Winter Pasta

Check out this healthy(ish) pasta dish from Food Network Magazine.  I love the texture the breadcrumbs add and the uniqueness of a pasta entree without tomato or cream sauce.  Depending on what you have on hand, you could definitely sub in baby spinach or even basil for the escarole. 

The picture on their website is probably a little more appetizing than mine, but it tasted great, all the same!

Olympic Etiquette

The Winter Olympics are upon us, eh?  Even if you aren't headed up to Canada to parktake in the festivities, Rick Reilly's article on the do's and don'ts of Vancouver is worth a read!

Groom's Attire

It's not Wedding Wednesday, but I thought I would share our latest wedding dilemma anyway: groom's attire. 

Pink shirt +

Navy blazer +

Gray trousers?  Or

Cream trousers

April in Virginia.  Please feel free to share your thoughts.

(Pictures 1-3 from J. Press.  Picture 4 from Paul Stuart)

Indecisive Cooking?

Can't decide what you feel like eating tonight?  Cooking for a family of picky eaters who can't agree on the same meal?

Try this trio lasagna pan from Spoon Sisters.  Allowing you to make up to three different types of layered Italian goodness at once, this pan takes the commitment out of lasagna.  Perfect for those who can't pinpoint just what they want to eat tonight.....not that we know anything about that!

Delicious

I had a nice time last night thumbing through Lee Bailey's Country Desserts.  If you like to bake you may already have a version of many of these recipes.  However, the pictures are quite pretty and make the book suitable for both the coffee table and the kitchen.  I look forward to seeing more of Lee Bailey's books after reading his obituary in the New York Times.

Super Bowl Favorites

You may remember that while the actual football part of the Super Bowl is not our favorite, we do love the commercials and, of course, the food.

This past month, Food Network Magazine had a great feature on different types of potato skins created for each of the NFL teams.  After much consideration, I really cannot decide which might be my favorite!

If the Snowpocolypse that is predicted for Virginia this weekend veers off course and we are not snowed-in, I am planning to make the old-standby Buffalo Chicken Dip to take to a Superbowl Party.  Anyone planning to make anything fun or creative for Sunday evening?

Boring

I wish I could say more, but we are both super busy this week with moving and community service obligations.  We should be back next week at the latest.  I'll have lots of wedding updates at that point, and maybe even some pictures of a new apartment in the NY 'burbs.  After 2.5 years, it's time to leave the city.

In the meantime, Farrell sent the website for Dash & Albert Rug Company to me the other day.   I'd like one of everything in blue, please.

Make this Bread

If you have over-ripe bananas in your freezer - make this bread . (for some reason I had 10 in my freezer!)
If you don't, go buy some bananas, let them ripen, and make this bread.
It is so easy, and with whole wheat flour and oatmeal in the batter, it has to fit in your New Year's resolution eating plan, right? I used some dark chocolate chunks that I had on hand and they worked fabulously.  So fabulously, that I forgot to take a photo of the finished bread before we started digging in!
I haven't jumped on the Pioneer Woman Bandwagon yet, but this bread might just push me in that direction!
Enjoy!

Easy as Pie

Chocolate and lemon chess pies were always part of my mother's baking repertoire when I was growing up in Virginia. I jumped on chocolate chess pie bandwagon when I left home and realized that this is about the easiest dessert you can bake. There have been a few missteps (I don't recommend doubling the recipe unless you are planning to feed an army) but overall it is a foolproof choice. It wasn't until I moved to New York that I realized chess pies are mostly found in the south. There are various theories about the origin of the name "chess", which you can read about here. You can also google chocolate chess pie and find dozens of recipes that are just slightly different from the next. Below is the recipe that I receive from my mom and here is a picture of a slice that looks like the results we get. However, the recipe listed with the picture is (of course) different. Regardless of what recipe you use, the chocolate chess pie is very sweet and very chocolate-y, so have a lot of cold milk on hand to wash it down!

1/2 cup butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate (Hershey's, Baker, or Nestle)
1 tbsp flour
1-7/8 cups sugar (add a little less if you like)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk (Carnation comes in a 5 ounce can, so you can add 1 ounce regular milk to this)
1 baked pastry shell, cooled

Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter and chocolate in saucepan over low heat. Beat eggs in small bowl. Mix sugar and flour together. Once the chocolate and butter have melted, add the sugar/flour mixture, eggs, vanilla and evaporated milk. Stir for about 5-6 minutes over medium low heat. The mixture should be smooth like a sauce and slightly thick. Pour into the pastry shell and bake for about 25 minutes. Cool on a rack for another 1-2 hours. Cover and refrigerate.

Real Weddings: Garden Enchantment

Check out the many pretty real weddings at Weddings Unveiled's website. Cheers to Tiz, one of the featured brides and our sorority sister from college. (Check out those shoes!)