More Wedding Pics

Here are more very random pics (thanks james) of Joe and Teri's wedding... so much love and friendship in one room, its funny the world didn't explode!

Cindy Sideways... you should've seen her red pumps!!
Me through the eye of the lens through the eye of the lens...Joe & Teri doing the sideways dance....Jamie & Cindy toasting to me...Me and Shannon... are we dancing? crying on each other's shoulders? or saying goodbye? only we will ever know...

ANTM + Pasta Primavera (again)

It's back! my very very guilty pleasure: America's Next Top Model Cycle 9! I have been watching this show from the beginning and I love it! So fierce! I am not the only one who digs this show, my cousins kyle & kelly follow religiously too. So much so that kyle put together a ANTM pool to see who can pick the models in the order they will be booted off. After watching the premiere, the competition looks tight and I am hesitant to make any guesses. yet. Tyra's got her pictures in her hands representing the girl who will go on to be America's Next Top Model!
My favorite cookbook right now is Dorie Greenspan's Baking. Love the pictures and the recipes are wonderful and very insightful! I found my copy at a thrift store for $3 and it was best $3 I've spent in awhile! I've already made a couple of pies from the recipes in the book, and I was very happy with the results.

Oh and I just couldn't resist more of the pasta primavera I made the other day, of course I had to make more. So good, so good for you!

I am also finding that although I love my crushed red pepper flakes, even the really good ones from Penzey's, they just aren't cutting it anymore. Call me crazy, but i need to take it to the next level; Crushed Habanero Pepper Flakes! I am going to try my hand at making my own... can you feel the burn???

Pasta Primavera & Homemade Pie

Another weekend come and gone. Yesterday I had a nice day of just taking things slow. I slept in and when I work up around 10:00am, I was hungry. So being on this pasta kick I decided to yet again make another pasta dish. However, I wanted to make it as healthy as possible so I made my own version of Pasta Primavera w\ shrimp. (the recipe will magically appear at the end of this post.) I also stopped over at the cousins so Kyle could change the fuel filter on my car and I could hang with Kelly, who is bummed about still being crippled. :(
I brought her a harvest bouquet of flowers and some Fiery Habanero Doritos. And if you haven't tried them, you must! you must! After kyle so kindly fixed my car we chilled and decided the Little Oven would be a great place to eat. Grilled cheese never tasted better. When we got back Kelly was on a pie baking mission... so together we made a delicious Pumpkin with Cinnamon Struessel Pie. But since it was for a friend, we didn't get to sample. But it sure did smell good, and very autumnal too!

Pasta Primavera with Shrimp
serves 2

1 cup of Whole Wheat Penne Pasta cooked
1 Tbls Olive Oil
1 Clove of garlic, minced
1 Tbls dried Oregano
1 Tbls dried Parsley
lots of crushed red pepper flakes (if you can handle it!)
1 cup shrimp, deveined
1 cup chopped Zucchini
1 cup chopped tomatoes (i used the kind in a can with basil)
salt\pepper to taste
grated parm cheese

Cook pasta according to package.
In a large saute pan. Heat olive oil and garlic until soft.
Add oregano, parsley, crushed red pepper, zucchini & shrimp.
Saute until zucchini is tender and shrimp is done.
Add tomatoes and cooked penne, until warm
Season with salt & pepper and grated parm cheese.
sprinkle more crushed red pepper flakes for extra butt kicking!

Wedded Bliss

Yesterday I headed out to my ol hometown area of Carver County, for my friend Shannon's brother's wedding. I have known Joe, well for as long as I have known Shan. So little Joe is not that little anymore and he is now a married man. He was always Shannon's obnoxious little brother and now he is all grown up. I told him at the wedding that he was making me feel old, and his response was, "Nah, I remember when you used to tight-roll your jeans and everything was about Guns N' Roses." I don't know if that is the exactly what I want to be remembered for, but that's ok, that was a fun time in life!
This is what H20Town girls do at weddings...

The wedding ceremony was very nice and the reception was a lot of fun. Jaime & Cindy were there too, so we had a fun night of dancing, laughing and taking endless pictures with random poses. Fun Times!
I think I know you from somewhere? the meeting of james & cin...
someone special is out there they think to themselves, that or they're siamese tripletts....


ooh I love to dance and it feels so good when you are beside me...
cindy wants no part in this...

COWS IN COMO PARK!!!

This is why I carry a camera with me at all times...

Today I am going to a wedding, but first i had to run errands. So as I was driving around my neighbor hood, low and behold... a cow! Love it!
I have to glam myself up now, but more details to follow tomorrow...

Oh Marc!

I love marc jacobs just as obsessively as the next fashion junkie does, but really marc, what's up with these shoes???

Speaking of obsessions, I am obsessed with pasta right now! It's friday night and i need a night to do nothing...but first I needed to eat. So I invented and made a delicious pasta with shrimp & artichokes. Recipe follows. Now I am going to watch a movie and then listen to Feist sing me to sleep... http://www.myspace.com/feist

Pasta w\ Shrimp & Artichokes
serves 1-2 (depending on how hungry you are!)

1\2 lb Thin Spaghetti
2 Tbls Olive Oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot minced
handfull of shrimp
5 marinated artichoke hearts
1\2 cup parm cheese grated
3 Tbls Milk
1 Tbls Creme Fraiche
course ground pepper
crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tbls Flat Leaf Parsley Chopped

1) Bring water to a boil and flavor with salt. Add spaghetti and boil until done.
2) Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat oil, garlic and shallots until tender. Add shrimp and cook until pink. Stir in artichokes.
3) In a small bowl whisk parm cheese, milk & creme fraiche
4) Drain pasta and add to the pan. Mix pasta with shrimp and turn off heat. Add the cheese mixture and whisk until combined. Add black pepper and crushed red pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley.
Go bananas!

Carbonara and Good Friends

Last night I had such a nice night with my good friends Bonnie & Tabitha. What a blessing it is to have friends you can just be you when you are together. I am thankful for these moments and I hope there will be many more in the future.


Spaghetti alla Carbonara

1 pound dry spaghetti
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, cubed or sliced into small strips
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
Freshly ground black pepper
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1)Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the spaghetti will be hot and ready when the sauce is finished; it is very important that the pasta is hot when adding the egg mixture, so that the heat of the pasta cooks the raw eggs in the sauce.

2)Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian "al dente.") Drain the pasta well, reserving 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking water to use in the sauce if you wish.

3)Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the pancetta and saute for about 3 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the fat is rendered. Toss the garlic into the fat and saute for less than 1 minute to soften.

4)Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a mixing bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure this does not happen.) Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved pasta water, until it reaches desired consistency. Season the carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt. Mound the spaghetti carbonara into warm serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley. Pass more cheese around the table.