Sunday Night Dinner.

My most recent creation came to me after I remembered that I had vegetable stock, lemons and bowtie pasta on hand that needed to be used. I also love asparagus and when it's in season, it's cheap and delicious! Add in some other quick ingredients (some a from the fridge, others fresh from the store) and wa-lah!, you have Bowtie Pasta with Asparagus in a Lemon Cream Sauce. It's light, yet decadent and really highlights one of summer's best produce items.

Ingredients:

I bunch asparagus, chopped in to 1-inch long pieces

1/2 white onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream

1 lemon

1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese

EVOO, butter

S&P to taste

1 cup veggie stock (it's ok to use chicken if you eat meat)

1 package (160z) bowtie pasta

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Directions:
Combine 1-2 TBSP of EVOO and 1 TBSP of butter in a saute pan. Once butter is melted and pan is hot, add in onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent. Add in asparagus and continue to saute, while adding S&P.

Meanwhile, boil water for pasta and cook according to directions.

After asparagus has cooked for 3-4 minutes, add in the stock and bring to a simmer. At this point, add in the cream and stir to combine. Then zest in one lemon and squeeze in juice. Sauce will be a little thin at this point.

Drain pasta after cooking and return to pasta pot.

Lastly, add parmesean cheese into sauce and stir until slightly thickened. Pour sauce over pasta and top with the chopped parsley. Serves 4 - YUM!

*I've had some requests to make my post font larger - hopefully this works! ;oP

Random Thoughts.

I received an email from my oh-so-dear friend Devon (happy early birthday!) today. She's not one to send forwards, but she said this one was way too good for words - turned out she was right! It was an email containing a person's random thoughts. They are hilarious and I just had to pull out the ones that have entered my mind and share them with you. Enjoy, and hopefully LOL!

-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

-That's enough, Nickelback.

-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

-There is a great need for sarcasm font.

-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.

-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

-How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

- Was learning cursive really necessary?

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

-Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart."

-How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies."

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories.

-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my document that I swear I did not make any changes to.

- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

-When I meet a new guy, I'm terrified of mentioning something he hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

-It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my a$s everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

Music and Mom.

It might have been a couple of weeks ago now, but I just had to post some pictures from the ultimate in mother-daughter bonding, Jason Mraz at Northerly Island. I've been a huge fan of his for quite some time now, and though I have always loved music, he truly formed my taste and love for deep lyrics with his acoustic show at Schubas in 2006. I've been listening to "I'm Yours" ever since it was released as a demo in 2004, and have turned my Mom on to him over the past year. We share many an interest, she and I, and now we share music too! I'm so glad I got to experience this with her and she had an amazing time. We also got to be a part of the filming for Jason's upcoming concert DVD, which was an experience in and of it's own! Needless to say, the warm summer air, Lake Michigan breeze and Jason's melodies of peace, love and acceptance made for one memorable night. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

The beautiful Chicago skyline sunset from our seats.

Mom and I at the show.

Jason on stage playing "Ray of Sunshine."

A Perfect Sunday.

After waking up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, I decided to snuggle in on this cool summer morning and take in my usual Food Network shows to cheer me up. For those of you who know me well, they are like my cartoons, and even if I won't eat most of what the chefs cook, I still love to be taken into the world of food on my weekend mornings.

While laying in bed, clutching my coffee cup and watching Giada prepare sushi, I became enamored with the fact that her herbs are always so pretty, creating a small green bouquet on her countertop. For some reason, whenever I buy herbs, I leave them in their supermarket bag, only to have them fade into the back of my fridge, forgotten and often spoiled. It was in this moment that I realized that I should enjoy the beautiful day that had risen on me and go in hunt of something pretty to serve the same purpose as Giada's container. So began my adventure with myself.

I'm not one for public transportation when it's not necessary, so I knew that I didn't want to go anywhere that would warrant a bus ride back and forth. Thinking back to the neighborhoods I have visited in this vast city, I decided upon the Brown Elephant on Halsted and Waveland as my destination. Hopping the 36 bus, I was there in 15 minutes, amongst all of the other thrift-shoppers who decided it was time to hunt for a bargain. I headed straight for the back corner where the glass and dishes were strewn about on several different shelves. It only took me about 5 minutes to find the most adorable green glass vase. In the process I also found a little milk-glass teacup. What I would use it for, I wasn't sure, but I knew that both would serve their purpose in my home. About 10 minutes later I was out the door after only spending $2.50 on both items!

The rest of my afternoon was marked by a long walk home consisting food shopping and the happy surprise of shoes! I wandered across the street after the Brown Elephant to Whole Foods. While I don't shop here often for obvious reasons, I just had to stop in. Let me tell you I came out with several goodies! I've had this crazy idea to attempt eating Vegan for a week, thinking, "it won't be an issue at all." I discovered while wandering around the store that it's quite the opposite! And as I thought about what I eat on a daily basis, it's probably not attainable or logical given my already restricted diet. But, there's no reason I can't try to make something healthy and vegan from time to time. That's when my idea for a quinoa salad came into play. I've never had quinoa, but have seen it on many a food show. Given it's nutritional qualities I thought that it was time to try it. Green beans we also gleaming at me (and on sale) so I picked up those as well. I also bought quinoa pasta that I'm going to experiment with later this week - I'll be sure to let you know how that goes! Anyways, my creation took formation as I perused the shelves of Whole Foods and stopped for produce at my local market on my way home. Check out my Sunday dinner - Quinoa salad with green beans, tomatoes, white beans, parsley and a lemon dijon dressing. Light, delicious and vegan to boot.

Also, I just had to share my beautiful bouquet of parsley that now sits in my fridge. It definitely won't be ignored! Lastly, the teacup is just too cute not to post.

Hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed your Sunday as much as I did. :o)

Starting Over

I feel like this is the third or fourth (maybe fifth time) since I've proclaimed I'm going to blog. Obviously I've hit roadblocks and creative lulls in doing so, but what I've realized is that I thought that a blog always had to exude deep thinking. So, I'm going to take a different approach and have it reflect my likes, dislikes and everything in between. Here goes nothing...