Over the last year I've been working on my own bolognese recipe. The recipe below is my best version so far, but I'm looking forward to making further improvements. I think adding cinnamon and some hot red pepper flakes would be a great addition for next time!

Ingredients:
2 carrots
1 green pepper
Half box of mushrooms
1 onion
1.3 - 1.5 lbs ground beef (the lower fat the better)
​2 sausages 
3/4 cup tomato juice
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bayleaf
1 can Hunt's tomato paste (6 ounces)
2 cans Hunt's tomoato sauce (15 ounces each)

Directions:

1. Finely chop carrots, pepper, mushrooms, and onion.
2. Sautee vegetables over medium low heat in olive oil for about ten mintues (or less depending on how quickly they are cooking and how finely they are chopped!).

     3. Increae heat to medium-high. Add in the ground beef and sausage (remove its casing), and cook through until all meat is browned. 
        4. Pour in the tomato juice and stir until it evaporates, about 5 minutes.
        5. Stir in freshly ground pepper, thyme, and bayleaf.
        6. Add tomato paste and tomato sauce.

       7. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for at least two hours, stirring occasionally. The sauce will reduce a lot, and it will be a thick and delicious when ready to put on pasta!

I'd like to start storing and sharing the recipes I love to cook. I've hesitated to do this in fear of being 'just another recipe blogger,' but have come to realize that preventing myself from sharing something that is bringing me joy is beyond silly and beyond something I should be worried about. I also found out the hard way that bookmarked webpages don't always stay active, and when I lost my favorite quiche recipe it further solidified that I should record the recipes that become favorites. 

Ingredients (makes 8 servings - 
​just half everything for smaller portion!) :

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ​1 ½ or 2 chopped carrots
• ½ chopped white onion
• 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup orzo
• Salt, pepper, bay leaf flakes
• 2 cooked shredded boneless
  chicken breasts (rotisserie works great)
• 1 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice (this gives it a really lemony
  flavor - if you’re not a lemon nut like me ¾ cup is fine)
• 4 large eggs (five if the soup did not thicken enough
• Fresh parsley for garnish

​Directions: 

1. Heat tablespoon of olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrots and onions and briefly sauté until the onions become translucent (about 5 minutes). 
2. Add the chicken broth and seasoning and bay leaf flakes (or whole bay leaf if you are using - just be sure to take it out before serving!) and raise heat to high. Once the soup has come to a rolling boil, add the orzo, a little salt, and plenty of pepper. 
3. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. While the soup is simmering, prepare the egg-lemon sauce:
   1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and eggs until foamy.
   2. While whisking, add 2 ladles-full of the broth from the cooking pot to help temper the eggs. Whisk constantly so the eggs don’t curdle. 
5. Stir the cooked chicken into the soup. 
6. Add the tempered egg-lemon sauce slowly to the chicken soup and stir.
7. Garnish with fresh parsley. Enjoy!

When I served this as an appetizer for Greek Easter, I've never seen my family love something so unanimously!

Despite the lack of kitchen space in our lovely hobbit hole, we still manage to get creative and enjoy finding and trying new recipes.  Right now, it doesn't matter that our shelves are at maximum capacity, and that the top of the fridge, above the cabinets, underneath the bed, and all manner of nooks and crannies have become storage centers for dishware and dry goods.  We're learning to live with that, and know that more space will come soon enough.  Luckily we are both organized and borderline anal-retentive, so we manage to fit everything into the tiny spaces like a puzzle.

The other night, I made sweet potato and black bean tacos.  It was my second time making it, and now I've confirmed that it's a recipe that will be used over and over again.  It's easy, it's healthy, it's delicious, and - you get to eat a burrito (or several) for dinner.  Could there be any other result besides absolute enjoyment when dinner includes tortillas and guacamole? 

​As one who lives to eat, I’ve never understood those who eat to live.  My relationship with food is a joyous one, and my life is enhanced by experiences at restaurants and family made home-cooked meals that give you both permission and encouragement to take seconds, then thirds. 
 
Despite my love affair with food and my constant thought of ‘when will I eat next?,’ I never felt at home in the kitchen or comfortable doing the cooking myself.  It even made me slightly anxious, and often left me paralyzed with visions of smoking pots and fires in the oven, quickly followed by me grabbing my phone to order take out.  Suddenly, in the last few months I’ve come around to the idea of experimenting in the kitchen, and I’ve found I really enjoy it!  Often when I begin, I have no idea how a recipe will turn out and have many doubts regarding my culinary abilities mid-way through, but most of the time, it actually turns out very delicious.
 
I’ve been documenting some of my trials (and errors) and wanted to share my adventure in Brussels (spouts) that happened a few weeks ago.

I've since made this recipe again and they came out just as delicious.  Even Murat, who swore up and down he'd never eat brussel due to traumatizing childhood memories involving boiling the offensive vegetable,  took seconds.  High praise indeed!