Remember a few months back when I made fresh pasta?  Were we friends then?  

I made fresh pasta at the tail end of summer this year.  I wore a snazzy red apron.  I got my hands dirty.  I walked around the house showing off my ball of dough to anyone who would pay attention.  No one really payed attention.  That’s ok.

I have been feeling nostalgic for my summer times of a few months back.  Times when I would spend weekends talking about wine and food with these lovely ladies.  (My friends are gorgeous.  It’s almost weird.)  Times when we would drink way too much Rose and just be downright silly.    Those times will come again… in many months.  For now, I’ll satiate myself with a giant bowl of fresh pasta with this INCREDIBLE Bolognese Recipe.  You should do this too.  No joke.  Pasta is calming and generally makes the world a better place.    

For all things pasta, you’ll want to pop on over here and read this.  For all things Bolognese, you’ll want to jump on over and sauce it up. 

This Bolognese recipe is one I adapted from Mario Batali.  The man knows a hell of a lot about Italian food and Crocs.  I generally only take his advice on Italian food and not on shoes.  

This sauce is so amazing because of its many layers of flavors.  There’s wine, there’s thyme, there’s a touch of sweetness from carrots, there’s onions and garlic and two different kinds of meat.  Yes. Yes. Yes.  If, for some reason, you aren’t so keen on several different types of meat, I would gently suggest you reconsider.  Combining ground pork and veal (or beef) adds a dimension to your sauce that you can’t get with one meat alone.  It’s well worth the effort.  True.

Cream too.  Please don’t skip the cream.  That’s downright criminal. 

Big Fat Bolognese Sauce

     adapted from Mario Batali

     makes about 8 cups

     Print this Recipe!

2 medium onions, finely chipped

4 celery ribs, finely chipped

2 medium carrots, finely chopped

5 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, ground by butcher or thinly sliced and pulsed in a food processor until finely ground

1 pound ground veal (or ground beef will do too)

1 pound ground pork (not lean… sorry)

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup water

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper ( or to taste)

1 cup heavy cream

Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic and sautee over moderate heat until softened.  This should take about 5 minutes.  

Add the pancetta, veal and pork and cook until no longer pink, breaking up the meat as it cooks.  This should take about 6 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, heating it and mixing it in the cooked meat.  Add the white wine and deglaze the pan.  Add the water, canned tomato and thyme and gently simmer the sauce, covered, until it thickens and reduces, about an hour to an hour and a half.  Once thickened add salt and pepper and heavy cream.  Stir.

Sauce can be made up to two days ahead and stored in the fridge.  This sauce keeps in the freezer for 1 month.

These eggs aren’t the only thing that’s scrambled.  

My brains…. also pretty scrambled right now.  

As far as I see it, there are two solutions to the scrambled brain mess that I’ve got going on inside my head right now: a whole weekend worth of sleep or a bag of fun size Snickers bars.  

Aaaand Snickers it is… but first, let me show you what I eat morning, noon and night:  scrambled eggs.  

Are you picky about how you cook your eggs?  Maybe a little?  That’s no crime… everyone likes their eggs a different way.  I’m more of a dry scramble kind of girl.  Here’s my step-by-step guide to eggs for one.  

Start with good quality eggs.  Fresh medium or large eggs from the farmer’s market are mighty fine.  

 Break three eggs into a bowl. 

Beat eggs lightly with a fork.  

Melt just over a tablespoon of butter in a pan over low heat.  Add eggs and stir eggs immediately and constantly with a wooden spoon.  

It may take 3 to 4 minutes for the eggs to become just set but still creamy.  At this point add a scant tablespoon of heavy cream,  a small pat of butter and a generous pinch of salt.  Continue to stir.

When eggs are scrambled to your liking, remove from the pan, top with a touch more salt and fresh ground pepper, and serve with buttered toast.  I garnished my eggs with nasturtium petals (they’re pretty), but chives are also lovely.

((Yes… I just wrote a post about scrambled eggs.  That just happened.))

I cleared out my cooking cupboard and piled everything up on a table… I’m trying to make a point.  

I think it’s important you know that you don’t need cabinets full of fancy equipment to make glorious things happen in the kitchen.  

I think it’s important you know that I don’t have the most, biggest, nor the best equipment in my kitchen.  I do seem to have enough… and I’m scrappy enough to make things work.  

Let’s talk kitchen gear:  what you must have and what you might want to have on hand.  

Aaaand, go!

Joy the Baker Kitchen Must Haves:

A good mixer.  I have a fancy Kitchen Aid… but any good stand mixer will do.  You don’t have to drop hundreds on a mixer to get a good one.  

Half sheet baking pan… for cookies and roasting veggies and making blackberry pie bars.

Standard Muffin pan… for all the muffins and cupcakes you could ever want.

Loaf Pan… an 8×4 or 9×5 will do ya just fine. 

Bundt pan

Pie pan… glass or metal, whatever you prefer.

Round cake pans… either 8-inch or 9-inch. 

9×13 baking pan… brownies, please.

Metal nesting bowls… get these for super cheap from a restaurant supple store.  

Sifter… I use this one for just about everything from draining pasta to sifting dry ingredients.  

One good, soul saving spatula that is heat resistant, sturdy and brightly colored.  God bless this William Sonoma spatula of mine.  I love this thing.

A microplane.. for zest, for nutmeg, for Parmesan cheese, for garlic… for everything. 

Wooden spoons… preferable inherited from your grandmother.

Metal measuring cups.

Teaspoon and tablespoons spoons.

Tablespoon metal ice cream scoop… for perfect cookies. 

Candy thermometer.  

**  Here’s a fun secret.  When shopping for these essentials stay away from Crate and Barrel and other fancy shops.  Find a good (often dusty) restaurant supple store in your area and shop for the basics there.  Cheap cheap cheap and quality that can stand up to commercial kitchen use.  It’s where all of my metal bowl, sifter, sheet pans, loaf pans and measuring cups come from.  

Joy the Baker Might Wanna Haves:

Vintage Tube Pan.. thrift store shopping people… thrift stores.

French Press… I suggest baking only after you’ve had your morning coffee.

Mini muffin pan… for cuteness.

6-inch round cake pans.

Pretty glass storage containers… thrift store finds.  

Fancy casserole dish that can go from freezer to oven to dishwasher and back again.  

Box grater… my secret weapon when it comes to scones.

Metal tongs.  

Plastic bench scraper… the little flexible white kind, 

Pastry cutter… but I always end us using my fingers, don’t you?

Ice cream maker… if you’re really feeling fancy.

Pretty measuring cups… because pretty just makes you feel good sometimes.

With a few quality pieces, restaurant supply store finds, thrift store gems and some pretty and colorful touches, I’ve made my kitchen into a functional and pretty darling place.  It’s not supposed to be daunting… it’s just pans and spatulas!

Let’s take a quick minute to talk about buttermilk.  

What is buttermilk?  Buttermilk is a slightly sour milk.   The sourness of buttermilk comes acids in the milk, most notably, lactic acids.  Because the proteins in buttermilk are slightly curdled, buttermilk is slightly thicker than regular milk, but not quite as thick as cream.  Buttermilk is also usually much lower in fat than regular milk and cream.  

Say you wanted to make some butter and buttermilk waaaaay back in the day.  First you’d take your fresh milk from the cow, let’s say a big old bucket full… and you’d leave it out at room temperature for a few days.  After a few days the rich cream would separated and formed a thick layer on top of the milk.  During these few days, the milk would fermented a bit from the lactic acid forming bacterias in the milk.  Gross?  Not at all!  The bacteria produced would help lower the pH of the milk and protect with milk from icky microorganisms, making the butter easier to churn.  Once the butter is churned the residual liquid that’s produced…. that’s buttermilk!  

Nowadays, buttermilk is a whole other production.  Cultured buttermilk, as it is called in the United States these days, is a pasteurized milk product.  Instead of letting the milk ferment naturally, most dairies now add a culture of lactic acid bacteria to produce the same thickening and curdling of the milk.  Many dairies also add tiny yellow colored flecks of butter to simulate the old fashioned product.

Buttermilk is an important part of baking.  The acidic milk combined with baking soda in a recipe is a baker’s dream.  See… when baking soda is combined with the lactic acids of buttermilk, the soda releases carbon dioxide that when heated, released tiny bubbles that expand and lift and lighten whatever you’re baking.  

But what if you’re plum out of buttermilk?  There are solutions…. let’s talk. 

In a pinch and you’ve run out of buttermilk?  

Lemon and Milk 

In a 1-cup measuring cup, add 1 Tablespoon of fresh lemon juice.  Top the lemon juice with with skim, low fat or whole milk.  Stir and let sit for two minutes.  After two minutes, your milk is both acidic and curdled.  Perfect!

Yogurt and Milk

Mix 3/4 cup plain yogurt with 1/4 cup of milk.  Stir and make it a quick substitution for buttermilk.

Milk and Cream of Tartar

Mix 1 cup of milk with 1 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar.  To ensure that the mixture doesn’t get lumpy, mix the cream of tartar with 2 Tablespoons of milk.  Once mixed add the rest of the cup of milk.  Cream of tartar is an acid and will simulate the acidic environment of buttermilk in a pinch.

I love pancakes.

Maybe you don’t believe me.  Maybe you need proof.  

How about a list of the ways in which I totally love love love pancakes?

Perhaps you can find your deep rooted love for pancakes this weekend with one of these fine recipes.  

Milk Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes

Dad’s Buttermilk Pancakes

Vegan Jam Swirl Pancakes

Everything But the Blueberry Pancakes

Gingerbread Pancakes…

Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Pancakes, one of my all time favorites. 

Need more proof of my pancake love?  Ok!

Chai Spiced Pancakes?  Yum!

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes…

Sourdough Pancakes 

aaaaaand Carrot Cake Pancakes.

See?!  I love pancakes… something about those warm little clouds of flour and milk just get me goin’ in the morning.

I think it’s important that you all know something about what comes out of my kitchen:  it ain’t all pretty folks.  Not every creation that comes out of my kitchen is pretty, polished and ready for its blog debut.  The reality is that I have my fair share of flops, dropped eggs, burned butter and dirty dishes… I just don’t usually show those kitchen tidbits with you.  Tricky, right?

Today is your lucky day.  Here’s a peek at the flops, disasters and otherwise icky recipes I’ve tried and trashed.  

Chilled Blueberry Soup.  Ok, seriously.  Who are you trying to fool?  This was just an elaborate recipe for blueberry juice.  You tricked me and I resent you Blueberry Soup.  This won’t be soon forgotten.

Low Fat Chocolate Mousse with tofu.  I think I over whipped the eggs with this little darling.  It was so thick and tough   just all around noooooooot cute.

Greek Yogurt Frozen Yogurt.  I wanted to love you, but holy heck you were thick and rich.  Too thick.  Too rich.

This Nectarine Cobbler overflowed… big time… while I was one the phone.  There was screaming and cursing… mostly because I should have known better.

You were supposed to be a fresh peach scone.  Instead you decided to be a bland peach cookie… that’s just not good enough.

Ooooh Cinnamon Rolls.  You didn’t fail me.  I love you.

Chocolate Chip Potato Chip Cookies.  I must have eaten a cool dozen of these cookies trying to decide if they were good or not.  I knew with each cookie that they were absolute rubbish.  Bleck. 

Apricot Scones. Flat and beige Apricot Scones.  Note to self:  figure out how to make scones.  Seriously, how have you not mastered this yet Joy?

Avocado Milkshake.  Boooooring picture plus do not like.  The photo and taste gods were not with me on this day.  For this, and for all of these recipes that I tried and failed.. well, I suppose I just have to shrug my shoulders and laugh you off.  Thanks for the lessons… and the memories?

I love a good weekend project, especially when that project involves my fingers in loads of cookie dough.

I’ll admit that I may be waaaay behind the times on this trick.  It’s the sort of trick that super moms have on lock to make them look even more awesome than they already are.  Since I haven’t yet produced other people with my body, this trick is just now hitting my radar.

The idea is this:  one day… (say, maybe a lazy Saturday morning) whip up a couple batches of your favorite cookie dough.  Dollop that cookie dough onto a cookie sheet, all close like.  Throw the entire cookie sheet into the freezer.  Freeze the dough balls, then throw them into a zip lock bag and back into the freezer.  You know what that means?  All you have to do is flick on the oven and throw in a few dough balls anytime you want fresh baked cookies!  Dang this livin’ is easy!

This frozen dough ball situation is key and here’s why:

You and the family can have  fresh baked cookies any and every night.

Surprise guests?  No problem at all… you just happened to be whipping up a batch of fresh cookies.  Taaadaaa!

Bake ‘em directly from frozen…. do it!

Frozen dough balls in the middle of the night?  I won’t tell a soul.  Can I be honest?  I eat the dough balls more often than I actually bake the cookies.  In fact… be right back.  Dough ball for breakfast.

Full disclosure:  I’ve eaten three cookie dough balls in the writing of this post.  I’m not done yet.

You might also try these recipes for you cookie dough freezing pleasure:

Oatmeal Cherry White Chocolate Cookies

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

White Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from King Arthur

makes 2 dozen cookies

Print this Recipe!

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour, or regular whole wheat flour if you’re feeling extra nutty

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1-2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts, again… if you’re feeling nutty.

Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl, whisk it together and set aside.  Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar and softened butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat until creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Add vanilla extract.  Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute in between each addition.  Add dry ingredients all at once and mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips and nuts if using.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.  Drop cookie dough by the tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet.  Place them very close together so that as many cookies balls as possible fit on the tray.  Put the cookie sheet in the freezer and chill dough balls until frozen through, at least 3 hours.  Remove the sheet from the freezer and place dough balls in a freezer safe bag and place back in the freezer until ready to bake.

When ready to bake cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Place frozen dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Leave a few inches in between the cookies, giving them room to spread.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or  until golden and irresistible.