Bolognese

I made a ton of it yesterday. Enough for 3-5 meals for the two of us. I started with onions and garlic and took out the meat, 1.5 lbs lean ground beef (turned on me) and five mild Italian sausage links that I took out of the casings and crumbled. I stopped everything and went and bought more ground beef. Two 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes, 2/3 of a 6 oz can of tomato paste, salt, pepper, peperoncino, oregano and basil went in.

You know by now that I’m not using my own pots and pans, only the 3-4 I bought for ourselves but I sauteed everything in a pan we bought, then had to move it to the pasta pan, which had so many hot spots I had to stir this sauce every couple of minutes on as low as a gas stove would go.

Jim was working on a long-term project all day yesterday and I was making sauce so we ordered pizza. Good pizza from down the path. So our sauce is in thirds: frig, out already; and two quart baggies in the freezer for lasagne or other dishes. The flavors should have melded by now and it’ll be a great dinner, fusilli with bolognese and parmigiano reggiano. I’ve organic baby greens and Tuscan ciabatta bread.

Now all we need is Jim. “We” meaning Zoe and I, had a productive day today, not as productive as we would have liked. Right now she needs dinner, out and one more outing before our bedtime. I need to make her that meal, make ours, take her out and have a few more items on my to-do list before Jim comes home.

We’ve been in UT less than two months and there was much snow and a lot of clouds. Lately the moon has been so bright it looks like morning in our bedroom. Now that the moon is waning when we look out at night it looks as if we’re in a planetarium, the stars are so bright. If I had my way, I’d come out here for a week’s visit at this very time of year.

Yes, I know there are more seasons to come. It’s very warm this afternoon but will probably go back to the 40’s at night. Jim insists on taking his severe weather coat to work every day. In Girl Scouts I endured the torture for four months before recanting my oath The leader not only failed me for my first badge, she had all the girls come over while she laughed at my work.

The point is that Jim was never a Boy Scout, he didn’t need to be. He lived on a working dairy farm where cows were milked twice a day, even on Christmas. He knew what to do if a bull came at him, or a snake. He freaks me out building hurricane kits for us but he’s right. I’ve never felt safer in a crisis than when I’m with my husband.

Enjoy your dinner. I know we’ll enjoy ours. Cheers. Dee