I’ve met someone.

It’s serious, we’re very committed. I can’t imagine ever saying goodbye.

To our cleaning woman.

That’s not even a good enough title for her. Cleaning queen? Her majesty? Master of my heart and soul? I don’t even know, but I love her with my entire being. Used to, I would spend our entire Sundays cleaning the house. We could never really do anything on Sundays because it was always church, clean, nap, fold laundry. That was the rhythm. We sound fun, right? Well, after months of Garr begging to hire someone, claiming he refuses to scrub one more toilet (first world problems), I caved. And I will never look back. She came for the first time last week and FIRST THING SHE SAID was, “Do you have a ladder? I want to clean all of these ceiling fans. If not, I have one in the car.” *SWOON* I went to get some tea, so I was out of her way. I came back and she was on top of the kitchen counters cleaning above the cabinets. I proposed to her right then and there.

Next, I plan to invest in a Honey I Shrunk the Kids device so I can shrink her and keep her in my pocket.

 

 

Time: 1 hour (prep + cooking) | Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, quartered
• 5-6 portobello mushrooms, quartered
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 carrots or 8 baby ones, chopped
• 2 tbsp. of garlic, minced
• 1 package of cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 2 tbsp. of tomato paste
• 1/2 cup of red wine
• 1 package of papparedelle
• 4 tbsp. of olive oil
• 1 tsp. of crushed red pepper
• S+P, to taste

How to:

• Preheat broiler
• Arrange onion + portobello + carrots + celery on a  parchment paper lined baking sheet
• Drizzle with 1 tbsp. of olive oil + S+P
• Roast for 20 minutes, tossing once
• Once cooled, process in food processor until a paste-like consistency + a lil chunky
• Meanwhile, heat remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium heat
• Add cremini mushrooms, cook 6-8 minutes
• Add tomato paste + red wine, cook, stirring constantly for a minute
• Add veggie paste + red pepper + S+P, cook another minute
• Meanwhile, cook pasta to al dente, reserving 1 1/2 cups of cooking liquid
• Add noodles straight to the ragu pan + 1/2 cup of liquid, tossing + cooking for a minute
• Add another 1/2 cup, tossing until sauce starts to thin
• Add another 1/2 cup if necessary to thin the sauce
• Add some S+P + red pepper if desired
• Serve warm

 

 

Adapted from here!