6 sweet sausages
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1/ 4 cup green pepper, chopped
1/ 4 cup red pepper, chopped
1 15 ounce can Goya Green Pigeon Peas, undrained
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
2 envelopes Sazon Goya con Cilantro y Achiote
3 cups long grain rice, rinsed
3 cups water

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add crumbled sausage meat and cook through or until there is no pink coloring. Add the garlic, onion and peppers. Saute for a few minutes. Add pigeon peas and tomato sauce, along with the Sazon seasoning.
Simmer for another few minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put the 3 cups of rice in a bowl and add cold water to cover the rice. Let it sit for a few minutes, and then drain the water from the bowl.
3. Put the pot on a low- medium flame. Add rice and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the water. Cover the pot. Cook for 30 to 45 minutes or until water is absorbed. (In between, stir the rice once after water is absorbed and put the flame on low.)
Serve immediately.
4. Options – Substitute sausage with chicken or pork or ham steak or prepare the rice meatless.
5. Makes about 8 servings.
ENJOY – You don’t have to be Spanish to love Spanish rice!

My high school prom was June 1974.

The passage of nearly 40 years has not diminished my wonderful memories of the Monsignor Scanlan prom; reminiscing about that night still fills me with joy and gratitude. I look back at my childhood friendships with Julianne and Linda who bonded with me from our first days of starting Monsignor Scanlon, and whose friendships I still cherish. We ate lunch together every day in the cafeteria, attended some classes together, and shared young girls’ dreams about our futures. When our senior prom was planned, it was a given that we would go together with our dates in one limo and sit together at the same table. Our prom was held at the Marina Del Ray catering hall in “The Bronx”. My beloved Uncle Dom, a father figure to me since my Dad passed when I was only 12, had made a few suggestions about where to go after the prom. The real fun started after the prom dinner and began with a night on the town in Manhattan. Our first stop was Rodney Dangerfield’s Comedy Club. We had front row seats and Mr. Dangerfield actually headlined that night! Next up was the Rainbow Room in the Empire State Building, another suggestion my uncle had made. To our delight and unbeknownst to us, my uncle reserved a really good table adorned with 2 bottles of champagne already ordered and paid for. In a club that was so sophisticated and classy, we felt like adults on top of the world and acted as such. To top off this amazing evening, we headed to the Staten Island Ferry which was considered a traditional ending to prom night at the time. Before we knew it, it was 6:30 a.m. and we were back at Linda’s house for rides home. It was a night to remember forever.

Today, I live in New York, Julianne in New Mexico and Linda in Connecticut. Different locations have not kept us apart. Julianne occasionally visits New York, and during those visits the three of us always manage to figure out how to connect. Last year, for the first time, Linda and I flew to New Mexico to stay with Julianne for a few days. We laughed, we cried, and we bonded as if we never left high school.

Proms usually represent an end to high school friendships. However, what I really know for sure is that my Monsignor Scanlan prom proved to be the beginning of treasured, life-long friendships.