I've been doing things . . .

Contrary to what it seems like on here, I have been doing things lately.  Not big, or even great things, but things.  Like baking and mixing.  You'll see.  Also, I've been on a cookie kick, so get ready for that.

In Sequence: Whole grain spaghetti with spicy Italian sausage

I've been busy in the kitchen as of late.  Well, I have some time to myself now that John is in Germany.  Work still dominates my life, don't get me wrong, but now my home time is boring.  Plus, John did most of the cooking anyway.  Time to get back to my cooking roots!  I had the idea of making a large meal and dividing it for lunches throughout the week, to cut back on my lean cuisine budget.  So here's a (mostly) step by step guide to replicating this delicious meal.

Take sausage out of the casings and break up with a wooden spoon as it begins to brown.  You want the sausage mostly cooked through, with browned spots for flavor and appearance.

Take the sausage out of the pan and use the drippings to cook your diced onion.  I used half an onion here, mixed with a bit of tomato paste, herbs d'Provence, and red pepper flakes.  If your sausage if dry, you can add a bit of olive oil for a lipid.  Cook until onions are translucent.

Add crushed tomatoes (I used Tuttorosso, because it is delicious).  Also add any dried spices like Italian seasoning, basil, oregano, or supplemented dried onion or garlic powder.  Add your sausage back to the sauce so it can lend its spiciness.  If adding fresh herbs, wait until the end so you don't completely pulverize them.  If using fresh garlic, also wait.  I added a spoonful of sugar to take some of the tomato tart away and bring the flavors together.  Let it simmer long enough to let the flavors meld.  Simultaneously boil your pasta in salted water, but wait until the last 10 minutes or so of simmering.

Gather fresh herbs from the garden and give them a light chop.  Acceptable herbs are basil, oregano, thyme, and parsley.  Anything else might be weird, but whatever suits you.  My basil unfortunately died over winter, but the oregano is still going strong!

Use a garlic press to press several cloves ( I used 5-6) directly into the sauce.  Toss your pasta and sauce together until completely tangled.  Top with your fresh herbs and serve immediately!  To kick it up a notch, grate some peccorino over your plated pasta.  I forgot that step the first night, but I have leftovers that will receive the cheesy wrath!

Questions?  Ideas?  Leave them in the comments below.

Springtiming

Photo Bombed!

I have this lovely blooming in the office currently.  Upon hearing camera noises, and seeing that I was closer to the ground, Fosca began to photobomb my subject.  Sneaky kitty, but too cute to resist.

Winter Birding

It's March.  It's cold  It's snowed/iced twice.  What is this?  I live in the South for a reason, and this isn't it.  So much of this weather has reminded us of our time in Germany about a year ago.  Minus the whole 'adventure' attitude.  This is home, and it is certainly not supposed to snow twice (almost three times).

If there is but one benefit to a prolonged winter, however, it is the bare branches that expose all of the wonderful birds that travel through, or live in, South Carolina.  On my minimal time off to spend at home, I was able to snap some of these winged beauties.  Enjoy, as I do.

Fosca looks on in anticipation for an opportunity to get closer. 

Check out some of my other bird posts and pictures.

And don't forget to follow me on Pinterest!

Wild Wisteria

The second snow

Our last week in Oberweissenbrunn was insanely short due to the amount of travelling we did.  We felt we merely came home to sleep and wash clothes, all to turn around and pack again.

We did, however, experience the region's second snowfall this season, in all its beauty.  We found as we were taking the bus towards the train that would eventually lead us to a plane back home that we would greatly miss the beauty of the place.  Yes, it was really far from the train, and there was no grocery store within our town's limits, and we spent so many days under a foggy cloud cover, but it was a lovely place.

Bees and Flowers

With all this regular posting on Project 365, it's hard to make myself post here too.  However, I still have loads of good pictures to share!  Shout out to my parents who just stayed a couple of days with us!  We had a good time.

Crepes: A first attempt

Still recovering from my birthday soiree that took place on Sunday . . .

Think fondue of both the chocolate and the cheese kind, add a wonderful watermelon mojito pitcher, home-brew raspberry wheat and cider, wine bottles galore, and an attention whore kitty who's loving every minute of it.  I wish I had taken pictures of the spread and the people, but alas, I was drinking all of that gloriousness.


But I did take pictures of these:




Ever since we've had our 14" skillet John has been asking me to make crepes.  To be fair, it is a perfect pan for it.  It's amazing what boredom and some time on your hands can do.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• Butter, for coating the pan

Directions

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. Lay them out flat so they can cool. Continue until all batter is gone. After they have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

*Savory Variation Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, spinach or sun-dried tomatoes to the egg mixture.

*Sweet Variation Add 21/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of your favorite liqueur to the egg mixture.

This is Alton Brown's recipe, which turned out beautifully.  I added some vanilla extract for the sweeter variation, then slathered them with Nutella, and stuffed them with dried figs and fresh Bartlett pears.  Delicious!

Now I've got to work on a savory variation for John's breakfast.  Not a bad problem to have :)

On another note:  In honor of my birthday I have finally taken the plunge and started a Project 365 photography project.  For those of you who do not know, it is a project of diligence and commitment where one picture is posted per day for an entire year.  I could not be more excited and more intimidated at the same time.  Please go over and take a look when you have time.

Sushi!

About a month before our move, John and I decided to go through the pantry and start eating things so we wouldn't have to pack them.  Quite a few things got pushed to the back and were forgotten until we dug through and unveiled them.  One of those things: A bag of brown sushi rice from Earth Fare.  "Well, tomorrow is sushi night then!"

You see, we've done seared ahi tuna before.  And certainly, we've put together some good rice bowls before.  This sushi thing, however, is something we were still kinda fresh at.  We had the rolling mat from some uses before, but we hadn't done it with brown rice before.  Plus, the last ones we're kind of messy.

But, as you can see, this attempt was spot on.  We were so delighted at how easy we found preparing the brown rice.  Then we threw in our favorite ingredients, in this case tuna, salmon, cucumber, cream cheese, and sesame seeds, and drizzled them with sriracha and yum yum sauce!

And we made a lot!  They were devoured in about 30 minutes time, I'm ashamed to say.

We found them easy to make and easy to repeat.  And the brown rice eased our conscience about eating healthy.  We now have sushi as a staple.  You may be jealous now.

In other news:  It's hotter than a B**ch in Columbia, SC!