Orecchiette with Roasted Broccoli & Walnuts….Sort of

I decided to glam it up a bit this evening with a recipe from February’s issue of Real Simple. Of course I didn’t have all the ingredients so I tweeked it just a bit, but it still turned out super yummy!!

I’ve attached the original recipe if you’d like to go by that. But then I’ve added my changes in Red.

Bon Appetite!

Orecchiette with Roasted Broccoli and Walnuts

12 ounces orecchiette or some other short pasta (3 cups) (I used Whole Grain Rotini)
1 bunch broccoli (1 1/2 pounds), cut into small florets
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (I used chopped pecans)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce) (I used shredded)

At the end when I mixed it all together, I also added real bits of bacon (1 small bag) and a couple of handfuls of Craisins!

Heat oven to 400° F. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta, and return it to the pot.

Meanwhile, on a rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccoli, walnuts, oil, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once, until the broccoli is tender, 18 to 20 minutes.

Toss the pasta with the broccoli mixture, butter, and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. (Add more water if the pasta seems dry.) Sprinkle with the Parmesan before serving.

New Season of Hell's Kitchen

I feel somewhat silly posting this after my last entry- a feeble attempt at fancy food!

The new season of Hell's Kitchen airs Thrusday @ 9pm on FOX.

And for those Charlotteans out there, one of our own is representing- Her name is Lacey and she is a corporate buffet cook from the Queen's City!

Hope she doesn't get called a bleeping donkeh! Yeah?

Orecchiette with Roasted Broccoli & Walnuts....Sort of

I decided to glam it up a bit this evening with a recipe from February's issue of Real Simple.   Of course I didn't have all the ingredients so I tweeked it just a bit, but it still turned out super yummy!!

I've attached the original recipe if you'd like to go by that.  But then I've added my changes in Red. 

Bon Appetite!

 Orecchiette with Roasted Broccoli and Walnuts

12 ounces orecchiette or some other short pasta (3 cups) (I used Whole Grain Rotini)
1 bunch broccoli (1 1/2 pounds), cut into small florets
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (I used chopped pecans)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce) (I used shredded)

At the end when I mixed it all together, I also added real bits of bacon (1 small bag) and a couple of handfuls of Craisins!

Heat oven to 400° F. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta, and return it to the pot.

Meanwhile, on a rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccoli, walnuts, oil, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once, until the broccoli is tender, 18 to 20 minutes.

Toss the pasta with the broccoli mixture, butter, and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. (Add more water if the pasta seems dry.) Sprinkle with the Parmesan before serving.

Random Thought

You know what absolutely boggles my mind?

Dreams.

I had a dream about two weeks ago that is still so colorful in my brain it’s as if I just had it last night. Or it’s as if it were real, rather. In it were all these details, places, people and times that were merely a concoction of my own brain- it amazes me that we (or our subconscience) is capable of creating entire storylines that have little or nothing to do with what goes on in your daily life. Nor do we have to have even the foggiest of notions about any of the sustance that makes the dream up- it just flows out.

For instance, my dream included a Native American man. I’m reading a book that also has a Native American character in it- I can link those two ideas together. But the rest of the dream, the state this man was from, the house he lived in, the clothes he wore, his upbringing- all of it was a creation of my imagination.

How fascinating…how intriguing…

I would love to know what it all means. And not in the “oh you dreamt about a having a baby, that means a new beginning” sort of way. I mean, what I am supposed to do with it. How am I supposed to use it? Of course not all dreams are as poignant, but this latest one, most vivid…

There’s something there, there’s something to it.

On a different note, this brings to mind how totally complex and intricate we are! God is one smart cookie to have created us and though we are but feeble humans in comparison to Him, we are still made in His image and that makes us pretty remarkable beings. To think even deeper that our minds are but a reflection (beit a minute one) of His mind.

I’m not venturing to state that I understand God by any means, but it just helps me to appreciate even the little things (like details in a dream) because I know that that is how I was created to work. That my amazing and creative God made me this way.

Hmm…..pretty neat I think.

New Link

You'll notice to the left there is a new button titled The 1 Cor. 7:5 Challenge. Like the one right here.

I'll leave looking up the scripture to you, but in short it's a challege to uphold our end of the bargain concerning, uh, "relations" with our hubbies.

Just click on the button to be linked to all the details. Please feel free to participate; it should be fun!

Best of Luck!!

Too Funny

This was absolutely too funny not to comment on...

Sesame Street's very own Bert of Bert and Ernie was cleaning on today's show and when Ernie put on some music, Bert couldn't help but dance to it.

The hilarious part was when Bert called the music "kicky"!

I love it!!

First Snow

We woke up this morning to a beautiful scene....

The season's and my daughter's very first snow.

Having lived in Charlotte for so long, it's been a while since we've seen anything remotely Winter Wonderlandish, but today nature has blessed us with it's fluffy cover of white.

Even as an adult, I get these feelings of flutter when I see snow fall. It takes me back to more simple days when snow meant no school and sleding down some gigantic Fallon Park hill. Those were the days.

But today my heart felt something similar, though totally different, as I watched my daughter's reaction to the scenery. She was in complete amazement and uttered these gasps of excitement. She's now learned to point, so she did a lot of pointing, too. Her little eyes mezmerized by all the white. Oh how I would love to be inside her little brain to see what she was actually thinking.

This first snow makes me so proud to be a mom and only makes me ponder and enjoy the thoughts of how many firsts I get to be a part of and how many little looks of wonderment I get to set my own gaze upon.

What an awesome gift!