Pasta Extra Virgin Olive Oil Bliss

Well Peanut I am feeling pretty guilty seeing as how you have started the work out routine and I have just consumed not one but two bowls of pasta!! No one told me that when you marry an Italian they come with a disclaimer that reads "May cause spontaneous consumption of large quantities of delicious pasta" Yes, pasta night in our little abode has sadly come and gone once more and has filled our bellies to the brim and will hopefully keep us satisfied until next weeks pasta night. We ventured down to our little fresh food market or as Australians say Green Grocer and picked up wild field mushrooms, and fresh just rolled out peppercorn Pappardelle pasta (which is just a really wide flat pasta). From there we came home and Paul began to assemble his weekly masterpiece of tasty goodness. He always keeps what he is making me for pasta night top secret until he serves it to me in a bowl. Tonight he made Pappardelle Pasta with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, field mushrooms, fresh basil, fresh parsley, & topped it off with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Of course it was amazing made extra amazing by the olive oil that he used which of course comes fresh from his olive grove.....oh yes the man has an olive grove which produces the best olive oil I have ever laid taste buds on. His Mom and Dad slave away at the grove each year and every May we get freshly cold pressed olive oil from their grove. Me being an Oklahoma Girl with a Norwegian Mother means I was raised with all things butter!! Everything from the biscuits to the rice was made better with butter and then I met Paul and discovered quickly that not every family is alike especially when it comes to butter v.s. olive oil. In Paul's family even the cakes are made with olive oil and they do not take very kindly to someone asking for butter for their bread. Luckily Paul told me this before our first family dinner night. So Peanut with all this pasta eating I think I need to steal some work out routines of yours or maybe we can do a Skype work out session together? I have added the Paul's Pasta recipe for you below. It is very easy to make and if you can't find wild field mushrooms any mushrooms you can get your hands on will do. But remember what Julia Child told us in her cooking book...Don't Crowd the Mushrooms Ladies. Make sure you put a few sliced mushrooms in the pan to saute and make sure that each slice has plenty of room around it as to not crowd the mushrooms otherwise the pan will fill up with water from the mus

hrooms and it becomes a mess.

Paul's Pappardelle Pasta:

2 cloves of chopped garlic

2 handfuls of chopped fresh basil

1 handful of chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil plus more as needed

2 large field mushrooms sliced

1 packet of fresh pasta (serves two but double recipe for more and so on. If you cannot find fresh pasta then dried pasta works as well)

Put pot of water on to boil. And once boiling then put in fresh pasta while sauteing the mushrooms. If the pasta is not fresh and is dried pasta then put in pasta before you start to brown the mushrooms.

In a saute pan coat the bottom of the pan with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and saute the mushrooms and add salt and pepper. Brown the mushrooms and then add in the garlic and saute for 1 minute.

Once pasta is al dente then drain pasta and put the pasta into the pan with the extra virgin olive oil and the field mushrooms and mix all ingredients together.

Once mixed then serve pasta into bowls and sprinkle basil and parsley on top of the mixture and grate parmesan cheese on top and serve.

Back in the Groove

Working out after a baby is a bit of a pipe dream, especially when you live in a small town. We do not have gyms that provide child care. While preggo I would day dream of running with the babe in a jogging stroller, doing mommy and baby yoga, or at the very least getting in a few crunches and/ or lunges during nap time. My butterball is almost 11 months and until this week, none of the above has happened. With swim suit season around the corner I have decided to get my butt in gear. Today was only day 2, not too impressive I am aware, but just wait...I am back! And determined to stick with my new workout regime. It is challenging, trying to get workouts in while he is napping, then trying to shower and pull myself together hoping to look half way presentable for the remainder of the day. I am a bit old fashioned and still find it fun to look nice when my hubby walks in the door. After being with the cattle all day looking good is not that hard a task, and a little eye candy never hurt anyone:) So Teacup, keep me accountable. This workout routine needs to stick...I am in my 30's now remember...and if it doesn't the butterball is worth every pound and jiggle. Just look at him; irresistible.
whoops, sorry that is my man....and he IS irresistible. here is the butterball, isn't he perfect?!
and here are a few more pics, just because I couldn't help myself

Red Wine?.....Yes Please!

I was always a Sav Blanc kind of girl until I discovered the wonders of Shiraz.....and it is kind of amazing! I always strayed from the red wine side of things because I did not like how it made my whole entire mouth look like I had eaten a box of blueberries only after a glass...not so appealing when you are entertaining. But a couple of weeks ago Paul made Chili and paired it with a glass of Shiraz and I was thoroughly impressed! Apparently variety is the spice of life and I have my wonderful husband to thank for it! Not only does red wine go well with a warm bowl of chili but it also goes well with a movie, after a long day at work, and after you paint your bedroom a hideous color of Caribbean Blue (yes it was pretty tragic).Right now my man and I are sampling a glass of Flying Fox Shiraz from the beautiful Adelaide Hills of Australia....definitely worth sampling yourself. And Peanut I know you are reading this and thinking about where you can find Flying Fox Shiraz and I have no idea but I am sure your local wine store can get a bottle.

Speaking of all things red wine brings up memories of a recent trip to Greece....Peanut, remember when we ended up stranded in the Rome airport for 14 hours with a bottle of red wine and a calling card....Well it was partly our fault we did get lost in the Rome airport trying to find our connecting flight to Greece only to end up outside in the parking lot. But I might add that our flight was late due to the world's largest flock of birds flying into our planes engine while on the tarmac of the JFK airport in New York....and of course that would happen to Peanut and me (as it turns out the world's most unlucky pair of traveling partners) Realizing that we had made a wrong turn somewhere we slowly started to back track which lead us into the arms of Italian Officers who proceeded to take our passports....apparently this is a big NO NO to do while traveling through Italy ....definitely do not give the random Italian Officers your passport. Eventually we did get our passports back and decided we needed a giant bowl of Italian pasta with bolognese sauce and some red wine to top it off with which was the prefect cure to our horrific experience....after 14 hours and once we were safely on our way to Greece we laughed ourselves until we were blue in the face about the whole tragic turn of events.
SALUTE Peanut!

True Love

Today was a good day, my new House Beautiful arrived! After putting our little butterball to bed, my Cowboy put together a play list, poured us each a glass of wine and we snuggled up on the couch, he with the remote and me with...ahhh...my new mag. The euphoric moment, however, was short lived as I was quickly reminded to "turn off the light!"...we have a thing for dark rooms (and wine) at night, maybe our 'dig in' motto from the Baltimore days. Anyway, it was then I sprang up, ran to the bedroom, and walked out proud in...my headlamp! Yes, when you are married to a rancher you have your very own headlamp. My Carhartt Cowboy looked at me and said, "awe babe, I love you in a headlamp," which of course put a huge smile on my face. So, here I am nerdiness and all in my headlamp, enjoying every minute of it, while soaking in the excellence of my most recent House Beautiful. Oh how I love late nights with my man.

Super Target Blues

Hope all three of you guys get some much needed sleep soon Peanut. Don't worry just keep thinking to yourself that the end of crib training is on the horizon. I am childless at the moment so I cannot say that I feel your pain but if you need some support in the middle of the night I am only a phone call away since it is in the middle of the day here! And by the way keep the photos coming of the little butterball......he is way too cute!!
Today I had a verrrrry looooong day at work finishing up late and was dreading doing the weekly grocery shopping.....I know a little odd for me right seeing as how I am one of the crazy few that loves to go and browse the fresh veggie stand or go and pick out my favorite cut of meat from the local butcher but yes Peanut it seems you do not have to have a case of the sleepless child syndrome to become incredibly tired. And the whole way home all I could think about was how much I missed SUPER TARGET.....yes I said it...I miss Super Target and all its convenience. I miss being able to grab a pair of socks, maybe a cute T-shirt, milk, butter, and ice cream all in the one go. It is genius! So end of story....I did not end up going grocery shopping opting for a rummage through the freezer instead. Praying that I had some sort of meat in there frozen that I had long forgotten about I went freezer diving. It was my lucky day because tucked away in the far back of my never ending freezer was a piece of frozen beef tenderloin woooohoooo!!!!



Every Spice in the Pantry Beef Tenderloin:
1 beef tenderloin
1 tbls cumin
1 tbls paprika
1 tbls mustard powder
1 tbls black pepper
1 tbls celery powder
1 tbls dried oregano
1 tbls dried thyme
1 tbls Salt
1 tbls Chilli powder
2 cloves of garlic chopped
EVOO for coating around the beef tenderloin

In a bowl mix all of the ingredients above together (except for the beef tenderloin and EVOO)
Then coat the beef tenderloin with the spice mixture and put in zip-lock bag and sprinkle EVOO into the zip-lock back and let sit in the frig while you prep the salad and salad dressing or let sit for 30-45 mins. Then remove from the zip-lock bag and wrap the beef tenderloin in foil with all the ingredients from the zip-lock bag and grill.




To Die for Salad Dressing:
Juice of two limes
1 tbls of sweet asian vinegar
1 tbls of freshly grated ginger
3 tsps of brown sugar
Healthy pinch of salt and pepper
1 tbls of EVOO
1 heaping tsp of seeded mustard

Mix above ingredients together until smooth and dress salad


Arugula Salad with broiled cherry tomatoes
Arugula Salad
Cherry Tomatoes (roast these in a pan under the broiler until charred, for a little deliciousness)
Mushrooms
Fresh Basil
Sugar Snap Peas chopped with ends chopped off
1 Fresh Fig

Mix all the ingredients above into a bowl and serve

Sleep training continues....

First of all T's I am completely jealous of your herb garden, the basil and pasta both look like they belong in a magazine. I cannot wait to get my herb garden up and running. I think I have even convinced Nancy into helping me put in a full blown garden...fresh veggies here we come!

The sleep training continues. Drake, the butterball, is doing better but it is still a struggle. According to my program he was not able to nurse at all last night, which translates into all three of us up most of the night trying to soothe him through. I am praying the end is near. He is napping better in the crib but I have not yet tried him in it for night time. I think deep down I am not ready for the transition. The little buckeroo has been snuggling with us for the last 10 months, giving it up brings tears to my eyes....literally I am tearing up right now...but I know it is the right thing. So, I will keep you posted as we progress.

Making butternut squash ravioli and the strawberry rosemary scones tomorrow. I took your advice and vetoed the amaretti cookies. Will post the recipe tomorrow along with pics!

Buenas noches my sweet Teacup. Talk to you manyana.

Paul's Pope's Pasta Perfection

It has been too long since my last post Peas and I know you have been after me to get to writing so here I am to spill the pasta shells on what my mister and I have been up to cookin in the kitchen. Tonight was our weekly pasta night which is one of my favourite nights. There is nothing better than the smell of fresh basil and simmering onions in a rich napolitana sauce. Paul never ceases to amaze my taste buds when he gets behind the stove top with some fresh ingredients from our little herb garden along with great EVOO!! On the menu for tonight was Pope's Pasta, remember the one we had when you came to visit Peanut? For anyone who doesn't know we call it Pope's pasta because it's rumored to be the only pasta the Pope eats (it is made from special grains with a high protein content) and it always comes out al dente!
The only problem with this dish is that its too good to stop after just one bowl and then the inevitable happens which is me sitting on the couch too full to move.


Paul's Pope's Pasta
Ingredients:
1 can of whole tomatoes
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 onion (diced)
2 cloves of garlic (diced)
3 big mushrooms sliced (any type that suits your fancy)
2 tbls. balsamic vinegar or red wine (any variety of red that is in your wine cupboard)
1 cup of chopped fresh parsley (must be fresh not dried Peanut..I know you would call me and ask)
2 cups of fresh chopped basil
Salt and Pepper
EVOO for sauteing and extra to add to the sauce
1 package of Pope's Pasta (Squisito is the brand we use but could substitute with Fusilli Pasta)
Best Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano) you can get your hands on!

Recipe:
In a large pot saute onion and mushroom with EVOO. Making sure mushroom browns just a little. Add in garlic and saute for a minute or so until just brown. Pour in balsamic vinegar or red wine. Then add in whole tomatoes and diced tomatoes and give mixture a healthy sprinkling of salt and pepper. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to a simmer for 45 minutes. Meanwhile boil a pot of water and add salt to the water. Once to a boil add in pasta and cook until al dente. Then turn off heat on the sauce mixture and add in the fresh parsley and half of the fresh basil. Drain pasta and return to pot that it was boiled in. Paul likes to add some sauce through the cooked pasta and then serve into bowls and add more sauce on top with rest of fresh basil and freshly grated parmesean.


Our Fresh Basil from our little urban herb garden