Joanie's Sweet & Sour Sausage

They say, " You can't choose your family but you can choose your friends." My brother, Tommy's wife, Joan is family. What makes her so special is that she is also my friend and has been for the past 47 years.

Joanie has always been somewhat of a novelty in our family....a petite, 5 foot, blonde with green eyes. Poppa Sal loved to tease with her. His face would light up every time she came to visit. At first, my mom wondered how this little girl was going to be able to take of her 6 ft. 3 in. son....but Joanie did. You know what they say about great things in small packages.

To this day, we're back and forth on the phone, especially during the holiday season, comparing notes in order to ace the traditional recipes. Over the years, she's mastered our family's recipes and has introduced a few of her own like this one.

Joanie's Sweet & Sour Sausage

1 lb sweet Italian sausage
1 large onion, sliced
3 -5 Tbs Grandma's Molasses
1 jar of Marinara Sauce**

Put sausage in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer for 30 minutes. Cool, drain, slice sausage and put in a casserole dish. Saute onion in about 1 Tbs oil. Add marinara sauce and molasses and simmer for about 15 minutes. Pour over sausage. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

**Aunt Millie's marinara sauce was the one originally used in this recipe to which 3 tbs of molasses was added. Since, it's almost impossible to find Aunt Millie's sauce, you can use any jarred Marinara Sauce but the molasses will need to be adjusted accordingly . The sauce should be more brown than red in color.

*You can double or triple this recipe as needed. Recommended that you make it the night before. Yummy!!