Basement Spaghetti

Last week I was seriously starving . . . After deciding that my ever diminishing bank-account would not be turned to as a source of food, I decided to actually make something to eat. In the past, during those
trying days in Warsaw and Vilna, when normal food was scarce and dinner tended to be buleczki and potatoes, I would often make food. Now, however, ingredients cost money (as opposed to raiding the kitchen) and so my cooking has been rather limited.

Driven by hunger, though, I managed to find enough random ingridiants to make a lunch: Tell me what you think.

• Spaghetti -brought to a boil in water and cooked until Al Dante

The sauce:

• Olives (from my roommate)
  
• Unger's cut Sweet Peppers (left unopened from the Amazing Yankel's B'day farbrengen)
  
• Olive oil (No it wasn't left over from Chanukah . . . I hope)
  
• Pepper
  
• Garlic Powder (As I've mentioned in the past, in 712 we never seem to be able to buy enough of it)
  
• Oregano (Don't move into a Crown Heights Basement with out it)
• Ketchup (Probably the universal condiment)
  
• Skhug (Normally used to spice up chumus, schnitzel or cold cuts -but it works)
  
• Soave Wine (2003 vintage -bought as a 'fancy' wine from Ebers . . . it aint)
  
• Fresh Lemon Juice (My roommates have the bottled stuff, but I find it gross . . . only use the freshly squeezed)
• Basil

As usual some facts to chew on while eating -care of Wikipedia:

• The source of the word Skhug is the Arabic سحق (Skhuk) and is a cognate of the Hebrew word שחיקה (to grind)
• In many midwestern regions of the United States the Sweet Bell Pepper is commonly called a mango.
• green olive and black olive are from the same plant; green olives are pickled before being ripened, black olives after.
• The health effects of wine (and alcohol in general) are the
  subject of considerable ongoing study. In the United States, a boom in
  red wine consumption was initiated in the 1990s . . . by news reports
  on the French paradox. The French paradox refers to the comparatively
  lower incidence of coronary heart disease in France despite high levels
  of saturated fat in the traditional French diet. Epidemiologists
  suspect that this difference is due to the high consumption of wines by
  the French, but the scientific evidence for this theory is currently
  limited.
• Spaghetti is the plural form of the Italian word spaghetto, which
  is a diminutive of spago, meaning "thin string" or "twine". The word
  spaghetti can be literally translated as "little strings".
• There are many rituals and beliefs associated with basil. The French call basil "l'herbe royale". Jewish folklore suggests it adds strength while fasting.
• Heinz tomato ketchup was [originaly] advertised: "Blessed relief for Mother and the other women in the household!"
  

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