Best Bolognese Sauce // Favorite Things

It is cold here.  Single digits cold (well, at least in the morning).  I tried everything I could think of to get out of swimming laps, but my friend Tricia was watching the babe, and she basically told me to get over it and just swim laps. It was, of course, exactly what I needed to hear. I swam slowly, but I swam, singing along to the music for the giant water aerobics class going on in the lane next to me. I have to say, I miss the old instructor, who wore unitards and sweatbands and rocked out to 80s tunes the way that only someone wearing a side ponytail, unitard, and sweatbands could.I made Egi's Bolognese Sauce with fettucine tonight, and my husband said it is quite possibly the best dish that I make, so I thought I'd share the recipe.  My favorite thing about this sauce is that you can substitute in a lot of different ingredients and it still tastes good. The key is the carrots and sausage, I think. Anything else is negotiable--I've added zucchini instead of celery, all sorts of onions, stewed tomatoes and whole tomatoes and fresh tomatoes, milk or even half and half instead of cream. (I always add more vegetables than it calls for, by the way.) Try it. You won't be disappointed.Finally, I have never participated in a sewing bee before, online or in person. I seem to have jumped in with both feet. Sewing blocks for other people is interesting. I've learned that I can't add, that I never make blocks as big as 12.5 inches square, and that I'm trying to be much more careful about ironing properly. It is one thing to make a beautiful quilt when you pick the fabric, scale and size of the block, how much fabric you have to work with, etc. Its something entirely different to make a block you are pleased with when the only factor that you have control over is the design. It is much more difficult than I would have guessed. Here is one of the blocks I made today during the magical hour where my son is still at preschool and my daughter is still napping. Hmmm.