Creamy Parmesan Fusilli

On Saturday morning we went to see my favourite movie in the theater - Home Alone!  Breakfast was a hotdog and some popcorn :-)  We followed this by an equally nutritious lunch of Kraft Dinner.

For dinner we headed to Simmer Hot Pot.  We ordered the dinner for two, as well as a seafood plate.  It was definitely too much food!  A cinnamon bun and pickled radishes were served with the meal.

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner we went to the second Christmas party of the season.  We were out pretty late, and ate a late lunch today.  I made creamy Parmesan Fusilli. 

Creamy Parmesan Fusilli

4 cups Fusilli pasta
3 T butter
2/3 cup fresh Parmesan, grated
1/3 cup fresh parsley, or a few T dried
1.5 T mayo
1/2 - 3/4 cup whipping cream
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
6-6 bacon slices, cooked and chopped

Cook pasta according to directions, drain and set aside.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Add everything else, mix well and heat, almost to a boil.  Mix with the pasta and serve immediately.

 

What did you do this weekend?  

Have you gone to any holiday parties yet? 

Creamy Parmesan Fusilli

Creamy Parmesan Fusilli

4 cups tricolour fusilli
3 T butter
2/3 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup fresh parsley
1 1/2 T mayo
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 cloves garlic
8 bacon slices, fried crisp and crumbled

1) Cook and Drain Pasta
2) Melt butter in saucepan. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and warm. Do not boil.
Toss with pasta and season with pepper.

Serve Immediately.



This is one of my favourite pastas, and it is SUPER easy to make.
I made this for dinner on Saturday.

On Saturday I had 3 egg whites for breakfast, and then a couple pieces of Thai pizza for lunch.

My snack last night was 2 peppers with dip:



I spent my Saturday running errands, watching a movie with the hubby and relaxing.

This morning the hubby made pancakes for breakfast. I dipped mine in pure maple syrup:



I had some leftover pasta for lunch, and then went to work for a while. Tomorrow the kids are back to school, and I am ready for 'em!

Dinner was at the in-laws this evening.
We had roast beef, potatoes, corn, beets and bruschetta.

Dessert was chocolate fondue with LOADS of fruit.

I have to get to bed early tonight ...
Even the teacher has trouble sleeping before the "First Day of School!"

What is your favourite kind of pasta? Noodle shape? Sauce?

Weekend Things

Rewind to the weekend ...

On Friday evening Christopher and I got groceries and then settled in on the couch with a tray of nachos.  We've started watching Arrested Development and Schitt's Creek, and are finding both super funny!

Breakfast on Saturday morning was overnight oats, and then I don't think we ate anything else until much later in the day when we whipped up creamy parmesan fusilli.

The next morning Christopher made shakshuka for breakfast.  We haven't been eating eggs lately, but we thought we'd give them a try again, and this was really good.

After breakfast, we got a pot of bolognese sauce going on the stove, as well as a pot of chicken and dumplings.  These would be our lunches and dinners for the next few days.

I made a pan of puffed wheat cake/squares, and one of Rice Krispy cake/squares too; these are such easy desserts to throw together, and nice to have on hand when we're craving a little treat.

Our next two weekends (and probably more) will be busy, so we really enjoyed having this weekend at home to get some stuff done around the house, and do some cooking.

This week has been flying by, and it has been nice not having to cook for the past three days. 

How is your week going? 

What is the easiest dessert you make?

(The two above are definitely my easiest.  The puffed wheat recipe is linked above, and the Rice Krispy one is from the cereal box.)

Dinner Guests

We spent most of yesterday morning cooking and prepping, because last night Mel and Steve came over for dinner. 

They came bearing pretty flowers:

We started with some appetizers, including cheese/meat/crackers, Korean rice pockets, and homemade shrimp fresh rolls.

Easy Peanut Sauce for Fresh Rolls

1/4 cup hoisin 

2 T peanut butter

1 tsp rice vinegar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Mix.  Enjoy.

Next we enjoyed a warm lobster salad:

You can find the recipe here.

The third course was clam chowder soup:

 

For the main course we ate creamy parmesan fusilli:

Bread with oil and vinegar on the side ...

Christopher got to try out his baking skills ... he made sopapilla cheesecake pie, and it turned out perfectly.

We also had chocolate & vanilla bean, pear crumble.

I love these people! 

We had a fun, late night with plenty of laughs.

How was your weekend?  What did you do?

Last Day of 2010

Happy 24th Birthday to my beautiful, smart, sophisticated, sister Leah!
I love you!

The most interesting thing about having a blog is being able to look back and see what the year was like.  2010 was my first full year of blogging, and it was a good year.  I started 2010 on a beach in the Dominican Republic. It was a great way to ring in the New Year.  We learned a week or two later that my 101 year old Great Grandma had passed away.  What an extraordinary life she led.  

In April the hubby and I traveled to New York City for a trip of a lifetime.  We loved it so much that we will be returning this Easter.  We spent the hubby's 29th birthday at the Letterman Show seeing Steve Carell and wandering the streets of Manhattan, eating great food and taking in the sites.

On April 17th my Mom went into the hospital.  She has been struggling with an aggressive, and progressive form of MS for about 8 years now, and it was very scary to receive a phone call that she had gone into the hospital.  She stayed there for about 5 months and it was really hard. Eventually a long-term care home was ready for her.  She is the most amazing woman that I know.

I thought a lot about life this year, and what I really care about... what truly matters, and what I want out of life, and how I can live a better life.

I tried out running this year, but I wasn't a huge fan.  I did run a 5K in May, and it was alright.

One of my favourite things to do is to entertain, whether it is a dinner party, a breakfast, or a backyard BBQ.  We did plenty of entertaining this year, and even participated in FoodBuzz's 24, 24, 24 in which the entire dinner party was paid for by FoodBuzz.  I did a Saskatchewan themed feast.  

We love having our family and friends over!

We went to two weddings, and had a blast at each one!  

My sister Leah got engaged to Sal - they are getting married this summer!

I got accepted into grad school, and completed my first semester this year.  The hubby became an Ironman.  

I was interviewed for Canadian Grocer Magazine about Chocolate - I am an expert :-)

We did some camping, and celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary and my 1 year bloggiversary.

I did a LOT of baking this year, and made some ghoulish goodies for our friends' Halloween party.

In November I had a lot of firsts.  I traveled alone for the first time, and had my first blogger meet-up at my first blogger festival!  I took off to San Fransisco for a long weekend, and ate some pretty amazing food with some even more amazing people.

And if that wasn't enough ... I ate some RIDICULOUSLY good food this year.  

This is a food blog after all.

10 Recipe Highlights of 2010

Bacon and Mushroom Dip

Creamy Parmesan Fusilli

Risotto with Corn, Spicy Sausage and Wilted Arugula

Cake Pops

Italian Mac and Cheese

Dessert Cheese Ball

Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Pear Crumble

Chili Lime Butter

Orzo with Bacon and Shrimp

Old Dutch Caramel Corn

What was the highlight of 2010 for you?

How are you spending New Years Eve (or how did you if you read this late)?

What's up Wednesday

1)  Sometime in June I bought a pack of hotdogs from Costco.  We finished that package the other day, and we won't be buying them again.  They are delicious, but they are also massive, and full of a disgusting amount of fat and sodium.

Don't get me wrong though ... we'll still be eating hotdogs.  We just might buy the more reasonably sized Harvest hotdogs. 

2)  In 24 days we'll be on vacation, but I really want those 24 days to draaaaag, as I do not want to wish summer away.  Our summers are so short in Saskatchewan.  And, I'm also still on holidays for the 24 days leading up to this vacation and I want those to drag on as well.

3)  On Sunday we made a stop at a little fruit stand and got some cherries, and the best strawberries I've ever had.  The smell of the strawberries was incredible! 




4)  The other day when Christopher came home from work for lunch I had a beef shanghai noodle dish ready.  Top it with sriracha, and it's even better.




5)  We watch a lot of cooking/food shows, but for some reason I didn't think we got Pioneer Woman.  I've always loved her blog, have her books, and really wanted to see her show.  Recently a friend told me (thanks Bonnie) that her show does air in Canada, and I've been missing it this entire time!  We've been catching up on re-runs, and I love it!  I think I could totally be a pioneer woman.  We're a little disturbed by her liberal use of butter, although secretly sort of love it.



6)  I'm loving this post.  Honey, time to start saving the bacon fat!!

7)  Speaking of bacon, I made one of my favourite pasta dishes for dinner the other night.  Creamy Parmesan fusilli.  The bacon makes it extra delicious.

 

8)  We've had a lot of cute little bees hanging around the the yard, and we don't mind the little guys at all. 




9)  I made a batch of peanut butter cookies for my mom (and some for Christopher) last week.  They are pretty addictive, and ohhhhh sooo soft.



10)  Breakfast this morning was at The Mercury with my Victoria.  I love that she's willing to go out on the town at 8:00 a.m. with me.  Who have I become!??

How's your week going so far?  What are your Wednesday thoughts?