté until onions are soft.
    -Evenly add onions/garlic into two separate large pots, then add 6 1lb/13oz cans of tomato sauce evenly into each pot.
    *Add a little water to each can in order to extract any remaining tomato sauce from the cans.
    -Add oregano, parsley, and parmigiano reggiano (roughly one tablespoon of each).
    -Add tablespoon of sugar to balance out bitter tomato taste.

    ——

    Cooking the Meat:

    Meatballs:
    -In a large frying pan coated with olive oil, sear both sides of  each meatball until brown. Do not cook the meatballs completely as sauce will finish cooking them, and also blend/meld the flavors in the spaghetti sauce.
    *This process will take some time as you can only add so many meatballs comfortably into a pan at a time.

    💡Pro Tip:
    -If meatballs start splitting, take care to cook that side of the meatball so it doesn’t fall apart (when adding to the sauce pot).
    -After cooking sausages and meatballs, add remaining oils and fats from pan into the sauce.

    Sausages:
    -In a large frying pan, cook sausages separately by packaging, until brown on both sides. Once browned, add to sauce, distributing links evenly between the two large pots of sauce.

    -Add all of the meat evenly between the two sauce pots as it is cooked, including the fried juices.

    ——

    Additional Cooking Instructions:

    Cook everything on low heat/simmer for a minimum of 4 hours.

    💡Pro Tip:
    -Avoid stirring sauce for first hour as the meatballs may fall apart!

    For additional cosmic mojo, remember to pause, face the general direction of Italy and say,
“Thank you Maria Rubino!”

Buono Appetito!

Penguin Joins the Presidential Race

Above: Digital Illustration.

Is it just me, or does Donald Trump sound like a criminal villain straight out of the pages of a comic book? It started back in 2022 when the criminally indicted former president stated that if he becomes president again, he will issue full pardons and a government apology to rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and violently attacked law enforcement to stop the democratic transfer of power. Recently Trump expanded on the comic book super villain rhetoric.

“I mean full pardons with an apology to many,”
"If I win, I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons, full pardons."
-Donald Trump September 1, 2022

[ Seriously? We're officially in a Gothem City Twilight Zone now, folks. ]

Below: Sketches.
©2023 Daniel Boris

 

 

The Antisemitic X Factor

Above: Digital Illustration.
Antisemites are saying Elon Musk is on their side after his latest tweets about Jews.
©2023 Daniel Boris 

Dictator Wannabe

Above: Digital Illustration.
Former criminally indicted president Donald Trump's use of the word 'vermin' draws comparisons to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
©2023 Daniel Boris

Commemorative U.S. Stamp Design: "American Organized Crime Bosses"

Above: Digital Illustration.
Commemorative U.S. Stamp Design: American Crime Bosses.
Below: Sketches.
©2023 Daniel Boris 

Peace Out, Pandas!

Above: Digital Illustration.
The Washington D.C. National Zoo’s panda program is ending after more than 50 years. The Pandas are returning to China.
Below: Sketch.
©2023 Daniel Boris

Surfs Up!

Above: Digital Illustration.
Once again Democrats win on big issues on election night.
©2023 Daniel Boris

ME the People

Above: Digital Illustration.
©2023 Daniel Boris

Middle East Push Pin

Above: Digital Illustration.
©2023 Daniel Boris