Is it Fall yet?

(The season, not "of the empire".)
Hi, everyone. When I said August was the speediest month ever, September decided to take it as a personal challenge. And succeeded in beating August's PR for flying by. And the world has definitely done its best to accelerate time as destructively and chaotically as possible until at least half of us are convinced we've been jettisoned to another timeline entirely. Over in this corner, it's making us more connected with our community and more dedicated to learning as much as we can about each other.

Last month:
I enjoyed starting out a new year and closing out a decade in September, and boy did that month take me through a mini lifetime of changes, activity, all the things. Soccer season is well under way, school is back to being established fact, and we got to enjoy the company of good friends and family. And I managed to still fit some writing in. As a birthday treat to myself, the theme of September was cats, with an article on cats in mythology, one on the origins of the maneki-neko, and even a fun side trip into AI and astrology with a match up of wild cats to astrological signs (with my inevitable commentary). Sadly, one of our own sweet cats, Lily, developed a terminal illness and declined within days, crossing over the Rainbow Bridge as we all crossed over into October. She was a special little soul, and a familiar to our oldest kid and while we're glad she's no longer in pain and is now snuggling with her best dog friend, Ginger, on the other side of that bridge, we're still missing her fiercely. Waffles is doing his best to therapize us all.

So on the heels of all that, what's next?
My plan is the same – newsletter, research-inspired article(s), and possibly another excerpt. Might be due for another fractured fairy tale in light of spooky season, too, so will see what I can cajole out my muse.

And now without further ado, the recipe of the month...

Recipe of the Month

Last month was a month of quick, easy comfort meals, and this month looks to herald more of the same, so with that, here's another of my favorite pasta dishes - again super easy to make: Simplified Turkey Bolognese

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
1 pack (8 oz) of pancetta (I recommend Trader Joe's as it tends to be the least fatty of all the ones I've tried)
1 18 to 24 oz jar marinara sauce (I recommend Raos with Trader Joe's as a close second)
Approx 1/2 to 1 pint of shaved parmesan cheese
Pasta of your choice (spaghetti, fusilli, and cavatappi work well)

Instructions

Boil water for pasta in a large pot (don't forget to add the dash of salt before you turn the water on)
While you're boiling the water, cook the pancetta in a large sauce pan (no oil or butter needed - it cooks in its own fat)
Once cooked, set aside the pancetta, but try to leave the melted fat in the pan.
Cook the ground turkey in the pancetta fat on Medium High, stirring and chunking up the turkey into small grounds (if there's not enough fat leftover from the pancetta, add some vegetable oil)
Add salt and pepper to the turkey while cooking it
Once the turkey is fully browned and cooked, add the pancetta back into the pan and as much of the tomato sauce as you like (at least enough to fully coat all the meat)
Keep the pan on medium high while stirring the turkey, pancetta, and sauce together.
Once fully mixed, add the shaved parmesan and fold it in to the sauce.
Once the cheese is fully mixed in, let the sauce come to a boil, then stir one more time, turn the heat to low, and cover the pot to simmer.
While the sauce is simmering, your pasta water should be boiled, so go ahead and cook your pasta.
Drain the cooked pasta, add it back to the pot, and stir in olive oil - just enough to coat all the pasta.
Serve the pasta in bowls and add the sauce on top (as much as desired) with a little freshly grated parmesan cheese on top.

This whole recipe takes about 30 minutes tops (probably only 10-15 minutes active cooking time). The pancetta and the parmesan help keep the turkey from drying out too much and give it that extra umami kick.

Options: Feel free to sauté some mushrooms in butter before cooking the pancetta and turkey, reserving them and then adding them back in once you add the sauce and pancetta. Also, Italian parsley makes a nice garnish, giving the dish a crisper feel and some like to add spicy dried chili flakes on top because nothing is ever hot enough for them. ;)

(Sadly I have no picture because I made this dish so frequently and usually late in the day that it's all I can do not to scarf it down like a barbarian as soon as I sit down to my plate, much less take a picture...maybe next time.)