a99kitten's Musings

I blog about a WHOLE LOT of stuff :)

My husband has some douchebag friends. I have always known this and, of course, this is probably what most girlfriends or wives think about at least 1 friend of their boyfriend or husband so it’s not news. And I don’t *really* care. But today it just set me off.

Husband went snowboarding with a few friends and apparently one asked why I never go. What do I do all day? Gee…I wonder if husband told him that I supervised the magic fairies who clean the entire house? Or do who the laundry? Or who pay all the bills? Or who take the huskies out for hours on end? Or, when back at home and not in Tahoe, run all of the errands? This is of course after work or on the weekends. After she has worked 50-60 hours a week for 2 companies? And who finally takes an hour or 2 to watch a movie or read for herself…by herself? No…I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the answer husband gave.

Probably also wonders why I don’t want to spend time with his lame ass friends…

I love this pasta sauce – a lot! But I make it like once a year. First, because I try to limit the number of times I eat plates of pasta but also because it is so delicious due to the ridiculous fat content. Not a light, summer-time bikini-season meal for sure. But hey – it’s a cold and snowy February right now!

I found this recipe online and have tweaked it a bit for my own tastes since. But the body of it is as found online and I take no ownership of it other than my own minor tweaks due to personal taste.

When I went to the store yesterday to buy the ingredients I couldn’t find the pancetta. So the meat counter guy helped me and asked me what I was making. I said pasta. He looked at me quizzically. I said you know – spaghetti. He said Ahhh…”fancy” spaghetti. OK, OK. Pasta/Spaghetti, tomato/tomahtoe. I wasn’t calling the whole thing off :) I guessed by looking at him that I probably could have said macaroni and gravy and he probably would have known and maybe even given me some tips!

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoos extra-virgin olive oil
Small minced onion (changed from 1.5 cups minced red onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 1/3 cups tomato paste
1/3 lb pancetta, minced
1.5 cups whole milk
2 cups red wine
2 2/3 cups tomatoes (I’m cheated and used canned)
4 cups meat stock (I cheated and bought it)
Kosher (coarse) salt
Freshly ground pepper
Shaved Parmesan
Ingredients from original recipe that I left out due to not liking them: 3/4 cups minced celery and 3/4 cup minced carrot

Directions:
Combine butter and olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat (keep in mind you will have 2 quarts of liquid going in so I use a 4qt pan.) Add the onion. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently until the onion (all veggies if including them) soften and begin to brown – about 15 minutes.

Add the garlic, then add the beef and pancetta. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is thoroughly browned, about 25 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Add the milk and simmer actively until the milk reduces and is absorbed, about 15 minutes or so.

(I lower the temp to low and simmer longer than the original recipe for this part) Add the wine and simmer until the pan is once again almost dry (liquid reduced). This can take some time – 1 hour or even longer.

Post wine, pre-stock/tomatoes simmering

Add the tomatoes and stock, adjust the heat so the sauce gently simmers and cooks for about 3-4 hours.

Pour yourself a glass of the red wine you opened to use in this and sip as you stir and keep an eye on your sauce (yes, this is one of my personal tweaks ;) )

You can use any type of pasta noodles you want. Traditional spaghetti (but not angel hair), fettuccine or penne noodles work best with the sauce consistently (in my opinion.) Pour sauce over your noodles (after you’ve cooked them of course…) and top with Parmesan. Mixing the Parmesan in right away gets it all melty and gooey :)

All of the simmering times are going to vary a bit depending on your stove (gas or electric) and pan. So use your judgment and not just a timer. Simmering longer is always a better option with pasta sauce – always tastes better!

The recipe is officially a Bolognese sauce recipe. By keeping the carrots and celery out and using red wine I tweaked it from that a bit but I think can still fall in the category – especially for this non-Italian whiter than white girl! :) I will also try adding some porcini mushrooms next time!

As I was cooking this today, I was thinking I wanted to see The Godfather, or even The Sopranos. Badda-bing badda-boom – I turn on the TV and on AMC they are playing a Godfather marathon: kismet :) One of my all-time favorite movies – amazing film full of great story and even greater acting.

It’s not a hard meal to make – just time consuming. Good for a cold Sunday afternoon! And it is DEE-licious! As a side note – do not wear anything white while preparing this :)

Yum…

Pasta hittin' the table...

As husband was taking his plate to the table, he slipped on the wood floors in his socks and all of his pasta almost slid off his plate as he went down. Storm’s eyes were like saucers imagining his upcoming feast! But alas…husband recovered with only a slight Parmesan dusting of the floor which Storm cleaned up better than I could. Even though I spent all day preparing this dinner…that would have been dang funny and Storm would have had a full belly :)

http://myyellowstonewolves.typepad.com/myw/2010/02/valentines-day-for-wolves.html

http://www.meridiangraphics.net/lupercalia.htm

That sounds like a much more interesting celebration for February!! (excepting any of the animal sacrifice stuff  of course – yuck!)

Did anyone really celebrate wolves back then though since they are always made out (unfairly) to be the villain is so many old tales? But maybe those were all post Roman tales and these people were more enlightened.

I would much prefer a holiday where we celebrated and gave wolf-adorned cards, etc than a fat little naked cherub. But that’s me :)

So then they went on to split off from Vulcan and be bad guys, right? :)

The story of the (kinda sorta likely) origins of the original “valentines cards” (love notes) is cool.

We seem to have the Cadbury Brothers to blame for the onslaught of hearty-shaped candy (genius business move  though so I can’t really blame them.)

Chocolate entered the Valentine’s Day ritual relatively late. The Conquistadors brought chocolate to Spain in 1528 and while they knew how to make cocoa from the beans, it wasn’t until 1847 that Fry & Sons discovered a way to make chocolate edible. Twenty years later, the Cadbury Brothers discovered how to make chocolate even smoother and sweeter. By 1868, the Cadburys were turning out the first boxed chocolate. They were elaborate boxes made of velvet and mirrors and retained their value as trinket-boxes after the chocolate was gone. Richard Cadbury created the first heart-shaped Valentine’s Day box of candy sometime around 1870.

But to be honest, I like Valentine’s Day. Mostly because I love all holidays and any reason to do something different.  I loved giving out and receiving little cards in school. I saw some cool Star Wars ones at the store last week and *almost* bought them. I did buy the Chewie GRRRAAAW Valentine’s card and sent it to my brother who will get a kick out of it.

Do I think it should be as big of deal as it is. Probably not. Especially when I see all the stupid, cheesy crap they pump out for people who have no imagination or forethought. I think proposing or getting married on Valentine’s Day sounds like a very bad, bad idea. When I was single, my friends and I would just plan something fun. Celebrating the “Day of Love doesn’t have to mean only romantic love.  Just a reminder to be extra nice, eat some chocolate, buy some pretty flowers (even if for yourself – they are pretty and smell nice!) and drink a glass a bubbly (which I am always a fan of!)

A good friend’s birthday is on February 14th. She hated it when she was younger but no longer minds it. Would be much worse to have a birthday on Christmas I think! Unless you’re a baby Jesus I suppose… ;)

But my Valentine’s Day celebration is to donate money to some wolves today…they need the help a lot more than I need the cash. No matter how much or how little, it’s MY monthly ritual. “Civilized” Man has done their best to try and wipe out this awesome animal instead of celebrate it as another creature who deserves to live on this planet just as much (and in many cases much more) than humans…

http://www.defenders.org/support_us/index.php

http://www.californiawolfcenter.org/links.htm

So a Happy Valentine’s, Lupercalia, Sunday or 3rd day of Olympics to you! :)

Dear visiting tourist jerkfaces driving down my 25mph zone residential, hilly, icy street going around 50mph and almost taking a girl and her huskies out – next time I see you, I am throwing a giant bag of steaming dog poo at your window.

Oh…and that white sport BMW you are driving up here in the snowy mountains, you look *awesome* in it. Really. Not one bit like a San Francisco-living douchebag tool…not one bit…

I’m very much against shock collars for dogs. But for douchebags…..

Ok, party is tomorrow!! Oh yeah – so is the Superbowl :) Kinda sad really…it’s that same feeling that I get on December 24th. Loving Christmas so, so much but knowing it will all be over soon. Same thing with football season.

But oh fiddle-dee-dee, I’ll be Scarlett and think about that tomorrow! Menu will be:

Today’s Macaroni and Cheese (Rick Bayless recipe)
Jambalaya (scoured Internet for recipe – found on that sounds good on Food Network)
Hogs in a Blanket with cheesy dipping sauce
Buffalo Chicken Hot Wing Dip (Hungry Girl’s healthier version!)
Chips and Salsa
Ruffles with sour cream dip – always the first thing to be demolished no matter what
Various cheeses and crackers (courtesy of @missmelon)
Veggies (have to offer them even tho always the LAST thing to go no matter what!)
Homemade brownies (courtesy of @sonya415)
Beer (husband’s one job since I don’t drink beer)
And of course bubbly for me :)

People will bring stuff I imagine so I have no idea what else will be added to this but this is what I am making or know will be brought. I just need to figure out timing on making everything though…

Making Cipiriani’s pea risotto tonight with some chicken for dinner. I ate very little yesterday and won’t eat much today in preparation for dinner and tomorrow’s food fest. Yikes….my stepper will be my friend next week I guess.

I like both teams. And would be happy for either team to win. I need a high-scoring game to win our office pool but doesn’t actually matter which teams wins – just lots and lots of points on the board! But Peyton Manning is my QB1 so I’m rooting for the Colts to win. And will be wearing my #18 jersey tomorrow!

I hope for a good game played by both teams. No blow outs. And of course looking forward to some good commercials. I always tear up at the National Anthem because I’m a goofball. But I hush everyone up for that and always stand for it – even in my living room. The half time show? Well…I’ll watch it I guess. I think I know a song or 2 by The Who. I think? I must, right?

Storm is quite excited for the Superbowl as well. He is strategizing his food stealing knowing that tomorrow’s guests will be easy targets :)

What are you doing for the Superbowl??

Funny. People have asked me in my life how I’ve done something, put up with something, dealt with something, whatever…

My answer is typically the same: whatever, deal with it, suck it up, rub some dirt on it, etc, etc.

Separately, completely…there is always this:

Cancer and Independence:
Cancer is the astrology sign that is packed full of contradictions so when it comes to independence, they possibly can or can not be independent. On one side, they have the perseverance and drive to do what needs to be done, they are self-sufficient and do not need to depend on other people for the material and physical things in life. On the other hand, they depend on people for emotional support and encouragement. A Cancer that is not fully self-actualized will need the constant support of others and will not be very independent but the Cancer that is ‘evolved’ and has properly harnessed their emotional issues will be wildly successful as an independent human being. They crave attention and comfort from other people and they are happiest when they have a small, close knit group of friends or family.

Cancer and Friendship:
Cancer is extremely loyal to those who appreciate and support them, they are the nurturer of the zodiac and will protect and cherish the person for a long time. One of the greatest things about Cancer is their ability to make others feel good about themselves and loved. This is because instead of doing this for themselves, they project this onto other people. This is a positive cycle because in making others feel nurtured, wanted and loved, they in return feel good for making someone feel good. Other people can lean on and depend on cancer, they will listen to people’s problems and help them however they will rarely express their own deep feelings to anyone. People who want to share deep emotional thoughts and opinions with a Cancer might feel that the scales are tipped on one side for cancer will rarely reveal it’s true deep feelings. A friend of Cancer is usually a lifelong devoted friend that can be trusted.

Cancer and Business:
Once cancer resolved their emotional issues such as shyness and insecurity, the powerful character will shine though, there is practically nothing they can’t do. They have incredible perseverance and will stand up for what they believe in. With their strong intuition, sensitivity, powers of observation and intelligence, they will have great success in anything they undertake. They are excellent business people and investors because of their intuitive and psychic ability and their creative forward thinking mind, they are able to predict future trends. They attract wealth very well and know where to invest. Money and financial well being is very important to Cancer and this can help their drive in business. They need financial security and if they allow themselves to properly focus their energy and do not allow their emotions to over take them, they are more then capable of obtaining their financial goals and being incredibly successful business people.

Cancer Temperament:
They are complex, fragile, unpredictable and temperamental and need constant support and encouragement, more then any other astrology signs, Cancer needs to be needed. Even when all needs are satisfied, they can be irritable and cranky. They have an uneasy, delicate temperament. The contradictory nature of Cancer gives their temperament the wild mood swings and possible temper tantrums. They are easily offended and will sulk and wallow in self pity for a long time when they get hurt.

Cancer Deep Inside:
It is difficult for cancer to open up and have a close emotionally fulfilled relationship with someone because they are so closed off emotionally and physically to the world. This is driven by their fear of trust, Cancer has a difficult time trusting people. In addition to lack of trust for people, Cancer is deeply sensitive and easily hurt, this is other reason why they have their defense shell in place, to avoid being hurt by others. Cancer has a lot of emotional issues to deal with but once they overcome this large hump of shyness and insecurity, there is practically nothing they can’t do. With their strong intuition, sensitivity, powers of observation and intelligence, they will have great success in anything they undertake. Cancer is constantly feeling, feelings and emotions are hallmarks of this sign and this is the root of their problems, human beings are not as evolved in the emotional area and this is where cancer gets the brunt of their problems. They are the ones who have to cope with their strong feelings more so then any other sign. Once properly harnessed, there is nothing that is this powerful astrology sign can not accomplish. Harmony is very important to Cancer, it keeps them happy. Conflict of any kind causes great distress. Deep inside, Cancer is a very powerful sign, they have the ability to stand up for what they think is right and they have lots of perseverance and can be fine on their own provided they don’t let their emotions get the better of them and have the stability they need. They are not fond of change but they have the ability to do what needs to be done, they are not pushovers or lazy people.

Cancer in a Nutshell:
Cancer is a mysterious sign, filled with contradictions. They want security and comfort yet seek new adventure. They are very helpful to others yet sometimes can be cranky and indifferent. Cancer has a driving, forceful personality that can be easily hidden beneath a calm, and cool exterior. The crab is Cancer’s ruling animal and it suits them well, they can come out of their shell and fight but they can also hide in their shell of skitter away back into the depths of the ocean. They are very unpredictable. With cancer, there is always something more that meets the eye, for they are always partially hidden behind the shell. They are a have a deep psyche and intuitive mind that is hidden from the world. Cancer is deeply sensitive and easily hurt, this might be why they have their defense shell in place, to avoids being hurt by others. They are nurturers so they surround themselves with people, whom after a while can offend or hurt a cancer without even knowing they did so, therefore Cancer’s protective shell keeps them safe from hurt. They are complex, fragile, unpredictable and temperamental and need constant support and encouragement, more then any other astrology signs, Cancer needs to be needed. When cancer gets the support it needs, it has a tremendous amount to offer in return. When cancer gets offended, they tend to sulk instead of confronting the persons face to face. This needlessly prolongs the pain and suffering. Cancer is very possessive, not just with material possessions but with people as well. Cancer will always want to stay in touch with old friends and anyone who has ever been close to them, because it is easier to maintain a friendship then attempt to learn to trust a new person. It is easier this way for them emotionally. If you befriend a Cancer, you will stay friends for a long time. Cancer makes the perfect mother, this is the sign that represents motherhood. They have unconditional love and caring more so then any other astrology sign. Cancer are very intuitive. Most of the psychics of the world are Cancer astrology signs. They have an excellent memory and are very observant and can read people very well. They can usually tell of other people’s intentions are good or not. Never dupe a Cancer, they can see your motives. Cancer has a lot of emotional issues to deal with but once they overcome this large hump of shyness and insecurity, there is practically nothing they can’t do. With their strong intuition, sensitivity, powers of observation and intelligence, they will have great success in anything they undertake.

Now, do I believe in astrology? Nope, not really, I do not. Can I deny this describes me pretty darn well? No, I cannot. Generalities tend to work pretty well – religion figured this out pretty early on. Sucks people in for sure.

But do I know for sure it’s crap? No. Like all belief systems, I have no idea for sure. No one does. That’s why hokey religion and ancient weapons are genius. They are needed. But no match for a good blaster at your side…

Hey Saks, if you are going to target me for your office attire ads, maybe you should choose a model who doesn’t look like she’s dressing up in Mom’s clothes…(also, bad choice of outfit/hair/makeup…)

Really? She looks 14...

It’s ridiculous when I get catalogs for clothing obviously not meant for 15 year-olds but with models who barely look 15. It looks so dumb (see almost every single clothing ad in Vanity Fair.) I get that you need stick thin models and it’s much easier to find that in teenyboppers but unless you are advertising Abercrombie or The Gap it just looks silly.

Ever feel out of sorts? Like 2 different people? 2 different sides anyway? Not entirely yin and yang but close? What you want. What you believe.

Hard to describe I guess.

Someone says something that upsets you but it shouldn’t. Someone responds sweetly so you smile but then takes it back – deleted in a flash and you don’t know why. Someone ignores you or treats you like just some random person. Says something you’d find in a Hallmark card to a co-worker or neighbor…but not a friend or loved one.

Tiring week I guess. Tiring year (it’s only February…wth?)

Good thing I have huskies :) The world is truly a better place with the fluffy. I’m truly sad for those that don’t have that…

…this bag screams my name. It is SO me. Especially the “tan-armed, cute dress or silky tank-top wearing” me in the spring and summer…

Going on my watch list :)