Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. I love all the traditions and the family time and the FOOD. Our weekend as FILLED with activity.

Saturday we went to the Pumpkin Patch with the niece and nephew. Pictures to come tomorrow. We had an awesome time and the weather was amazing. We were definitely thankful for that!

Saturday evening we had dinner with the BFFs. We hadn’t seen them in forever. Once the school year gets going Elise is so busy with coaching and marking and all that fun stuff, but it was nice to finally get a chance to sit down and enjoy their company. What I love about us is that we are casual enough with each other that Elise and I can tap out of the evening at any point with out seeming rude. I passed out on the couch for 2 hours after dinner and she went to bed shortly after that. After my late night nap Colin joined us and we ended up staying till almost 3 watching the Rugby World Cup live. Talk about a random evening! Touch. Pause. ENGAGE.

Sunday I was exhausted and slept most of the day before getting ready to head out to Chads Sisters house for dinner. She made all the traditional Thanksgiving food that I love so I was super pumped. Plus free flowing wine and hilarious stories made for a most enjoyable evening. I even got to spend some quality time with the niece, though our sillyness tends to get her a little hyper, but it’s my fault entirely. I am a big kid that likes to egg her on and we laugh and are silly until something breaks or someone gets hurt haha. Thankfully neither of those things happened this time around! In the theme of Thanksgiving, I must say I am super thankful that I married Chad and his amazing family. You always hear stories about the psycho Mother in Law, or the family from hell and I can happily say neither of us have those.  The Ciavarros/Heagles are the nicest, warmest, most entertaining family on the block! And of course, my family ain’t that bad either ;)

Monday there was more sleeping. Eating and drinking and entertaining is hard work and our bodies needed to recover. We went over to my parents house in the afternoon for the start of our 3rd Thanksgiving dinner (if you count Ryan and Elises as a pseudo one). More food and wine and family. It was good times as always, with the occasional Italian loudness about the garbage bag leaking and the dog licking the plates in the dishwasher and the wanting to go home to watch TV at 7:30. Standard issue really. It’s not family night at the parentals with out it.

And the best part about Thanksgiving weekend? A week filled with amazing leftovers!

 
I’ve become smitten with a food blog called Smitten Kitchen. The photos are simple and useful, the recipes are easy to follow, and there is a personal touch to each blog post that I love!

While perusing all their amazing recipes the other day, I came across this one for Corn, Buttermilk, and Chive Popovers. I drooled at the sight of them. I love corn. I love chives. I love things that popover!

I went out the next day and bought all the ingredients needed to put together these delightful little treats. I followed the recipe exactly as stated except instead of using chives I used green onions. I also used a muffin tin instead of a popover tin. While they didn’t turn out 100% like the pictures they were pretty tasty and as Deb mentions in her blog post, they can be a little finicky to perfect. I think my oven had a role to play in the way they turned out. This recipe yielded me 12 popovers in a muffin tin.

The popovers were wonderful but I think the next time I make these I will do two things differently.

1. Actually use chives. I found the green onions provided too strong a taste for my liking in this particular recipe.
2. Mix everything together instead of blending it in a blender. I would have liked the corn to stay whole so that you get pops of sweetness when you bite into them.

Over all, this is definitely a recipe I want to try over again and perfect. It really was quite easy to make, I just need to figure out my oven!

I strongly suggest you checking out the Smitten Kitchen. There are so many great recipes on there I am sure you will find something you will love!

Roasted Tomato Soup with Broiled Chedder! OMG!

Tuesday night Alicia and Adam invited us over to celebrate Mexicans. There is a long standing joke between Adam and the rest of us that Claudia is Mexican. This is why every year at Christmas Claudia gets a little Mexican gift in which to decorate her office with. We’ve tried to correct Adam and inform him that she is Chilean and not Mexican but he keeps forgetting. Sometimes he even thinks she is Peruvian, or Ecuadorian, or anything Latin other than Chilean. It is beyond amusing for everyone except Claudia!

I not a Mexican! Clueless, I love you.

Alicia and Adam made us amazing fajitas with so many options to chose from. They even did Mexican rice which tasted SO good in the fajitas, I don’t know why Chad and I have never thought of doing that. MENTAL NOTE.

We sat around the TV and chatted the night away. The boys stayed in their work clothes just so they could feel extra special and a little Mad Men-esque.

We watched the episode of Modern Family with the pigeon. Claudia wanted to watch it so that we could all have a visual example of what she went through when the pigeons attacked her apartment. I’ve never watched an episode of Modern Family (yes I do live under a rock) but I  have heard so much about it. OMG hilarious! Chad and I need to get our TV watching act together.

After our little TV episode the men settled in with rather large glasses of scotch and talked business, while us girls chatted about girly things.

It was a wonderful evening that we need to do more often!

I had Korean BBQ for the first time Saturday night. It was so damn good. I mean, really, how could it not be when you have an authentic Korean making it for you.

Pork Belly + Marinated Beef Short Ribs + Lettuce Wraps + Noodles + Rice + Veggies + Hot Sauce = AMAZINGNESS

I love trying new food. I’m not one to shy away from something that is ‘weird’ or unfamiliar. I want to try everything.

What I love about watching the Food Networks is the exposure I get to different foods and cuisines. I have basically created a Food Bucket List for myself consisting of things I want to try, food wise, before I die. Two new additions to that list, Prairie Oysters and Alligator.

While watching Man vs. Food: Carnivore Edition I came across this restaurant in Denver – The Buckhorn Exchange. It is basically a meat lovers dream that serves everything from Buffalo to Elk to Cornish Game Hen. Oh, and you can’t forget the Rattlesnake, Alligator Tail or the Rocky Mountain Oysters! It all looked so good. I need to go and try all these different cuts of meat. It would be an experience of a lifetime. A story to tell.

I’m also big into going to a new town or city and trying out there signature dish. I tried to do as much of that as I could while I was in Italy, having a Caprese Salad in Capri, Cannoli in Sicily and Pesto Sauce in Genoa. Therefore, I need to have a Lobster Roll in Maine, Southern BBQ in Alabama, a Cheese Steak Sammich in Philly, a Boston Cream Pie in Boston, and so on.

With so many different foods in this world to try, I better get cracking. Whats on your Food Bucket List?

The sun is out, our 2nd move is 85% done, and it’s Friday! Lets celebrate today with my new favorite pasta recipe.

I discovered Bucatini while watching none other then Lidias Italy. The amount of new foods, techniques, and recipes that this woman has single handily introduced me to is amazing!  I love thicker noodles so as soon as I saw her make this recipe with Bucatini, I knew I had to try them.

This recipe, like many Italian recipes is simple, fast, and delicious. This is definitely something you can make when you are pressed for time but want a tasty satisfying meal.

Ingredients

200g bucatini
1 chunk of country style bread, day-old preferred
1½ tablespoons Coarse sea salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sliced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
½ cup Pecorino Romano, freshly grated

This made enough for 2 pasta dinners plus leftovers for lunch.

Steps

Cut off the crust of the bread chunk and with your fingers tear the interior of the bread into irregular shreds or grate with a corse grater. For 200g of pasta shread about 1 cup of rough bread crumbs.

Heat the water with a tablespoon of salt until it boils. Add the bucatini.  Cook, partially covered, until al dente.

As soon as the pasta is in the pot, pour 1/4 cup of olive oil into a large skillet, set over medium-high heat and scatter in the garlic slices. Cook for a couple of minutes until the garlic is sizzling and fragrant but still pale. Drop in the torn bread crumbs. Stir and tumble them over to coat with oil. Keep tossing as they start to toast and color, sprinkle over the oregano, and continue stirring and tossing. Lower the heat to avoid burning and, as soon as the crumbs and garlic slices are deep gold and crisp, turn off the heat.

As soon as it is cooked al dente, lift out the bucatini with tongs, let the water drain off for just a second or two, then drop it into the skillet.

Turn the heat up a bit and immediately toss the pasta with the bread crumbs and garlic. Sprinkle on a 1/2 teaspoon salt and keep tossing. If the crumbs absorbed all the oil and the pasta seems dry, drizzle over 1 or more tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and toss well. Taste and season with more salt if needed. Finally, sprinkle on the parsley and greated cheese, toss and serve right away.

Tips from the Chef…

This recipe is SO GOOD. What I love about it, as Lidia says, is every Italian has these ingredients in their pantry at all times, so it is the perfect meal to make when you are out of ideas. It’s budget friendly and your taste buds will love it.

When it comes to the bread, you don’t want to use store bought bread crumbs, or a rock hard piece of bread. You want one that has started to go stale, where the outside is crunchy, but the very center is still a little soft. We used a corse grater, so our crumbs were a bit smaller then if we had tron them by hand, so really, the preference it up to you. You can also try flavoured breads to see if that changes the profile of the dish to something you like more.

As for the Bucatini, I am in love. It’s such a fun noodle, thick and a little bit chewy, with a mind of it’s own. Sometimes the best part of a new pasta recipe is getting to work with a new pasta. Sure they are all taste the same, but the different shapes and sizes add certain elements that change the experience of each dish.

I love PASTA!