#1,415 Good Housekeeping.

Today was an easy day for my work schedule so I took advantage of it and did some super domesticated stuff that made me feel more accomplished than getting my real work usually does.

The thing is… I honestly love keeping house. I enjoy changing the bed linens, flipping up the collars on Ben’s dress shirts when I put them on their hangers and button the top button, cleaning the kitchen floor and breathing in that wonderful (probably toxic) smell of Mr. Clean. So I did some of those things today.

And then I decided it was time for me to be a good wifey and cook a meal for the first time in I’drathernotsay.

I intently read through La Cucina, got overwhelmed by 900 pages of the Italian language and lots of ingredients that will never be found in Jones County, then picked a recipe that sounded easy and stick-to-your-bones good. I knew I could find everything I needed to make it at the grocery store, and so it was. Winter Pasta Bake.

Notice the shorts I wore as I made Winter Pasta Bake. Amanda—I suspect you have different attire right now in your part of the world. Jealous.

And here’s the gist of what went into this pot of yum—2 onions and 4 cloves of garlic sauteed in butter and olive oil, then added white wine, lean beef, Italian sausage, beef broth and tomato paste.

The paste was a departure from the way I normally make scratch sauce, but this is supposed to be authentic Sicilian food so I was game. It was a very different taste than I’m used to, but delicious.

Then you make a parmigiano bechamel sauce which is a little butter, flour, milk, fresh grated parmesan off the block, and salt. This sauce is pure sin.

Delicious and dangerous in the same way that Krispy Kreme donuts or deep fried Moon Pies are. And then you take that bechamel sauce… And you mix it with the meat sauce. And you toss it with al dente penne pasta and you bake it with bread crumbs and more fresh parmesan. And then you eat that mess. Hopefully, with Tabella salad.