Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Vacation has come and gone

Stephen and I were fortunate enough to be able to go on vacation to Cedar Rapids Lodge again this July. (You can read about last year here). As usual, I was able to read, tan, and swim. Here are some highlights from the week:

Playing checkers
Staring contests

Racing minnows

Dining out in Bemidji

Watching it rain

Jumping in the pool

Visiting friends in Minneapolis
Very few moments of the fun were caught on camera...that's how much fun we had! If you are still in need of a vacation, visit Cedar Rapids Lodge. I can't think of a better way to spend a week outside!

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The Sights of Summer

This isn't a picture of the sun, or the beach, or vacation. This is Strawberry Fest - and what is a better symbol of early summer than a strawberry? I enjoyed my time at Strawberry Fest, and especially this behind-the-scenes operation.

Strawberry Fest workers loading up fresh strawberries.



Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Creamy Avocado Pasta

Somehow it is already July and I feel like I have barely cooked in months. I blame it on on of the following three things: always wanting to grab dinner or brunch outside at a local establishment, grilling, and the desire to NOT.EVER turn on the oven and heat up the house.

Luckily, I have a small antidote to that. My every other week produce box. Occasionally produce piles up and you just need to eat it, somehow-someway. This tends to create a lot of salads at our house. However, as of Sunday evening I had 6 ripe avocados sitting on my counter and aside from sitting my husband down and telling him to eat 3 avocados for dinner, I needed to get creative.

I remedied the situation with Creamy Avocado Pasta, a recipe from The Flourishing Foodie with my own modifications.

INGREDIENTS
2 pints of cherry tomatoes (yes, this is A LOT of tomatos, but it was a great ratio)
3 - 4 tbsp olive oil
4 servings of fettuccine noodles (I used a spinach/chive variety from Trader Joe's)
2 ripe avocados, seed and skin removed
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
grated fresh Parmesan cheese (this was in the original recipe, and as much as I love cheese, I don't think you need it for flavor or texture).
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 300 ºF.

Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil and bake for 1 hour in the oven. You might even want to add some salt and pepper at this roasting stage. I suggest using foil or parchment paper for easy cleanup and a happy husband (who does the dishes at my house).

Meanwhile, boil pasta. While the pasta is boiling, add 2 tbsp olive oil, avocado, garlic, salt and lemon juice to a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are smooth and creamy.

Strain the pasta, and combine with the sauce in a large bowl, until all the pasta has been covered and then add the roasted tomatoes. You can then add some salt and black pepper to taste, as well as the Parmesan cheese.


At the same time I was roasting the tomatoes I threw in a rack of zucchini I needed to use up. I did add Parmesan to the zucchini, as well.

The only negative element to this recipe is that avocados don't stay fresh and lend themselves to leftovers. While the sauce didn't turn brown, my husband said the leftovers turned a little slimy. To put it a different way, this is the perfect recipe when you are starving and want to eat more than the recommended serving size.

Enjoy!