Question of the Day, Friday, May 6

Good morning!   And Happy Friday! 

Rick gets hungry for spaghetti and sometimes I don't have any sauce in the freezer and I don't really feel like making a pasta sauce. Yes, I know; it's easy and it doesn't take long. But sometimes I just don't feel like it. I usually keep a jar of sauce on hand in the pantry for super quick meals, usually whatever happens to be on sale at the store. I'll put it over spaghetti and, sometimes, will doctor it to use for a quick pizza sauce.

What's your favorite prepared sauce? From a jar? From a package?  

Pesto.

It's actually one of the very few things I know how to make myself, so when the basil grows in my planters I'm going to start making some.

We're big on Alfredo here.  I make it from scratch - the jarred versions really don't taste fresh or authentic to me. 

Pesto is a win too, in the summer when fresh basil is abundant.

We don't eat too much red sauce here, it tends to give both of us heartburn sometimes, so I don't make it from scratch - or rarely. Plus we don't like pasta over sauced so jarred actually lasts through 2-3 meals for us.  I like either Rao's or Mario Batali's jarred sauces.  Wegmans supermarket makes a good one also called (I think) Grandpa's Sunday Sauce which is a lot less expensive.  I buy that if the others aren't on sale.

my favorite is red pasta sauce in jars, Wegmans brand. however, most times i'll by the lower cost Aldi's jar pasta sauce. it tastes good enough, certainly doesn't taste bad, and it suits my frugal tendency/saving for home improvements goals.

i also love pesto, but don't buy it often. when i do, it's the jars from the grocers.

Prego roasted garlic and parmesan . The three cheese kind is good too but a little bland without the garlic. I love sauce; I like to have more sauce than pasta, lol. I also use it to dip pizza in, when I make a frozen pizza. They just don't use enough sauce for my taste! Costco brand is OK but the jar is too big, I wouldn't use it all before it went bad.

I've heard the Aldi brand is pretty good. But Aldi in Sioux Falls doesn't open until next Thursday, and I like to give new stores a month or 2 for the crowds to get tired of them, so I guess I'll have to wait a little to try it :lol3:.

I usually get the Kroger store brand, either roasted pepper and garlic or chunky garden style.

Classico pesto.  Although, as soon as I can afford a food processor, I'll be making my own.  I have about 200 pesto recipes.  I've made probably 50 of those.  I love good pesto. 

As far as tomato sauces, it doesn't matter what brand.  i'm going to add so much to it anyhow, it will become "my" sauce.  I do love to make it from scratch, tho, and I need to buy a huge stock pot for doing so...I start with the whole tomatoes, and cook it for 12 or more hours.  If I add meat, I add it raw and let it cook for 8 of those hours,,,that way the sauce is permeated with the taste of the meat, and the meat is very thoroughly cooked.

I make my own hollandaise...in fact, i've learned to do all five of the Mother Sauces, and many of their "children."  i don't do them often, but I do know how.

I prefer to make my own tomato sauce, but in a pinch I will use the bottled Classico Tomato & Basil.

I love alfredo, and definitely prefer it when I make it myself. Which I have only done about three times. But seriously, it was fantastic. Second best - alfredo from Olive Garden. Seriously yum yum.

I don't use sauce much, and if I make my own, it is usually lousy   (like the homemade macaroni and cheese I made today)!   However, my favorite is in a jar from The Silver Palate brand, Low Sodium Marinara.  I like it because it is light on the spices and sodium.  Nice mild flavor.  The Guy Fieri bottled sauces are good too, but I have to watch my sodium.

I don't really have a favorite jarred sauce althought right now I really like the Wegman's brand of sauces.

I notice Wegman's is getting thumbs up.  I will have to try it.  I do not go often because the closest store is 30 minutes east of me, but I will look for it next time I go.

I love Wegmans. It is by far my favorite store. The only time I can go to one is when I go visit my brother in Virginia. We don't have one near me but hopefully one day we will have one. I don't know if it still is but at one time Wegmans was the number one store in the US.