pasta

This week's Splendid Table on NPR was a repeat of a previous show, but since Orlando's 90.7 just recently began to play the show, I happily listen to reruns because they're new to me. This time, two big vegetarian ideas: Watching your "cookprint," which is the footprint you leave when you cook. And cold soups, which are most often vegetarian. I encourage you to listen to the show, in part or in full, at Splendid Table.org.

Yesterday, I made only my second run to the Food Pantry at the College. I was meeting some of Paul's coworkers for lunch. They are becoming good friends and fans of Eat Like a Rabbit, too! Anyway, they saw the bags as Paul was lugging them into Student Services and said it was so nice of us to do the giveaway. I kept insisting, I did not do it on my own. It was a combination efforts from friends, too. And we all love helping out those less fortunate.

Honestly though, what I did get, I'm proud to say cost me less than the last run I did to the Food Pantry. This time only $1.02 came out of pocket (unless you count how expensive a flight was in order to get all those peanuts!) I'm very, very proud of the lower dollar amount since we are on a much tighter budget being on only one income. It's such a good feeling to help when you know it's so easy on you and on your family!

Some of the items we donated include Pampers diapers, Enfamil and Similac formulas, pasta, deodorant, shampoo, toothbrushes and floss, cereal, drink flavoring packets, individual snack packs, and mascara.

Thank you Garrett, Patty and Travis, and Kimberly for helping collect these items for the Food Pantry. God bless you.

Last week was a surprising challenge due to the fact that I had a slight relapse and wasn't feeling up to playing around in the kitchen as much as I had desired. Paul had pity on me more than one night by eating bagels with carrot sticks or other veggies a couple nights and taking me out to eat one night. That being said, I have a much fancier menu planned this week just to pay him back for my slacking week and to allow my creativity to be uncanned for a while.

In case you ever think I'm some kind of superwoman, think again. Looking around my disaster of a house and remembering the ironing board upstairs stacked with clothes makes me feel significantly like an unorganized maniac. However, I thank my friend, Lisa, for an amazing and encouraging pep-talk on Friday that really made my weekend. Also, Nora had her first play-date (er, rather, Mommy had her first play-date) with a lady and her daughter that live just one street away. Splashing in the kiddie pool and sitting in the sun of a glorious Spring afternoon also revived the tired, old mommy.

I'm so embarrassed. I can't for the life of me figure out how I missed posting this amazing recipe when I loved it so much and had it two or three times in a two-week period. Mollie Katzen's Eat, Drink and Weigh Less is all about making your meals as healthy as possible, which means skipping the fried Eggplant Parmesan. Although it messed up my jelly roll pan a bit (But do you really want your kitchenware to look unused?), this recipe went far in keeping the flavor and minimizing the fat.

I made a few changes to the recipe based on what I had in the fridge. I used havarti cheese instead of mozzarella. Sometimes the havarti is saltier, which I think eliminated the need for extra salt sprinkled on top of the eggplant. I also didn't have ricotta cheese. I'm sure it would have tasted even better with the creamy cheese in the middle of the layers.

My scratch tomato sauce is so simple to make. I love the fresh flavor of Muir Glen tomatoes. It's our favorite. And there's nothing better than using basil we've grown ourselves and picked at the perfect time. Any extra sauce was used to cover the pasta.

Recipe for Simple Tomato Sauce

Blend one can diced tomatoes (mostly drained), two cloves garlic, and dehydrated basil in mini food processor until garlic is chopped. Add salt and/or fresh black pepper to taste. Heat in heavy sauce pan over medium low heat if necessary.

Serves 2

Yep. It's for real. I still like roasted red peppers. Only took me 28 years to learn this. This time I tried it chilled. Nope. Warm to room-temp is best. But still like it. Paul called it perfect. Wow! Don't think he describes much I make as perfect. Can I serve it every day?

As for the pasta. I didn't get it. It was simple and I liked every ingredient. But for some reason, it just didn't hit a cord. Why? Still don't know. The recipe was from Moosewood Restaurants New Classic Recipe Book. It dirtied a few more dishes than I would have liked (bowl for cooling asparagus tips, extra pot for reheating the pasta once it's all mixed together). But I really wanted to like this recipe. In fact, I didn't even imagine I wouldn't. I'd been looking forward to it all week. After first blanching the asparagus in the boiling water and then boiling the rotini, I noticed just that 3 minutes really added flavor to the water and therefore added extra flavor to the pasta. The sauce of blended lemon, oil, and asparagus stems seemed so brilliant. But when it all got together. . .I was really disappointed. Even Paul shrugged his shoulders.

My husband gave me a massage a few weeks back as a birthday present. While I was enjoying the pampering and assistance relaxing since I was still recovering from the very recent delivery, my folks came over and made me dinner.

I'm not sure if she was apologizing or telling me to add to my grocery list, but my mom told me she'd used every can of tomatoes I had in the cabinet (3, I think). I never have pre-made pasta sauce in my cabinets. It's so much fun and generally cheaper to make my own. What Mom didn't realize was that there were different kinds of tomatoes in my cabinet: Muir Glen Fire Roasted, Muir Glen with Adobo Seasoning, and Muir Glen without salt. We were all pleasantly surprised by the nice flavor and hint of spice in the resulting sauce. Naturally, she added flavors of her own like garlic and onion powders, but you could definitely taste the difference in the tomatoes.

Now that it's really cold in Florida, I feel like I can share these creative plasticware snowflakes from New York and fit right in. Especially since this morning it was about the same temp as it was in New York early December. What's up with that!

We're still eating up food from Paul's family being in town last week. The only thing I'll run out of is milk and bananas, I think. So, I will have to take a quick trip to some grocery store soon. Meanwhile, I have a list of likely dinner options that will be eaten in the expected order in which it might go bad. Also, I have a number of potential lunches lined up and will share those, too.

The concierge at our hotel needed to direct us to a reasonably fast dinner location. Paul said Italian pizza sounded good, and she made a reservation for us at Salute! on Madison Ave. and then directed us on the best way to get a cab to Carnegie Hall for a beautiful, but long performance of Handel's Messiah. (In case you never knew, the Hallelujah Chorus is not the end of the program, only of Part 2.)

Salute was an amazing restaurant with a bar in the front and lots of tables in the back. The monochromatic color scheme made the room very inviting, and we loved our seats looking out the window.

A kind lady met us at the door and waited patiently while I removed both coats and packaged my gloves and hat so as not to lose them. Then, she led us to a table, that I'm sorry to say was very tipped. However, we were happy to have a seat and the leaning table was never a problem.

Our waitress arrived with menus and took our order for drinks. New York water tastes very good. However, I have learned to order lemon with my water, especially when I'm dehydrated. The lemon never came.

Cost Per Person $30.00

At least one of us is back from New York City, and I had a blast. (Paul comes home late tomorrow.) I can't wait to share all the photos and reviews of some really good food. Although, I'm sorry to say sometimes we only had two meals in the day because we were so busy being tourists.

When I got back, I got really nervous cause my fridge was completely empty. I had to make a trip to Publix for some basics like fruit, cereal, and milk to survive tomorrow. My plan for the remainder of the week is to eat what we have in the pantry and freezer because I still want to clean out and restock after the first of the year. Two meal ideas: Wild Rice, Brussel Sprouts (Me) or Peas (Paul), and Butternut Squash; and Pasta in a Garlic-Almond sauce (similar to Gourmet Mag, only the almonds in the pantry are already cooked. I don't foresee it being a problem and will be creative necessary.

Obviously, the dirty dishes pictured aren't from this past week. We dirtied very few additional dishes in our effort to empty out the fridge, which was lovely for my aching feet and tough work schedule this week.

Finally, on Friday, I spent 5 hours in the kitchen cooking up some lovely goodies for the weekend. Photos and stories will be coming up in the next few days. That being said, I never made it to the grocery store last week and will be cooking from my increasingly (but intentionally) dwindling selections in the pantry and freezer. That being said, my Monday menu plan seems sparse, but as always, is subject to change if a) the temperature in Florida goes down enough for me to get away with making a soup or b) a surprise comes with a tempting idea at the grocery store. Luckily, these are items we haven't had in a while (even if they were originally on the menu).

So much of this post should be about focusing on the great pictures. And it's not just about giving Paul all the credit for the fabulous photography. The last time we were at Seasons 52 would have been my birthday, and the restaurant still had roughly the same fall/winter menu with a few changes. In fact, the items from February's post were still available. I'm not complaining. As long as the quality is consistent, there are no issues for me. I suppose we don't visit Seasons 52 during the summer because there are so many options available for cooking at home.

Speaking of cooking at home, the butternut squash on the big vegetable plate is the inspiration for our choice of dish for PumpkinFest this Saturday night. Stay tuned for how it turns out.

Cost Per Person $15.00

Click on the photograph to go to Paul's Flickr page for a closer-up view of the monkeys. There's nothing like sitting in a boat having a picnic lunch and watching the monkeys watch you and wonder how they can get across the river to partake, too. We had quite a show. One of the best times was when a piroux came by with a dog and three adults. The dog watched us 'til he saw the monkeys. He got in really big trouble for barking and scaring them. Thanks, Connie and Jack for a great day!

Sometimes, it's really hard to think of dinner. Sometimes, it's even harder to think of an entire week's worth of dinners! This is what happened yesterday. I had a lot going on. We had salad for lunch and leftovers and peanut butter and honey for dinner. (Hey, it's what the baby wanted!) However, today my mind got back on track surprisingly quickly as it all came to me while I was at work, and I actually have a meal plan for the week that isn't 100% salad and ice cream.

Dinner Menu for October 12

• Tonight we had the butternut squash pasta bake/lasagna that I took from last year's post and tweaked. I'll have an alternate recipe up as soon as Paul edits the pictures. There's still enough left for another night.
• Butternut squash soup--again trying to perfect a recipe, but suddenly we're in record highs of 90's! May have to come up with an alternative.
• Dilled roasted potatoes and green beans maybe cornbread, too. (High in iron.)
• Salad (just in case the baby rabbit doesn't want anything else as has happened of late.)
• Burritos

We have some great-looking fruit that my be a night's meal with peanut butter and honey toast or cereal or maybe just for desert.

Although you can get a wheat pasta for cheaper sometimes, I purchased a box for $1 when it was on sale and thought it was a good idea to try it since we do like pasta a lot. Our first use was with a basic spaghetti sauce. I like to always make a basic spaghetti sauce when I am tasting a new pasta product. Our spaghetti sauce doesn't change much since I fell in love with Muir Glen brand of tomatoes. This allows me to focus on just the pasta and not on evaluating the entire dish. The second night, I used the leftover pasta and leftover fresh veggies from the shower I hosted to make a pasta primavera.

Our final decision is that whole wheat pasta tastes very robust (although the pictures look just like regular pasta). It doesn't work well for a delicate pasta sauce, but is more appropriate with hearty veggies. Still, it wasn't a favorite. We are content eating enriched semolina flour pasta instead.

In an effort to get more iron in my diet, I drug Paul to Olive Garden twice in one week. (I tried to get him to go back on Friday, but I got a staunch refusal.) The Never-Ending Pasta Bowl was most helpful in giving me the fat I craved plus the iron my body needs. The Alfredo was much better than the marinara, but at the same time I wanted to keep the calories down. I've been told I'm supposed to maximize my calories. That being said, I also didn't eat one breadstick during the second trip to make sure I got my calories with extra nutrients. The first time we went, our waitress gave us the Capellini Pomodoro sauce in the never-ending pasta bowl. However, the second trip the waitress wouldn't do that. Too bad. She would have gotten a better tip. Now that I can look at a cookbook without getting sick, I'll be making the effort to get my spinach at home for a while, but Olive Garden came in handy for a week.

Yesterday James, a new drug rep that I had not previously met, had lunch catered for the office. I suspect it could have been the best catering job we've ever experienced. It came from Sweet Tomatoes, and although I don't think much of them since they chewed me out for photographing their food, I can't say I was sorry for the delightful lunch. There were two ladies delivering the food, and I have never seen a faster set up and nicer arrangement of a meal for 60 people in our small kitchen.

The menu included three pre-made salads--a broccoli, lettuce, and bacon that was a success with my friends; a Caesar (with a dressing that I'm pretty sure is non-vegetarian, but I ate anyway based on the fact that I needed the vegetables), and a couscous with chick peas, red bell pepper, celery, and black olives. Although the couscous was a little bland without a great spicy dressing, it really was pretty good.

Metro is very special to us. It is the restaurant where we ate just after Paul proposed. One thing I love about Metro is that it is in a building with its back to Lake Eola. You can't see the lake while dining, only the street, which can be entertaining enough. But, I love to park half way around the lake and walk to Metro to take in the beautiful sights of the fountain, swans, and owners walking their dogs.

I was nervous that Metro would be feeling the crunch of the economy. I don't think we have been to Metro this year because we no longer live downtown, but five exits or so up from the street leading to the lake and to the restaurant. But, I was happy to see that, if anything, the economy has not hurt the family-owned-and-operated restaurant. In fact, I think it was the busiest I had ever seen it. There wasn't even room for us to eat at the tables outside.

Gourmet's April 2009 Magazine had this fabulous recipe, and they've even made it available online. When I first read it, I was intrigued by the recipe and curious to know how it would work. I'm always looking for ways to get extra heart-healthy nuts in our diet. Making this recipe for dinner actually turned out to be a very economical move on my part. Paul's aunts gave us raw almonds from Trader Joe's at Christmas. We also got Trader Joe's pasta as an Easter present. Garrett Nudd left the garlic a few weeks back when he was making concoctions in our kitchen. So, much of the ingredients for this recipe were free to us.

Honfleur is a beautiful seaside town with a great history. We suspect that our ancestors sailed to Nova Scotia, Canada, from this port in search of a new life. The day was quite chilly and rain was in the forecast during the first Saturday in March. We took pictures quickly and searched for a restaurant along the warf that had a reasonable vegetarian option. This was especially hard near the sea when almost everything had fish.

Harmoni restaurant and market in College Park, Florida was one of the first posts on Eat Like a Rabbit and has been one of the more popular posts ever since. In the Sunday, March 22, 2009 Orlando Sentinel, I came across an interesting addition to that post in the Dining section.

I had a zucchini that was looking bad and some tomatoes the might not have much of a future; so, I put my thinking-cap on and came up with a pasta dish because most of the time we feel like you can't go wrong with zucchini and pasta. I pulled out a box of my "Buy One, Get One free Pasta" from Publix and started boiling some water. Meanwhile, I sauteed onion in 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, adding the zucchini pretty quickly, and topping with garlic. When those three ingredients were cooked to my liking, I added diced fresh tomatoes, which I love using because it makes its own sauce.

We are always happy to open our home to friends. Mike performed our wedding ceremony, and Paul has known Ashley most of their lives.

The Pampered Chef is a company similar to Mary Kay where people come to your house and host a party selling their wares, but it's even more like Tupperware because the focus is selling items for the kitchen. I have only had two experiences with Pampered Chef, only one included a party. The other was someone handing me a catalog. Do you know where the products are that I purchased from the catalog? Me either.I suspect they're buried deep in a drawer because they weren't very useful when I brought them home. Do you know where the item I bought at the party is? Believe it or not, the cookbook is right beside me. . .but not for long.

After reading The Splendid Table's How to eat Supper, I decided to not take anyone's word for it, but to do a trial of pasta on my own.

The powers-that-be in my office must really like this place because this is the third year in a row that our office Christmas party has been hosted here. It also has a good reputation in the city for quality. This is my first year being able to attend the entire Christmas party because of my church choir ironically always seems to sing at Disney on the same day as the party.

Too dark for pictures.

I was invited to a dinner by a drug rep. The speaker as he stood up said he couldn't believe the turnout. He said the restaurant must be good. The 60-ish number of medical professionals laughed. A waiter came around asking our orders. There were three options, but being a vegetarian, I didn't catch what they were. I simply requested a vegetarian plate. Some time later, a waiter came by with salads and atop mine (just like all the others) was a nice strip of crispy bacon. By this point, the lecture had started and I quietly whispered a request for a bacon-less salad. The waiter very kindly obliged, but failed to remove the offensive salad. I suppose if I had thought about it, I would have just passed it down to the next individual. Instead, I shoved it toward the center of the table and out of my line of sight.

This pasta recipe comes at the end of a number of fall recipes. I read in "Reader's Digest" last week that prices on produce actually go down when the product is hot and in season because there is plenty of the product, and they have to move quickly before they spoil. I found this to be true with apples because last week they were $0.44 higher at Costco than they were this week. So, be on the lookout for produce in season. You will save money and enjoy richer flavor.

I was so proud when I created this recipe. Because our wedding was mostly pink, I had wanted a "pink" pasta sauce. I wish now I had made this creation, then. This sauce was absolutely perfect. I think this recipe is a more elegant alternative to spaghetti sauce, but is healthier than straight fettucini sauce. Also, the mixture makes it great with vegetables. Paul told me to remember how I made it. I hope I always do.

The tubular pasta is a favorite of Paul's called Rigatoni. Because it's larger and hollow, you eat less than you think you do because there is so much air.

It's been many moons since we've been to Cheesecake Factory. One reason is because our waistlines can't take it. Another reason is because we like the restaurant more for a group activity. Also, because there is so much food, we'd prefer to go for lunch, but generally are too busy on the weekends to take time to dress up for the activity. We may have to arrange to go back sooner.