autumn dish

Last week, I successfully made Lidia of Italy's Spaghetti with Tomato-Apple Sauce

I love catching her show on Create TV on from our local station WETP, when I go home for lunch.

Lidia Bastianich is a true Italian cook, actually from Istria (present-day Pula, Istria County, Croatia) who always has a pot for pasta boiling on the stove. Maybe someday we will make it to one of
Lidia's restaurants in New York or Pittsburgh

I love the way Italians use everything in cooking, even used pasta water to reduce sauces.

Try this recipe, its unusual, but good! And perfect for the autumn season.

 

You will need:

3 cups (one 28- ounce can) canned Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano

6 tablespoons extra- virgin olive oil
2 large stalks celery, cut in ¼- inch dice (about 1 cup)
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound tart, firm apples, such as Granny Smith
1 pound spaghetti
1 cup freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano- Reggiano, plus more for passing

*Recommended equipment: A food processor or blender; a heavy- bottomed skillet or sauté pan, 12- inch diameter or larger; a large pot, 8- quart capacity, for cooking the pasta

Recipe found online and in the cookbook, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy

 pureed San Marzano tomatoes added to sauteed celery, onion and olive oil 

(sorry i forgot to photograph that process)

shredded apples, i used one granny smith, and one red delicious

per Lidia's show

stir apples into the sauce

out of habit, i accidentally covered the sauce for about 5 minutes,

but it should be simmered uncovered

(i had to walk the dog!)

simmer sauce about 15 minutes longer, while boiling noodles

add drained, barely al dente noodles to the sauce,

toss, then add cheese

i used Lidia’s recommended Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese,

even though I hate the smell of Parmesan normally!

and ta-da! yummy dinner is served

and cross off number eight, i think!

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ohhh zut je suis jaloux !!

Sunday Morning's Man in Paris David Turecamo explores France's strict diet regimen within the school system's gourmet lunch menu.

Read more here

makes me really miss that square pizza I was served from grades k-12
and the amazing cafeteria "food" menu items such as 'chuck wagon steak'
and 'mystery tex-mex' burritos
...yuck!

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Bridal shower, southern style

i love punch! people don't serve it as often anymore, but it's always economical, festive, and of course SO good and homemade! the hostesses of my shower made red hot punch for me, similar to this recipe. 

my grandmothers

my maid of honor and best friend of 21 years!

so sweet!

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spring turkey salad

since the weather has been either SO hot or really rainy, i've been trying new simple recipes at home.

one that i discovered at work, actually on 'Live at 5 at 4, was Pimento's Turkey Salad

get their recipe here

but of course i changed it up a little bit:

Spring Turkey Salad Sammies

2 cups smoked deli turkey, cubed

1/4 C. red bell pepper, diced

about 1/3 C. celery, diced

1/4 C. sliced almonds

1/3-2/3 C. mayo {depends on your dicing skills & liking of mayo}

salt & pepper

Dice all ingredients to about the same size cubes. Toss in a large bowl with mayo.

Maybe 1/2 t. spicy mustard added in, optional.

Salt & pepper to taste.

Serves great on Honey wheat bread!

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the tourist way

park avenue

lombardi's coal fired pizza (longest 30 minute wait that really was an hour and 15 minutes EVER)

first pinkberry taste ever!

we had to make this stop because of the rave reviews i've read here

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baby its cold outside

cheese, its friday the 13th!

times square

we passed through columbia university on our way to try ethiopian food, 'along came polly style'

~this was like number 2 on my must do nyc list

so, we hiked over to massawa, on amsterdam in the upper west side

"Our food is traditionally served with injera and eaten by hand. Injera is home baked flat African bread with no sugar or salt added and made from Teff, which is the smallest wheat grain in the world and is found in the high mountains of East Africa.

our server was super helpful and recommended we just order combo entrees so we could try a lot of different items

our choices included:

Tsebhi Derho ~ Braised chicken simmered in a berbere sauce and exotic spices {favorite!}

Tebsi Derho ~ {no desciption on menu, i think this was like pulled chicken}

{a chicken leg in some sauce was also not on the menu, reid ate it}

Shiro ~ Chick peas cooked with ginger and seasoned with a hint of spice

Alitcha~ Potatoes, broccoli, carrots with spices

Tsebhi Hamli ~ Collard greens cooked tenderly with garlic

all eaten with the flat injera bread, which was almost like scooping everything into stretchy, spongy, tart pancakes. good but definitely weird.

i also had the best honey wine i've ever tasted & reid had an ethiopian honey beer that i think he would have traded for something with more flavor.

the camera we took on the trip conveniently kept dying when i needed it most, so we have no photographic evidence of this new experience. i am very sad about this.

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shake shake shake

we chowed down at the shake shack as soon as we got settled in new york.

greasy & expensive but pretty good. especially delicious custard shakes.

my only complaint - no refills of my dr.pepper

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earthquake cookies

...or chocolate crinkles from betty

'These cookies have an attractive light and dark contrast perfect for an interesting addition to a cookie tray or for serving by themselves, any time of year!'

get the recipe here

{i use the equivalent amount of cocoa powder instead of baking chocolate}

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day trip to chattanooga

for grandaddy rousseau's 81st i traveled down to chattanooga for the day.

i got stuck at the train tracks close to their house. the sound of a train at night always reminds me of the weeks i would spend with them over the summer as a child.

you can see the earthquake cookies i made on the table, as well as the valentine sugar cookies. i didnt take enough close ups before everyone dug in.

bon anniversaire grand-pere rousseau!

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he loves me #2412

because knoxville does not have chipotle

he takes me to the next best thing qdoba

{ i love qdoba club member }

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taste of chicago

reid chowing down on stefano'strying real chicago pizza last maywe heart chicago so we went to stefano's this week for lunch, hoping to relive some chicago memories.
not the same, but still good.

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rainy weekend

this weekend was rainy, and not hugely eventful. my aunt lynne, uncle danny & aunt reica, and family friend holly came to visit me saturday. they wanted to see my new place and have lunch in knoxville, so i took them to market square downtown. we ate at the tomato head and then shopped a little. it was pouring the whole time. danny & reica bought a lamp at bliss home and holly picked up a few nick knack's at here. lynne gave me a paddle plant as a house warming. its really weird, but a good addition to my plant collection. inside earth to old city

saturday night (still in the pouring rain) we trekked out to wild wings cafe out in farragut with tim & meredith. some band was playing, which made the 30 minute wait seem shorter. they had decent food, but overall maybe a little too much of an older/biker crowd for us.wild wings with tim & mer

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sweet caroline

friends claire & lauren from the boro and austin, tx came in town saturdaywe went out to eat at wasabi for caroline's 25thand celebrated at barley's taproom & pizzeria

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