Smug Spaghetti

If you have not seen the SouthPark episode about the smug cloud threat that happens when people turn smug about being more green than anyone else, you whould make it a point to watch. I have been reading more and more about the rising "smug" factor with people who want to be green and earth friendly and organic, etc. I really have nothing against that, I dont like to see people mistreating the gifts we are giving every day, BUT I also dont like the other exteme of people who want to be green at all cost.

So there I was strolling the isle at the local Publix and they have a new house brand tag called Greenwise that implies you are either being extra friendly to the Earth or organic. I saw a section in the meat department that had a couple packages of Greenwise Ground Chuck and it was actually the same price as the "regular" ground chuck. So I picked up a package along with some mushrooms, onions, and garlic. I was going to buy some Paul Newmans organic style pasta sauce, but they did not have my favorite tomato basil flavor, so I opted for the regular. Even still you do get 1/2 smug points because Paul does donate money from all sales to some charitable funds.

I rolled home and broke out my latest Marshalls red tag special, a very nice heavy duty garlic press. Chopped up the shrooms, diced the onions, pressed the garlic, sauteed the ground chuck and mixed in the sauce. let it simmer for about an hour to get good and happy. Served it up with some freshly shaved parmesan cheese and it was tasty. I have never pressed garlic before, usually I dice or chop it fine, but the press really breaks it down and lets out the flavor without having the little garlic chuncks left. It was very tasty. I should have broken open a bottle of Pinot Noir to go along, but I am getting over a head cold and taking lots of cold medicine which has really dehydrated me. I had to cut short a bike ride this morning due to cramping and knee aches. So I am working on rehydrating so I can try and keep up tomorrow a little longer.

By the way even with the 2.5 smug factor spaghetti sauce, I really could not taste a noticble difference from my normal awesome spaghetti. But I did feel smug about it none the less.