Sausage, Shrimp & Vegetable Pasta

This recipe came about the other night in an effort to get rid of some ingredients in our refrigerator. I was planning on adding some tomato sauce & 2% milk for a slightly creamy tomato sauce effect but at the last minute opted not to & am so glad I did, The dish ended up being one of my better impromptu dinners!

Sausage, Shrimp & Vegetable Pasta

This recipe came about the other night in an effort to use up some items in our refrigerator.

Ingredients:

angel hair pasta
sausage
shrimp
asparagus
spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Tony's Creole Seasoning
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Robusto cheese shavings for topping

Directions:

1. Start by boiling water & cooking pasta according to package instructions.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sized pan, add chopped garlic and cook until slightly browned.
3. Add chopped sausage & cook over medium heat until sausage is slightly browned.
4. Add shrimp & asparagus cook for about 3 minutes.
5. Add fresh spinach, seasonings & Parmesan cheese, place a lid on the pan & reduce heat to low. Cook for an additional 3 minutes.
6. Serve over pasta.

{A Heather original}

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Easter Desserts

On Easter Sunday we went to the SC’s sister’s house for Easter lunch. His birthday happens to fall the day after Easter this year so I offered to bring dessert (i.e. a birthday cake.) However, the SC decided that the dessert he wanted was chocolate pecan pie. Now to a Yankee like me, pecan pie is only served at Thanksgiving and it just doesn’t scream springy Easter dessert. But being the lovely fiance I am I obliged and made my first pecan pie ever. A chocolate pecan pie at that!  I did some Google-ing and the first thing I found was a Paula Deen recipe. I knew my Southern future in-law would have no qualms with a Paula Deen dessert so this is the recipe I decided on. And boy am I glad I did. Everyone gushed about how great it was & even said it was better than most chocolate pecan pies. It so good that I didn’t have a chance to snap a pic!

Chocolate Pecan Pie

This recipe is altered slightly from the website per the suggestion of many reviews to bake for longer than suggested. I also omitted the bourbon that Paula suggest due to not having any!

Ingredients:

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell
2 cups pecan halves
3 large eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup sugar
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cover bottom of pie crust with pecans.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and melted butter. Add the corn syrup, sugar, and the chopped chocolate. Stir until all ingredients are combined. Pour mixture into the pie shell over the pecans and place on a heavy-duty cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for an additional 35 minutes or until pie is set. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

{adapted from Paula Dean}

Since chocolate pecan pie didn’t seem Eastery enough to me I decided to also make The Pioneer Woman’s Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares.

They were delicious but I should have known my southern future in-laws would eat all the Chocolate Pecan pie and leave the lemon squares untouched. Funny story: I was talking to my mom, who lives in Philadelphia the day before about the desserts & how I think pecan pie is a “wintry dessert.” She said “Oh southerners will eat pecan pie at any occasion.” Well I guess she knows the Southern way more than me!

What was your Easter dessert?

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Hors d’oeurves in & Tapas Out

One of the things that I think is so important in a relationship is to keep things exciting & continually put forth a little extra effort. On Friday I had the day off but the SC had to work. I decided to surprise him with some hors d’oeuvres & wine when he came home. Of course a little music on Pandora doesn’t hurt either!

I contemplated running to the store to whip up something truly delectable but opted instead to make do with what we had on hand in the kitchen. The spread turned out quite nicely with sausage, robusto cheese {his absolute favorite}, broiled asparagus & stuffed clams {from Aldi’s no less — & quite good!} Paired with a glass of wine that he scored at an estate sale for $2 & our little homemade happy hour turned out delightful.

Afterwards we headed to one of our favorite restaurants ChaChah, sat at the bar & enjoyed some tapas {Valdeon & house bacon stuffed dates – thanks for the suggestion, Beth! & crab fritters}. I ordered a Spicy Pear Martini which was great but I was slightly jealous of the SC’s new wine find. Campo Viejo. He ordered it on a whim only to find out it was the bartenders favorite wine & is now the SC’s as well. Now I am no wine conoissour by any means but I swear as you take a sip of the wine you get a buttery smell. The wine is so smooth & will surely be finding a short lived place in our wine rack soon.

We decided to splurge on dessert, hot chocolate for two, which is really a very thick chocolate sauce served cold over a homemade marshmallow. It was delicious & surely set back the wedding dieting by a few hundred calories but it was well worth it. We concluded the evening with a stroll around the Belmont area which included lusting over several bungelow style homes.

Do you prefer dates at home or out? Ours was a perfect mixture of both!

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New & Improved

Welcome to my new & improved blog!! A special thanks to Lindsay over at Love & Olive Oil for her fabulous design & putting up with my procrastination. {planning a wedding truely does take over your life!} With this new blog I am hoping to add a little more of my personal life into the mix. Of course, I’ll still feature great recipes, restaurants & other food adventures!

Thanks for sticking with me through my haitus! I promise for some exciting posts to come soon!

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Creating a Wedding Registry

I am not your typical bride. Everyone keeps begging to go wedding dress shopping with me and yet I just don’t have that much excitement in that arena. Yes, I want a pretty dress, yes, I want to look gorgeous. But what do I spend hours looking at online and dreaming about? Kitchen registry items.

{Because we all know the real reason to get married is to finally get that blender you’ve been lusting over. KIDDING!}

Here are just a few things that are definitley making their way to my registry.

So kind bloggy friends….What kitchen items {& brands} do you find to be most valuable? Any registry tips for me? {we are currently thinking Bed, Bath & Beyond & Target}.

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