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How to Pamper Yourself
The weekend wasn’t going well. I hadn’t worked hard enough on a social calendar and ended up with too much time alone, and in my head. On Sunday at noon, I suddenly realized the one thing I could do to feel better. Cook a bolognese sauce. I knew it would take at least 5 hours, so I bolted out of the house, walked to a local butcher (how luxurious!!), bought groceries and got busy. By dinner time, I was eating a most divine meal. The nectar of the gods. Cheered me right up.
Miniature by Derrick Lin
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Love hearing this. Cooking, one of favorite remedies for taking care of myself. Such a pleasure to make gorgeous food and eat it. And I know your freezer is now well stocked. another comforting pleasure.
Exactly right, Jules. There is bolognese in my freezer.
This is glorious! I cooked up a warm meal in my crockpot this weekend as well. It wasn’t so much b/c of too much alone time (I had strategically planned a quiet weekend), but boy did it cheer me up. How can you be sad when your house smells of garlic cooking away for hours??
Thanks for sharing. I’m not a big pasta gal myself but this looks so divine I may just have to try it.
The whole process was immensely satisyfing. Walking to the butcher, chopping the onions, carrots and celery, the scent as it simmered for hours. Of course, eating and finally stowing future ecstatic meals in the freezer.
I love an afternoon of cooking something delicious. Perhaps I will tackle bolognese next.
This bolognese is very easy. It just requires patience.
Wendy,
I’m glad I’m not the only one that doesn’t like too much alone time. I’m an introvert and enjoy (for the most part) a lot of alone time but sometimes it’s too much. Glad to hear you realized it and were able to combat it. 🙂
I can often spend a fair amount of time alone – especially in the company of my dog. But this weekend was too much.
Cooking an elaborate meal is definitely one of the ways that I keep myself happy and motivated. Sometimes it’s goat curry from scratch (I even hand grind the spices in a mortar and pestle, and roast the tomatoes with hot green peppers). Another weekend it was oyster stew with live oysters from the local fish market. It’s such a great activity to shop for one meal, when you can really slow down and put some thought and creativity into it rather than doing the routine shopping for weekly staples. I made some Indian spiced chai from scratch a few days ago. It didn’t take long and was a great treat! I’d be happy to share my chai recipe here if you’re interested.
I love that you grind your own spices. And yes, Lelya. Please share the recipe!
Great, here’s my chai recipe:
Take a big pot, pour in 5 cups of water. Add two whole star anise, and two whole cinnamon sticks. Let them soak in the room temperature water for 10-15 minutes. Turn stove on to medium heat and then add four slices of fresh ginger root (don’t bother peeling it) and one teaspoon of ground cardamom.
Let it sit at medium heat for 3 minutes. When water starts steaming, add 10 black tea bags. Cover for 3 minutes.
Uncover and add 1/4 cup of sugar and two cups of milk. Stir and bring to a boil for two minutes.
Spoon into cups with a ladle, or strain into a thermal beverage dispenser for serving multiple people. You can also add a few whole cloves at the very beginning of the process with the star anise and cinnamon to enhance the spice flavor, but this version already tasted richly spiced! It was very comforting on a cold day.
Delicious. Thanks, Leyla.