Alex, sometimes slaving over a hot stove is relaxing. The ingredients probably only cost $15.00 in total but I'm talking about the time involved. A real bolognese sauce takes six to eight hours to prepare, making the pasta a similar amount of time for it to dry before cooking. (The pasta itself takes less than half an hour to make, but it has to dry.)

The payoff comes from the smells that fill your home while the food is in the oven, and the feelings those smells induce in the one who is about to be fed. I spend most of my week working like a dog; one day on the weekend I get enormous enjoyment out of spending half a day cooking something up.