Taste of Tuscany

Back in the glory days of college, when I was allowed to go to Italy for 4 months to "study", I used to actually cook sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I did eat out a ton, and could probably provide an extensive list of Florentine restaurants with the best gnocchi and best bolognese sauce in il mondo. But sometimes, I went to the grocery store, and picked up some tomatoes and onions and other things and put them in a pan on the stove. Of course I had heavy assistance from my roommates since a.) I had never actually cooked for myself and b.) did not know how to "make things from scratch".

I read an article some where that quoted that by the time you are 25ish it's good to start feeding yourself and the people that you love with real food. She claimed that sitting at the table with people that you are close with to share a meal is something that is "more than worth it every time".
I've never believed this more than when I was in Italy and we used to have group dinners where we would drink 3 euro wine and stuff ourselves with carbohydrates and gelato. I also had the pleasure of having a Thanksgiving meal with my Boston friends (aka Boston family) this year and eating delicious turkey, stuffing, and epic side dishes. No one cared that after stringing together three tables of all different heights,  we still had to use paper napkins. It was about togetherness around food that made the time so special and cherished. Insert audible "aw".

Anyways, with all that in mind, I decided to embark upon a sauce creating expedition last night. I fed no one.. well me. But this was my dry run. Maybe if you're lucky my next meal target will be YOU.

I'm bad at recipes. So let's just say it's filled with stuff like sweet Italian sausage,  peeled tomatoes crushed with a wooden spoon, tomato paste, fennel, carrots, basil, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, splash of white wine... and LOVE.

In the skillet. Steamy and bubbly.

Finished product.

Baci!