i did something today that i haven't done all month long: go out for a run. i thought i went running at least a few times this month, but every tuesday and thursday was peppered with some excuse not to go running. the last time i went for a run was actually 11/30. i though the temperature would be cooler but by the time i left the house around 11am it'd actually gone up to 43 degrees. i wore jogging pants, a long-sleeved pullover, and some gloves. those worked well in the shadows, by the time i made it to the river with full sun exposure i'd already taken off the gloves, and midway through my run i took off the pullover and wrapped it around my waist.

i ran listening to the WGBH big dig podcast, second to last episode, learned about the power of public works authorities. it's been nearly a month since my last run. i could still do it, but not at any speed, just a plodding pace. there weren't too many other runners to witness my depressing performance; large post-christmas family groups out on a riverbank stroll far outnumbered actual runners.

after taking a shower when i got home, i ate the sponge cake my 2nd aunt got for me on friday. my sister called me when i was still using the bathroom, said there were 10 customers. on a day where she was scheduled to work, i didn't understand why she'd call asking me to come in. besides, i went and worked at the cafe every single day last week. so of course i didn't go. later i learned that my sister told my parents she wasn't going to work this week, so she could spent more time training her dog. she was just about to leave when it got busy and ended up staying to help out, even though she was technically supposed to work today.

i called my mother in the afternoon before leaving for market basket. i knew my father already went this morning, but luckily i called because he forgot a few things that i ended up picking up along with my own groceries. i decided to make a bolognese sauce with pasta for dinner this week. i haven't made pasta in a long time, figured that was a quick way to gain weight. but very few things hit the spot the way pasta does on cold winter nights, so i decided to make it. bolognese is what i usually call meat sauce, although there are specific ingredients that make it a bolognese sauce. normally i just cook some onion and garlic, followed by ground beef, then a jar of ready made tomato sauce, maybe simmer it for 30-60 minutes, call it done. but i did some research today, and wanted to create a more flavorful authentic sauce.

i started making the bolognese sauce as soon as i got home, as one of things i wanted to do was to reduce the sauce which would take anywhere from 4-6 hours. i tried a few new things. like adding the milk (in my case half & half). the addition of white wine made sense, i'd added it to other italian recipes, just never to a meat sauce. i added anchovies - not sure if that was necessary, and i couldn't taste it anyway, the ground beef itself already imparting a lot of umami flavor. finally i threw in a parmesan cheese rind i had in my fridge. i don't think that did anything either, it did get softer but didn't shrink very much, and probably didn't add any noticeable flavors. once i made the sauce (3pm) i left it on the stove to simmer for 4 hours, occasionally going into the kitchen to stir the pot.

my upstairs neighbors came home today, even though they told me they wouldn't be back until wednesday. maybe something happened to cut their christmas vacation short. i didn't mind though, they were pretty quiet tonight.

i started rewatching the first season of fargo while waiting for the next episode of season five fargo to drop later tonight. i'd forgotten how good that first season was, set the bar for all successive seasons. second season is really good as well.

the bolognese sauce was finally ready to eat by 7pm. i cooked up a bowl of cavatappi pasta (1-1/2 cups dried), grated some fresh parmesan cheese while i waited for it to finish cooking. the final result was very good, i ate the whole thing in just a few minutes.

i don't know if reducing the sauce made it any tastier, i honestly couldn't tell the difference other than it was thicker. the only thing different i could taste was the cup of white wine i added, gave the sauce a richer flavor though did add a hint of bitterness. next time i made this sauce i wouldn't bother reducing it: 30-60 minutes of simmering should be enough. cooking another for 4 hours straight is a labor of love and i see this sauce more of a supposedly-simple utilitarian go-to more than anything else. the grated cheese does help though, adds a touch more salt to the dish.

there were a bunch of NBA games tonight. detroit ended up losing a close game against brooklyn, setting the new NBA record for the longest losing streak. celtics play them on thursday which could potentially be a trap game if boston isn't careful. thunder beat the timberwolves, so now boston has some distance for the best record in the NBA. finally i watched the grizzlies-pelicans game. tonight marks the return of marcus smart. memphis hasn't lost a game since ja morant came back from suspension 3 games ago. it was an exciting game, going into overtime. grizzlies won 116-115, helped by a dominant performance by smart in the 4th quarter and overtime on both defense and offense. i'm rooting for memphis to rise through the ranks to at least get a play-in spot in the playoffs.

later in the evening i felt a little bloated from all the pasta i ate. nothing that a little poop can't fix. i watched the latest episode of fargo in bed, the one with the puppets. it was so out of character for the show that i initially hated it, before discovering at the end it was all a dream sequence, which then made sense.