Happy Halloween!

source

Wishing all of you a

Happy Halloween!

Fondly,

~Karen

Whats for Dinner? One Pot Pasta

 What is One Pot Pasta?

Pasta and veggies all in a pot and cooking at the same time.

 A great dish to use leftover veggies with. 

You will want to begin by prepping all your ingredients:

chopping asparagus, slicing mushrooms, slivering garlic cloves,

and pinching off a sprig or two of fresh thyme.  
Shredded Parmesan will be added at the end along with some cream.

Tonight I have decided to serve along side hot and buttery french bread.

This buttery and baked hot bread by The Pioneer Woman which
she calls The Bread is French bread slathered on both sides 
with lots of butter then baked and finished under the broiler 
until dark brown and begins to burn.  That's right, 
she actually says, "... begins to burn." 

Once prepped and ready to go,

 

add all the veggies along with the dried pasta and water

to a stockpot along with salt and pepper.

 Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, until pasta is cooked

and vegies are tender.  Give the pasta a stir frequently so it does not

stick to itself. The liquid will actually reduce on its own.

 

  Parmesan is stirred in at the end, along with cream,

and Voila! it is done. Serve immediately with

some extra shredded Parmesan on the top

and that delicious hot bread!

Here is the recipe:

One Pot Pasta

1 lb. dried spaghetti

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1/2 lb. asparagus, cut diagonally in apx. 1" pieces

2 cloves garlic, cut into thin slivers

1 or 2 sprigs of thyme

4 1/2 cups water

Kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup heavy cream

In a large stockpot, add the dried spaghetti, mushrooms, asparagus, garlic, thyme sprigs, and water.  Season with salt and pepper.

Bring to boil, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook, uncovered, until pasta is cooked through and liquid has reduced, apx. 20  minutes.  Stir in Parmesan cheese and heavy cream. Serve immediately.

Adapted from recipe by Damn Delicious.

Enjoy!

I will be linking up with

Thanks for visiting!

Fondly,

~Karen

Autumn But for the Dogs

Autumn decorating this year will be kept to a minimum 

because of these guys.

Just look at these cute little 4 1/2-month-old faces!

These brothers like to chew and play with anything

that half-way tempts them. That means anything

within their reach!  (See the corner of the mat?)

They really are good little boys and they are learning...

What they haven't learned yet is staying out of the

dirty small pond which they were in before the above pic.

They don't get to come inside when they've been in that pond.

They haven't figured that out yet either.

Thanks for visiting.

Tomorrow is the first day of October and

with it brings the official color of Orange.

Are we ready?

Fondly,

~Karen

Beginnings of Autumn

This Autumn, after a 28-hour and three-day drive,

I have relocated myself to Kansas.

Although I have been to Kansas many times,

this will be my first time experiencing a beautiful

changing of the season that I hear so much about.

Driving through the countryside, I am seeing signs

of Summer fading and Autumn approaching.

The hay has been baled and sits drying in fields.

 

 The fields of sunflowers are fading as their

beautiful faces no longer look to the sun but begin to 

face downward as they turn to seed.

The soybeans are turning yellow as their seed pods

on their tops turn brown.  I think I heard soybeans

are grown in the Midwest for fuel.

Even the corn has turned brown as I peek

through the roadside wildflowers.

What I am truly looking forward to are the leaves

changing on the trees and foliage.

As you can see, on this last day of September,

I am seeing just glimpses of what I am told

will be spectacular and I can't wait!

Thank you for visiting!

Fondly,

~Karen

 

 

 

Lemon and Pistachio Cake with White Chocolate Sour Cream Icing

This cake is simple to make and delicious.

 

I recently made it as the dessert for an outdoor dinner.

You can see more of that dinner HERE.

 The cake is made with cake flour and ground pistachios along
with yogurt, lemon juice, and lemon zest. The icing
 is to die for! As simple as melting a bar of white chocolate 
and combining it (once it has cooled a little bit!) with sour cream.

 I want to give due credit to the source of this recipe 
(at least where I found it) which can be found HERE but
 beware, there are some measurements listed in metric

that can be easily converted by searching on your iPhone.

This is a keeper recipe!

Thank you for stopping by!

I will be joining the following blog party:

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Friday

 Fondly,
~Karen

End of Summer Grilled Beef Skewers and Pineapple Salsa

 Here is a recipe that would be great for this Labor Day weekend.
It is made with Five-Spice powder. If you aren't familiar with
Five-Spice, it is used often in Chinese cuisine and consists of,
you guessed it, five spices: Star Anise, Cloves, Chinese Cinnamon,
Black pepper, and Fennel seeds. It can be purchased in the
spice aisle along with all the other spices.

I wanted to marinate beef in a Five-Spice marinade,
then skewer and grill the beef for dinner.  I was at Costco 
looking for flank steak or skirt steak that I could thinly slice 
for the skewers. I didn't have luck finding one of those two 
and had to settle on Flap Steak. 

Flap Steak is a thin cut of meat that comes from a bottom sirloin

butt cut of beef. It differs from Flank Steak because it comes from a more 

rear portion of the beef.  Likewise, Skirt Steak is even more forward then

then Flank Steak.  Flap Steak is sometimes confused with Hanger Steak

but it is not.  Both Hanger Steak and Skirt Steak are cut from the

diaphragm of the beef.  I think Flap Steak gets a bad wrap but I

have to admit it usually isn't my first choice either.

 

BUT as a thin piece of meat, it works beautifully

for skewers. It marinates nicely, and grills quickly.
The finished dish shows how thin the meat is.
I only cut it width-wise for the skewers.

The original five-spice marinade recipe came from 
 Better Homes and Gardens and the recipe I used as
modified can be found on BHG Delish Dish.
On this site, it is served with a yogurt sauce,
but I wanted to go even lighter and chose a pineapple salsa.
 
I, unfortunately, don't recall where this recipe for the pineapple 
salsa originated.  You can use these amounts listed in the recipe
below and at the end, give it a taste and make adjustments to
to your liking. The flavor improves as it sits in the refrigerator. 

This pineapple salsa is delicious and is also great as a side dish
for chicken or just served with tortilla chips (and a margarita!).

It's also great with these Five-Spice beef skewers.

Enjoy!

Pineapple Salsa

Source: Unknown

 

Serves 6

1 fresh pineapple, cored and diced

3 green onions, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantry

2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Combine. Cover and chill. 

Please join me as I link up with

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Fridays

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Fondly,
~Karen

A Bird's Nest Napkin Fold and Dinner!

 Lucky me! 

Continued outdoor dining at my daughter's!

Previously, I enjoyed a lovely dinner on her balcony.

If you missed that post, you can check it out HERE

 

Tonight, dinner was originally for four but dwindled down to two.

That's okay. It happens... and it means more leftovers!

I like to include one or more wow-factors when entertaining

and often a napkin fold does just that.  I found this fun napkin 

fold in the shape of a bird's nest on You Tube HERE demonstrated

 by Denise Vivaldo. She has authored a book named 

"Top 100 step-by-step Napkin Folds." 

I decided to go with a bird theme and thought it coordinated

 well with this Morning Glories tablecloth and matching 

cloth napkins from Target.

My dinner for two began with an easy appetizer.

On a skewer, I added a cube of cantaloupe melon, a small fresh mozzarella

ball, and thinly sliced prosciutto.  I placed two each in margarita glasses,

drizzled each glass with a balsamic reduction sauce and chopped parsley.

The sweet melon goes beautifully with the Italian dry-cured ham

and the mozzarella ball has great texture and adds to the overall flavor.

They are pretty and were very nice to nosh on with a glass of wine.

For the entree, I made an Artichoke Chicken and Spinach Lasagna and served it

with a Caprese Summer Salad with Cannellini Beans. The salad had a

Basil Pesto Dressing that was really good.

Instead of a garlic bread traditionally served with lasagna, 

I tested a bread made with pizza dough stuffed with a soft herb

cheese, sprinkled with parmesan and topped with sliced zucchini 

and red onion.  You can find that recipe HERE.

Dessert was a wonderfully simple Lemon and Pistachio 

one-layer cake. Check back and I'll share the recipe with you.

I will be linking up with these following blog parties:

The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays

Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursdays 

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Fridays

 

 As always, thanks for visiting me!

 

Fondly,

~Karen