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On Bolognese and Italy

March 21, 2019 By krystamacgray 2 Comments

I’ve prepared more than I thought I would for my trip to Italy. We are going in April and I admittedly bought a black versatile going out to dinner dress, three going out to dinner blouses, a going out to dinner jacket, sandals that will be comfortable for walking but also dress up a jean skirt, and two new pairs of jeans. I scheduled a facial three days before I leave. I will definitely get a manicure. I think I am just excited to go.

I have wanted to go Italy my whole life and I would like to feel good while visiting. It’s as if every day I’m there feels like it will be a momentous occasion. The way I’d plan for a big, high falutin’ black tie event is the same way I plan for my lifelong anticipated trip to Italy, it turns out. At the same time, I have a real desire to not over pack. I want to choose a “color palette” and this is not a sentence I ever thought I’d write since I’m more of a “eh–lets just wing it, it’ll be fine” kind of girl, but the thing is, I don’t want to have to pack too many shoes. The more colors and styles of clothing you have, the more shoes you need, so wanting to pack minimally requires MORE planning, not less. I find this annoying. To have my clothing choices be effortless, I have to put in a lot of planning up front. I’m judging myself for it, but it just is what it is at this point.

My sister went to Paris last year. She wore things there she doesn’t wear here. Black lace tights, red peplum skirts with a cream lace top and moto boots with buckles. I laughed about it. Why don’t you just go to Paris and look the way you look? I said. Why dress in Paris costumes?

Pot calling.

It’s not like I never buy new things for vacation. I almost always do. A new swim suit and cover-up for Anguilla. It’s just that mostly, I keep it to a minimum. Who am I when I get to go to Italy? Apparently the kind of nutcase that buys a whole new wardrobe and schedules facials before the flight. 

I’m regretting not booking more days in Rome. Too many people who’s opinion I respect, when they find out I’m going to Italy, have said “I loved Rome. Oh my gosh, you are going to love Rome!” Where were they when I was planning my trip? I had read that Rome was a dirty city and to not expect much magic there. To instead spend more time in Tuscany or Amalfi. So that’s what I scheduled. I will only be in Rome for a day and a half and regret is settling in hard core. But then again, how could I regret spending time in Italy, *anywhere?* You need to know who the type of people are leaving reviews. You cannot just decide because Harry and Martha and Leo from Michigan didn’t love Rome, that you won’t either. What if they are all uninteresting people who don’t find the majesty in the juxtaposition of a busy, modern city set in a landscape from a time gone by? That there could be a cafe with yeah, maybe some pigeons and trash  out front BUT also a stone pilar that looks like it was part of a building that got destroyed in 800AD, you know? I wonder about these things. Or what if the people who all said “stay in Amalfi” were too fancy for me? What if they were the people who dress in Gucci from head to toe and someone I wouldn’t ever take advice from anyway? My guess is I’m going to hopelessly love all of Italy. That I won’t fancy one thing over another but inhale it all like dessert—chocolate cake, donuts, hazelnut gelato, cream puffs, fig, chocolate and marscapone bread pudding—because how can you compare which is better? It just depends on your taste. And I never met a dessert I didn’t like. I’m already lusting over all I’ll miss in the North. Genoa, Bologna, Venice. 

My PT Ray, is half Italian with a penchant for Chianti’s. His family lives in north east Italy, right on the border of Austria, and he grew up visiting them. He also told me he makes a fantastic bolognese sauce. How do you make it, I asked? With very, very finely diced carrots, celery and onions. I don’t like a chunky bolognese and so it’s crucial you get the vegetables small enough. I use pancetta and bison instead of beef, red wine, cream, and a smooth tomato puree. Again, I like my bolognese smooth instead of chunky. You add  everything little by little and let it all simmer together until it’s rich and thick. He made sure to tell me that people from Bologna will tell you never to use cream—only milk. But he does it anyway because it’s just too outrageously good, he tells me.

Milk or cream, I didn’t care. All I knew was I got really hungry for Bolognese sauce. So I ran straight to the store and bought all the ingredients for it. I don’t have his recipe, but he told me enough. If I google the way Marcella Hazan makes it, I should be in business, I figure.

I’m going to make the tastiest bolognese sauce known to man, I thought, very pleased with my decision. I even bought real spaghetti pasta to layer below. Usually I make a quicker style bolognese for topping spaghetti squash with, but that will never do today. I’ve always fancied chunkier style sauces, but the way Ray describes meticulously chopping everything finely makes me hungry for a smoother sauce. I bought tomato puree instead of plum tomatoes for crushing between my fingers.

I’m excited about my tripe and the anticipation is building.

But I’m not leaving yet, and so I’m still in prep mode. So tonight I will render the fat from pancetta and add vegetables and wine and tomatoes and beef before simmering it away until it’s a tender, thick, succulent puddle of red. I shan’t forget the nutmeg. And then we’ll feast. 

If I’m going to over-prepare for Italy, I figure, I better include lots of feasting. 

6oz pancetta, chopped

2 large carrots, mined

3 large celery stalks, minced

1 yellow onion, minced

3 tablespoons butter

2 lbs ground beef or beef and pork combo

salt

pepper

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 cups white wine

1 28-oz can tomato puree (or 28-oz whole plum tomatoes w/ their juice and crush tomatoes through your hands before adding them into the sauce)

parmigiana reggiano for topping

buttered spaghetti for serving

Brown the pancetta with a little olive oil in the bottom of a heavy pot over medium high heat. Add butter, onion, celery and carrot. Cook about 5 minutes. Add ground beef, salt and pepper and crumble with your wooden spoon and cook on medium high until cooked. Add milk and cream and simmer until almost evaporated. Add wine and let it simmer until it has almost evaporated. Add tomatoes and nutmeg and another sprinkle of salt. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to a low simmer and cook, uncovered for 3 hours, stiring occasionally. If sauce begins to dry out (fat will separate from meat), stir in a bit of water and keep cooking. Make sure all your water has evaporated before tasting for salt and adding more if needed (pro tip: it probably needs it) and serving. Serve over buttered pasta. Please butter it. Don’t be embarrassing.

PS- This is why I wrestle fiercely with editing. When writing, you are “supposed” to pick a subject and then write about that and nothing else so you don’t distract from the thing you are talking about. In this case, bolognese sauce and Italy. But then I go into over-preparing for my upcoming trip and then tell you a little ditty about my sister and how I’m a hypocrite and I thought “Krysta, you need to cut this part out, or just mention it briefly” but I just didn’t want to. Additionally, this PS address should be edited out as well. But you know what I love? Nuanced, rambley writing that leads you someplace by way of somewhere else—the long, scenic way. I like things layered and simmered and rich, like bolognese (see what I did there?)

Filed Under: Food, Uncategorized Tagged With: bolognese, dinner, Italy, pasta

Avgolemono Soup

October 17, 2018 By krystamacgray Leave a Comment

Hey Guys,

This post is little bit of a throwback to old school blogging. We didn’t write essays back then. We just kind of wrote letters telling you about our life and what happened that week and then oh, look here’s a soup I made, with the recipe.

So hi. There’s a soup recipe down below and it’s the coziest bowl of comfort that I make these days. I bet you’ll like it.

Today it snowed. Last week it snowed too. I have a tradition with my kids about the first snowfall every year. The first time actual flakes fall from the sky while we are awake (waking up to snow doesn’t count) I make them cups of homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream. We top it with sprinkles if we have it, but this year we didn’t.

The kids enjoying their hot chocolate 

I make simple cocoa on the stove top. I just fill mugs with milk and add splashes of heavy cream (about 3 tablespoons each mug) and then dump it all into a pot. For each cup of milk I add 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and a tiny pinch of salt. Then I whisk everything together over medium heat until hot. I divide the hot cocoa back into each of the mugs and top with whipped cream. I make whipped cream from scratch mostly, but for hot chocolate we just get the stuff in a can.

I also got my nails painted red this week too. Nothing like a little cranberry red to usher in the fall season. Fall = when it snows here. Fall/winter mixed. Red works for both, I figure.

I’m currently watching my nephews so their parents can sneak away for a quick trip to NYC. It’s loud and exciting here. There are donuts on the counter and Jurassic World  on the TV. I’m blogging and drinking a cup of sleepy time tea. It’s a great Sunday.

My puppies are getting huge! Did you know we got puppies? Two French Bulldogs. Aren’t they just the cutest?

We named the white one Star Lord, which is a Guardians of the Galaxy reference and the black one is Norma Jean. Everyone thinks the white one is Norma Jean because the white one is more beautiful and photogenic.

I’m not being rude, it’s just the truth.

Here look, this is Star Lord:

He’s a stud.

Now here’s Norma Jean:

She’s just never quite as beautiful in pictures. I’m not even picking bad pictures, you guys, she just always looks like this. She never looks at the camera. She relaxes into a shapeless lump when you hold her. It’s so funny.

Oh, and hey, here’s that soup I was telling you about. It’s Avgolemono, a traditional Greek soup thickened with eggs, which makes it looks all creamy despite not having cream. It’s lemony and thick, full of chicken and fat rice. It’s what we make instead of chicken noodle. Th little bit of dill on top absolutely makes the dish. My husband disagrees. I said this one time and he responded “no it doesn’t. I just had a bowl without the dill and it was delicious. The dill doesn’t MAKE it.” Whatever. You tell me and report back. Dill or no dill, it’s so, so yummy.

Avgolemono Soup

Serves 6

Ingredients:

  • Olive oil
  • 4 stalks celery, chopped small
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped small
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 8 cups chicken broth (see note)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cup arborio rice
  • Salt and pepper
  • A 4-5lb whole chicken, shredded (see note)
  • 1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
  • 4 large eggs, plus one egg yolk
  • Fresh dill for garnish

*for chicken and chicken stock, you can always just buy cartons of stock and a rotisserie chicken from your local store, but I always make mine as home. I have two methods, One is slower, one is fast. Either 1) I boil a whole chicken in water with a quartered onion, a couple whole carrots and celery sticks, peppercorns and a head of garlic cut in half AND PLENTY OF SALT for an hour until the chicken is cooked through and tender, and then I remove the chicken until it’s cool enough to shred, strain the stock into a bowl and use that for my broth OR 2) I place the whole chicken in a pressure cooker with 2 1/2 cups of water and cook on high for 26 minutes. When it’s done, I set the chicken aside until cool enough to shred and I strain the water from the pressure cooker into a bowl and use that as part of my stock (you’ll need to add salt to the whole soup later). If you employ this method you’ll have three cups of liquid for your soup and you’ll only need to add 5 more cups of stock. I typically use water and better than bullion when I do this method. 

In a large soup pot heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots and onions and sauce until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauce for another minute. Add the chicken broth, bay leaves, shredded chicken and 2  teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat down and simmer for one to two hours (this is to make sure the chicken gets very tender).

About 30 minutes before serving, add rice. When the rice is cooked, prepare the egg-lemon sauce. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and eggs and egg yolk. While whisking add three ladlefuls of hot broth from the soup slowly (this tempers the eggs and ensures they don’t curdle when added to the hot soup pot). Once fully combined, add the sauce to the chicken soup and stir for a minute until it’s thickened. Remove from he heat—you don’t want it to boil too much once the eggs have been added— and eat immediately.

Garnish with dill and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper.

I just realized that upon reading this recipe it might sound like more steps than you’d like, but I promise, if you make it once you get it and it’s really easy the next time. It’s one of my go-to dishes.

…

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Filed Under: Food Tagged With: Avgolemono Soup, fall recipes, recipes, soup

Chocolate Kale Protein Smoothie

September 20, 2018 By krystamacgray Leave a Comment

If you follow me on instagram @krystamacgray then you probably already saw this last week. If you don’t follow me on insta, I do share some recipes there that I don’t put on the blog so if you ever need some breakfast/lunch/dinner inspo, you can head over there. I also post about lots of other stuff besides food….

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Filed Under: Food Tagged With: chocolate, kale, recipes, smoothies

Watermelon Lime Smoothie + Breakfast Schedule

August 28, 2018 By krystamacgray 1 Comment

This is how I make school mornings easier. I’m not what you would call an “organized planner” type of person, however, when it comes to food, I can get serious about it.

Because heated up hodge-podge and random food from the fridge makes me sad, (and Jeremy left to his own devices will default to this) I came up with a solution….

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Filed Under: Food Tagged With: breakfast, recipes, school lunches, smoothies

LIFE UPDATE + SLOW COOKER PORK LOIN “CARNITAS”

April 3, 2018 By krystamacgray Leave a Comment

I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter weekend.

I’m going to do something a little different today. This blog post is going to be a letter to you, instead of a story with a beginning, middle and end, all wrapped up in a bow….

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Filed Under: Food, Stories Tagged With: books, family, husbands, life, marriage, pork carnitas, sisters, The Husbands Wife

Golden Milk Paste + Turmeric Latte

February 19, 2018 By krystamacgray 3 Comments

The turmeric health craze has been making the rounds for a while now. Let me guess, you bought a fresh little piece of turmeric at the grocery store after hearing it was good for you with the best intentions but…that thing rotted in your vegetable drawer. Don’t even lie, I know it did. WE ARE ALL THE SAME. You tossed it in the trash along with any hope of consuming turmeric regularly ever again until you read the article where Gwyneth Paltrow said she drinks “golden milk” which is just fancy talk for “turmeric milk” every night to stay healthy and your interest was rekindled.

…

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Filed Under: Food Tagged With: golden milk, latte, recipes, turmeric latte

Body Love

February 2, 2018 By krystamacgray 2 Comments

It was inevitable. Every year, or even a few times a year, I’d adopt a new diet. I went vegan, paleo, AIP, and Bulletproof. I counted calories, and tried South Beach and Atkins back in ye old day. I went alkaline and did “sugar” cleanses. I cut out sugar, caffeine, alcohol, legumes, nightshades, seeds, nuts, eggs, dairy, and grains…

All. At. The. Same. Time….

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Filed Under: Food, Stories Tagged With: diets, food

Mango Chicken Curry (Amazing!)

January 19, 2018 By krystamacgray Leave a Comment

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For my next act, and in the dead of winter, I bring you…mango chicken curry.

But first, can I just take a minute and tell you how much I love you? I was so nervous to post my last essay Raising Teenagers because it was so personal. It was particularly vulnerable, because what I was writing, I hadn’t read anywhere else, so you always run the risk of finding out that you are awful and crazy and no one else in the history of the world was having the same experience, so you must be doing it wrong. But the comments and feedback I got was nothing like that. (It’s my most read post so far, actually!)…

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Filed Under: Food Tagged With: curry, recipes

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

December 15, 2017 By krystamacgray 1 Comment

I keep wracking my brain to figure out a recipe I could bring you that would be fitting for the Christmas season. I keep a mental tally of the posts I write here and thought food would make up a bigger portion. This distresses me. Mostly because I keep subscribing to an unspoken set of rules. Bloggers, in general, are supposed to bring you seasonal offerings. This time of year that means I am supposed to inspire you to bake snickerdoodle cookies, or warm some hot chocolate on the stove. Maybe there would be a roast or ham or something. But I have none of this because we are in a rental with all my possessions packed up and I don’t have all my platters and fancy equipment to make this stuff. I suppose I could just suck it up and find a way to do it, but I’m not feeling it. It’s not happening this year….

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Filed Under: Food Tagged With: crockpot, mexican, soup

Thanksgiving Eve (…Featuring Caramel-Apple-Pecan Pie with Bourbon Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream)

November 22, 2017 By krystamacgray 2 Comments

Today, I wanted to come here to offer you two things: My favorite apple pie recipe for your Thanksgiving table tomorrow, and a story that brings me so much hope and joy I can hardly stand it.

I was sitting on my couch, minding my own business one day in October when there was a knock at my door.

…

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Filed Under: Food Tagged With: caramel pecan pie, thanksgiving

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Krysta MacGray

Wife of one, mother of four, lover of books, seeker of growth, hunter of beauty, gatherer of inspiration, student of wisdom, maker of art, spreader of wildly inappropriate humor, and writer of longer than necessary texts.
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