Bulking up

I did end up making bolognese on Saturday, using Mark Bittman's recipe from "How to Cook Everything" (an excellent cookbook, if you're looking for a general all-around reference). The mise en place shown here does not include the pancetta (I forgot to pull it out of the fridge) or the wine and chicken stock.

I had an amusing (to me) exchange at Safeway involving the veal and a guy who felt he had to tell me that he was recently single. I should have taken pity on him and recommended Bittman's book, but I don't think he was really looking for recipes.
The sauce turned out tasty as always, the pasta less so. I definitely made it too thick, so when it dried out, it refused to cook all the way through. Next time I will cut much smaller pieces of dough to roll, and squish it thinner.

This was dinner at my desk. Using nice dishes at work makes it feel more civilized than the hurried snarfing of a paper-wrapped sandwich (though I have my share of those, too).

I also had a corned beef brisket that I took out of the freezer last weekend and forgot about, but happily remembered before it went bad. Tossed it in the crockpot overnight, then froze the cooked meat in small chunks, so I can make corned beef hash now and again.

I called this post "Bulking up" because now I've got enough food for about a dozen almost-ready meals. I can cook up hash or spaghetti quickly and not feel like I'm just reheating leftovers.