Posts from — April 2010

My boyfriend was ill, napping in my bed. I was enjoying the fact that ESPN was airing a college softball game, and even more so that the said college softball game was tied in the bottom of the 7th with 2 outs. It was late in the afternoon, and as you know, my Sunday was not quite as exciting as one hopes for.  I sat under the covers, laptop in lap, magazine in hand.  Mmmmm Cooking Light is sure to wake my taste buds.

So what do I do?  Get off my butt, drive to the store, and make a delicious looking meal, straight from the pages of Cooking Light.  I get ingredients for a simple salad, and even some corn on the cob for the side.

I return home.  Boil, drain, cut, rinse, pour, stir, mix.  A short 30 minutes later and well there you have it.  A pretty good looking meal if I must say so myself.

Boyfriend is still ill.  Isn’t up for food.  So I put one place setting away, put one of the two bowls back in the cabinet.  Bummer.  My idea of surprising the boyf with a nice home cooked meal failed, but it’s the thought that counts right?  Please say yes.

Oh well, life goes on.  I enjoyed my dinner.  A lot in fact.  So much that I should share this simple recipe with you.   The section of this month’s mag that I pulled this from was one like “Quick and easy” or “The less ingredients the better.”  They sure know how to catch my attention!  Simple is good.

Pasta should be easy and delicious, like this entrée. Prep the peas, cheese, and basil while the pasta water heats. Serve with a green salad.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 9  ounces  uncooked fresh linguine
• 1  cup  shelled fresh green peas
• 4  teaspoons  extra-virgin olive oil
• 1  tablespoon  unsalted butter
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4  cup  thinly sliced fresh basil
• 2  ounces  shaved fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Add peas to pasta during the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Drain pasta mixture in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup pasta liquid.

2. Heat oil and butter in pan over medium heat 1 minute or until butter melts. Remove from heat; stir in pasta mixture, reserved pasta water, juice, salt, and pepper; toss well.

3. Divide pasta mixture evenly among 4 bowls; top each serving with 1 tablespoon basil and about 2 tablespoons cheese. Serve immediately.

The end. You’re welcome. Just make sure you use linguine instead of fettucine like I did. I know, I know they are similar – hardly different right? Wrong. It was delicious (I swear) but I think the fettucine made it a just a bit too pasta-y.

So a few hours ago I was just moping around in my own world of boredom. Still bored, but at least now I can say I’ve been a bit productive. Since I last checked in I finally did a few things that have just been lingering on my to do list… for weeks. Things like writing a thank you card to the most gracious hosts out in Cali. I ran and emptied the dish washer.

I picked up all the things – clothes, shoes, trash, bags, papers – that have been accumulating at the foot of my bed. I dusted. I cleaned up my junk drawers, made my bed. I even painted over all of the marks that the landlord left on my walls when he did his rounds of pest control (gross).

Best of all… I cleaned up my closet! It feels good to finally put everything back in its place. Wanna see one of my closets? Lucky for me, since this one is so small, the roommates agreed I can use the one in the hallways (right next to my bedroom). The hallway is perfect for my cardigans, open sweaters and shoes. Tshirts, tank tops and undies stay in my bureau and sweat pants, sweatshirts and crew neck sweaters are in 3 under the bed storage units. The rest, is in the closet. Jeans, long sleeve shirts, dressy tops and bags.

And now, I’ve resorted to watching a Lifetime movie. Hello Julia Roberts, thanks for keeping me company today.

I’m bored. I am so, terribly bored. It’s Sunday, and I’m surprisingly not hungover, and on this Sunday I’m alone. Boyfriend is playing baseball. Roommate 1 is in bed sick. Roommate 2 is spending the day at an event with her family.

It’s going to rain soon, so although I’m tempted to throw in my earbuds and go for a stroll, I’m not. I don’t want to get caught in the rain. I’ve been sitting in bed reading through the blogosphere for almost 2 hours and it’s been about all I can take.

I need a hobby. It’s such a simple statement. I need a hobby. But the problem that that statement describes is actually a lot harder to solve than the simplicity of the statement implies. Rattling off a list of hobbies is easy. But come on. Bike riding? Scrapbooking? Origami? Let’s be serious. Finding a hobby that is entertaining, fulfilling, realistic, inexpensive… and well… just appealing to me is hard. Everything I think of entails money. And I strongly believe that finding the right hobby should not break the bank. Possibly not even tap into the bank. And although my roommate just reminded me that most hobbies tend to be things you tackle alone – I don’t want to do something alone! I get bored when I’m alone for too long.

Heather, Ashley and the rest of the Gibs knit and crochet, but I just think I’ll get bored! What is wrong with me! Always, always bored.

I can sum up the loveliness of my entire Los Angeles vacation by sharing with you three pictures.  So, without wasting any more time, I present you exhibits 1, 2 and 3.

(Exhibit 1)

(Exhibit 2)

(Exhibit 3)

Okay, I’ll share more, but first, can you scroll up a bit and just take another look at those shots?  Don’t worry, your keyboard can handle a bit more drool. Yes ladies and gents, that is me.  Yours truly.  Snuggling close to Kevin McKidd, Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane. What hunks, huh?  And just to clarify – exhibit 3?  That’s McSteamy himself showing Samantha and I home photos (on his Blackberry) of his (at the time) 24 day old beautiful baby girl Billie Beatrice.  Let’s hear a group “aaaaaaw.”

Moving on, the rest of my trip was filled with typical Southern California things.  Lots of orange trees, lemon trees, palm trees.  Shopping on Robertson and (window) shopping on Rodeo.  Drives through the hills, hikes through Runyon, sight seeing trips at the Pier.

Orange trees

Lemon trees

Santa Monica Pier

There was also time to kick back and relax with good friends.  After all this was a vacation!  I enjoyed joy rides down the 101, lunches on Sunset and a night out at Sky Bar.

Me, Claire, Ashley

Me, Sam

Sam, Claire, me

And, last but most certainly not least, the best part – I said it, and I meant it – the best part of my trip involved spending time with my beautiful family. My dad is from Los Angeles, so there remains a whole bunch of cousins and babes that I rarely get to see.  My California family is amazing.  I stayed with two of my cousins, spent the day on the set of Grey’s with another, and visited with the entire bunch o’cousins (all 17) on my final night.

We gathered at our cabana at the Bel Air Bay Club, and began with a toast over champagne.  A toast to my visit and to our family.

We all caught up, laughed until our bellies ached, watched the little ones with awe, and shortly after the sun set over the Pacific we packed up the leftover cheese and crackers (in my family there ain’t nevah leftovers in the wine department!) and enjoyed the most delicious dinner in the formal dining room.  It was pretty cool, a table set for nearly 20, with walls made of glass overlooking the beach, waves crashing in the foreground.

Bay club

View from the cabana

Cutest babe

Click to enlarge! About half of my cousins (all the adults).

Certainly a life I could get used to.  After even more bottles of red, and a perfectly presented cup of vanilla bean crème brulée, the night just had to come to an end.  After all I had a terribly horrible red eye  to catch back to the East Coast.  Had to make it home for Easter dinner with the family.  So teary eyed, and hearts full I said my goodbyes to the most gracious hosts an East Coast gal could ask for, and headed to LAX.

I miss your home, your fresh fruit and english muffins with jam in the morning and glasses of red in the evening. I miss you cousins, and I miss you LA. To my favorite hosts, I love you and cannot wait until January when I see you again.

Cousin Susu, cousin Leroi, me