Raise your hand if you have reached the level of adultness where you don't have friends.
It is hard out there. I had a lot of friends in high school. I had a group. I don't know where this group came from, but all of a sudden, I was just a part of this group. Like we were even up for the superlative of "tightest crew." I had friends I would die for. I went to college with my best friend from high school and we roomed together for basically all four years. So yes, I entered the primitive years of my life with a built in best friend, who is still my best friend, despite the fact she has moved on to bigger and greater things in California.
When you hit your mid twenties life kicks in. I moved back home from college in Boston to my hometown in rural Connecticut, and honestly, I would have it no other way. I don't regret it. However, that once abundant friend group I had is long gone. When I graduated from college, I quickly moved in with my brother and continued that college mentality. When he got married, I moved into my own apartment where I realized... I...had...no...friends. Zero. I would like to say it's not an uncommon thing that happens to twenty something year olds who graduate from college and move to other regions. But what do I know? One unexpected thing that happened to me was that... I become friends with my mom's friends. Like best friends. The neighborhood moms would gather over and I would be sitting at our kitchen island pretending not to care about the discussions going on. My text messages now flood post 9pm with musings of husband troubles, kid issues, and tv recommendations.
There is one friend of my mother's who I text for specials reasons. I text her for recipe inspiration, pictures of my cat, and most of all, pictures of recipes inspired by her. She used to sign Christmas gifts from "Auntie Nancy" and I was always confused by that as a little kid because she was not blood related. Looking back now I 100% know why she signed those gifts the way she did.
From her I learned about making bolognese. My favorite part about a good bolognese is that you let it sit simmer on your stove for as long as possible. Some people may look at that as a negative but I love having my house smell amazing for so long. Plus it makes your sauce decadently thick, rich, and so flavorful. A good bolognese does not require a ton of ingredients but the flavor is powerful. The key to that is letting it cook. This is the perfect Sunday sauce and this bolognese recipe is especially perfect for those colder days that are coming up. You can make this with just ground beef but I prefer to use a traditional "meatball mix" of ground pork, group beef, and ground veal. If you are lucky you can sometimes find this mixture pre-packaged in your grocery store.
When you hit your mid twenties life kicks in. I moved back home from college in Boston to my hometown in rural Connecticut, and honestly, I would have it no other way. I don't regret it. However, that once abundant friend group I had is long gone. When I graduated from college, I quickly moved in with my brother and continued that college mentality. When he got married, I moved into my own apartment where I realized... I...had...no...friends. Zero. I would like to say it's not an uncommon thing that happens to twenty something year olds who graduate from college and move to other regions. But what do I know? One unexpected thing that happened to me was that... I become friends with my mom's friends. Like best friends. The neighborhood moms would gather over and I would be sitting at our kitchen island pretending not to care about the discussions going on. My text messages now flood post 9pm with musings of husband troubles, kid issues, and tv recommendations.
There is one friend of my mother's who I text for specials reasons. I text her for recipe inspiration, pictures of my cat, and most of all, pictures of recipes inspired by her. She used to sign Christmas gifts from "Auntie Nancy" and I was always confused by that as a little kid because she was not blood related. Looking back now I 100% know why she signed those gifts the way she did.
From her I learned about making bolognese. My favorite part about a good bolognese is that you let it sit simmer on your stove for as long as possible. Some people may look at that as a negative but I love having my house smell amazing for so long. Plus it makes your sauce decadently thick, rich, and so flavorful. A good bolognese does not require a ton of ingredients but the flavor is powerful. The key to that is letting it cook. This is the perfect Sunday sauce and this bolognese recipe is especially perfect for those colder days that are coming up. You can make this with just ground beef but I prefer to use a traditional "meatball mix" of ground pork, group beef, and ground veal. If you are lucky you can sometimes find this mixture pre-packaged in your grocery store.
Ingredients:
1 medium onion diced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 pound ground beef
1/4 inch slice pancetta diced
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste
salt and pepper
1/4 grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley finely diced
In a large skillet heat olive oil and butter. Add in onions, garlic, carrots, celery and pancetta. Cook until soft, roughly 8 minutes. Add in the ground beef and cook until fully browned. Push the beef to the sides of the pan and add in tomato paste to the middle. Toast the paste on high heat for 1 minute, be careful not to burn. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the paste to the meat mixture. Add in crushed tomatoes a cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens, roughly 4 - 5 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with diced parsley and parmesan cheese.
1 medium onion diced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 pound ground beef
1/4 inch slice pancetta diced
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste
salt and pepper
1/4 grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley finely diced
In a large skillet heat olive oil and butter. Add in onions, garlic, carrots, celery and pancetta. Cook until soft, roughly 8 minutes. Add in the ground beef and cook until fully browned. Push the beef to the sides of the pan and add in tomato paste to the middle. Toast the paste on high heat for 1 minute, be careful not to burn. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the paste to the meat mixture. Add in crushed tomatoes a cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens, roughly 4 - 5 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with diced parsley and parmesan cheese.
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