Fallen Souffle

So my little sister is out of town which means Aunt Jen and Uncle Ev take in her dog Lexi while she is gone. I really love Lexi and she is an awesome dog, she is just so full of energy! Our dogs have mellowed out a bit, they are hyper at times but at night they chill out nicely. Lexi on the other hand is on the go all the time. It’s not like an annoying hyper though, she just plays alot with our sheprad mix Sasha alot.

We are lucky enough to have a decnt size backyard for the dogs to romp around in. The bad part is, we don’t have alot of grass, between to weird irrigation in our backyard and that damned North Carolina clay, he have had some challenges getting our grass to grow. Therefore whenever it rains it is a mud pit for days. We could probably do some killer mud wrestling back there.

Well as luck would have it it has rained the last 2 out of 3 days. Mind you, we have been in a drought all summer, I can’t remember the last good rain we had, and it now decides to rain. So Sasha and Lexi run laps around the downstairs and our poor lab Bella just lays under the coffee table, trying to stay away from the madness.

So we are hoping it dries up a bit this weekend so they can play more outside, in the meantime, I have a nice layer of clay on my kitchen floor. Ah the joys of pet ownership….I wouldn’t trade them in for anything!

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A fellow food blogger at la dolce vita has developed an awesome food event called In the Pink to raise awareness of breast cancer, since it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The rules were simple, develop a yummy food item that was…PINK!

So I really wanted to make something sweet, because I love to bake and who doesn’t love something sweet and pink! I immediately thought about making fluffy white cupcakes with a sugary pink frosting. But, it is so generic, I wanted to be different and creative. So I pondered other pink possibilities…ham, grapefruit, salmon. Then I realized, nature did not produce alot of pink foods (what a shame!).

Then EUREEKA! What has become my favorite italian dish recently?! ROSE sauces, mixing some sort of dairy into a red sauce to create a beautiful and smooth PINK sauce! So I went to one of my favorite weekday recipes and knew this would fit the bill. It is easy to make, yummy, healthy…and ofcourse, pink

I am lucky as to not have any immediate family members stricken by this diesease, yet my mother in law has been a breast cancer survivor for many years now, so in her honor, I present to you…

Laura’s In the Pink Rigatoni
(aka, Rosa Rigatoni)

In a sauce pan heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil and brown chopped onion and chopped garlic. Once browned,add one can (15 oz) of plain tomato sauce, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes or so. Slowly add 1 cup of cream or half and half (I actually use fat free half and half), 1 box (10 oz) of frozen peas, 1/2 cup of grated parmesan, salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste. Allow to simmer until peas are cooked through. Pour over 1 pound of cooked rigatoni. Sprinkle with a bit more parmesan and dinner is served.

I hope you will try this recipe and think about those that have been affected by this disease. I wish you all peace and good health!

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About this time of year comes the question “what do you want for Christmas?” It’s a funny sort of question when you get older. When I was young it was easy, Barbies, new legos, My Little Pony, and maybe a new dance leotard. When I was in high school it was jeans, running shoes, and CD’s. Even the past couple of years it was not too hard…housewares. (Who knew one could get so excited about new pots and a new set of sheets). Now as we are coming close to our one year anniversary in our house and past the 6 month mark of our marriage we are pretty set on household stuff. So this year the question is kinda daunting.

My parents usually get me a nice business suit, but times are changing in the corporate world and no one is dressing up like they used to. I have also determined this “corporate world” is not necessarily my cup of tea. Clothes are always a safe bet, I love sweaters and jackets and can never have enough shoes (size 7.5!). There are a few house things I would like, more out of necessity than anything, a carpet cleaner, a new dutch oven(ok thats a long shot), and maybe a serger.

My list can never touch my sister’s list, she takes pride in the detail and description of her items, down to color pictures and sometimes items locations. It has come to be more of a joke, but she is definatly a girl with a plan!

I am much more into the thoughtful gifts now it seems. One of my favorite gifts from our wedding was a painting my sister did for us. I absolutely love it and everytime I look at it I think about her and our wedding.

Our lives have so much “stuff’ in them that I wonder if we need anymore.

Nonetheless, I am looking forward to Christmas, I will always be that 10 year old kid that wakes everyone up at 6:30am to rip open presents, but I think I get more joy out of seeing others open theirs.

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