tomato vodka penne

For a vegetarian, I don't eat much pasta, but when I do, I often go for this tomato vodka penne. It reheats well, and it makes a nice workday lunch!

2 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 T chopped fresh parsley
28 oz whole canned tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 T tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1/4 t dried oregano
1/2 t salt
dash of sugar
1/4 cup vodka
1/2 cup evaporated milk (or heavy cream)
1 lb penne, cooked

Chop the tomatoes, reserve the juice. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and 1 T butter to melt. Add the carrot, celery, and onion; cook until tender. Add the garlic and parsley; cook 2-3 minutes, until the garlic is soft.

Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves, oregano, salt, sugar, and vodka. Slowly simmer for 10 minutes, then stir in the milk. Bring to a simmer, stir in the basil, and simmer 20 - 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and blend until smooth (I use an immersion blender).

Stir in the reserved tomato juice and return to heat. Stir in 1 T butter until melted, and serve over penne. I used whole wheat pasta here, and often do.

This is the last you'll hear from me for a bit. My upcoming weekend is looking like this, and next week is looking like this. But after that, I'll have a week off to cook, sew, search the thrift stores, take Yoga classes, shoot beautiful photos of autumn in New England, and otherwise renew my frazzled spirit and exhausted body :)

friday detour

I took the long way home last night and hit the jackpot at a Salvation Army store I'd never been to :)

I bought all of this for $21.45...

This "brand new with tags" top only cost $3.99! It looks awesome with the $4.99 Gap skirt I bought back in July!

I was looking for a brown sweater, but found this BCBG top for $3.99 instead! It looks great with the aforementioned Gap skirt, and the silk leopard print skirt from that same treasure hunt.

I usually avoid horizontal stripes, but I'm tiny, and this Liz Claiborne sweater is cut to flatter. It looks great with jeans and my black suede round toe pumps. Blue tags were 50% off, so I got it for $1.99 :)

Cardigans are a sweet and feminine way to keep warm, but I have a hard time finding ones that aren't too baggy or matronly. I don't love this Lord & Taylor sweater, but for $4.49, it's got a nice shape and will look pretty with a dress or a skirt.

This is the sort of piece I dream of finding at a thrift store! It's vintage and in perfect condition, and it was only $6.99!!! I could not believe my luck!

It's a size 12, which is probably more like a modern size 6. It fits ok, but I think I'm going to have the sleeves and hem shortened, and the whole thing nipped it in a bit through the body. Even with all those alterations, it's still a find of a lifetime :)

I've been fantasizing about this dress for years!!!

gingersnaps

One bite of a semi-stale gingersnap while en route to Copenhagen was all I needed to rekindle my love of these delightfully spicy cookies :)

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 cups unbleached flour
2 t baking soda
1/2 t cloves
1 t cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1/2 t salt

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Set it aside.

Cream together the shortening, sugar, molasses and egg, until it's fluffy; I use my stand mixer with the paddle blade.

Stir in the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. It's best to mix it less than you think you should. Overmixing activates the gluten and gives you tough cookies! Don't do it :)

Form the dough into balls (I use a medium sized cookie scoop), roll them in sugar, and set them about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. You can use regular granulated sugar, but I prefer turbinado sugar, if I have it.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until the centers are set and the edges start to look a bit crispy.

Cool them on a wire rack, then try not to eat the whole batch!

I highly recommend cappuccino to go with :)

bruschetta

I planted a large determinate crop of Roma tomatoes with the intent of canning my own organic and HFCS-free ketchup, salsa, tomato sauce and whole peeled tomatoes for this coming year. Unfortunately, I lost most of my crop to late season blight.

I have been able to salvage a couple of plants, and one of the ways I've been enjoying my limited harvest is in this delicious bruschetta.

6 roma tomatoes, chopped

1 T olive oil
1 t balsamic vinegar
6 or so fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 garlic cloves
salt
pepper
6 slices of baguette

Stir together the tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, basil, and 1 pressed garlic clove. Season with salt (I like sea salt) and pepper. It's ready to use now, but I like to chill it a bit for the cold topping/warm bread contrast.

Brush the bread with olive oil, then toast it and rub on one side with the remaining garlic clove. Top each slice with some of the tomato mixture and serve immediately.

This is also delicious with a little grated parmesan or feta and black olives mixed in, or topped with mozzarella, then broiled.

A simple, elegant, and delicious appetizer, snack, or light lunch :)

labor day

This weekend, we headed north to Vermont. Our only plans were coffee, lunch, and photo ops. This plan is much better in theory than in reality because when we don't know where we're going, we tend to spend a lot of time on the interstate debating whether or not we should take the next exit.

When we finally decided on an exit, we ended up in Bellows Falls, VT.

After driving around for a bit, we came to a bridge that had been closed due to a huge crack in the side!

We weren't planning to visit New Hampshire anyway :)

Unfortunately, we could not find the alleged Indian carvings, but upon further research, it turns out they were right under our noses. It's amazing we didn't unknowingly get them in one of our bridge shots!

Jeff snapped this photo of me while I was taking one of him (guess I'm not always wearing high heels). We used to fight over the camera, now we just fight over lenses. He had the better lens this time.

Our search for the Indian carvings led us down abandoned railroad tracks to a mostly abandoned power plant and paper mill. Just the sort of place I love!

It was an ominous place to shoot on a gray day and I was glad to get my shots and leave before being chased out!

This was the TT's first trip out this summer, better late than never! It's a fun car a few times a year, when the weather is perfect. Or when it's snowing; with snow tires and Quattro, I could drive cross country in a blizzard ;)

Early October is our vacation time. Since we've already been to Playa Mujeres this year, we'd like to keep it local. We're considering a combination of Plymouth or Salem MA, the Woodstock Museum, Moosewood Restaurant, Mohonk Mountain House and Boldt Castle.

If you know of any interesting places within a 5 hour (or so) drive from CT, I'd love to hear about them. I'm mostly interested in kitsch (like Kate's Lazy Meadow Motel) and classier places (Like Mt. Washington Resort) that would give fab photo ops.

journey to denmark

On the days I travel to Denmark, a Town Car picks me up around noon and takes me to Newark, where I catch an early evening flight.

This is how my last trip went...

During cocktail hour, I read The Bell Jar (again) while sipping a crisp South African Sauvignon Blanc.

Only 6 hours and 57 minutes to go!

More wine... this time, a French Chardonnay. Dinner wasn't too bad. Even at 32,000 feet, it's hard to go wrong with roasted vegetables and fresh fruit.

It's going to be a long night :(

At this point, I was actually wishing I'd been booked in Economy because I had a row to myself, but the arms between the seats didn't go up in my cabin.

I put a pillow behind my back, and one on the middle arm rest, then kind of draped myself between them, so I could sort of lie down without being too uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep. Still almost 4 hours to go...

Ahhhh...morning! This was bittersweet because it meant the worst part of the trek was over, but it left me with that awful feeling I get from staying out way too late... like coming home when the sun is about to come up and knowing I'm going to have to sleep all day if I'm ever going to recover "late".

Except in this case I didn't have any fun, and was basically just tired, out of alignment, and feeling a bit shortchanged on the market value of my soul.

Chickpeas, tofu, and raw veggies are interesting choices for breakfast, but given my slight chickpea obsession I'm not going to complain.

Once I landed in Copenhagen, I had 35 minutes to clear security, clear passport control, and run from terminal C to terminal A.

Usually my plane is late or I'm delayed somewhere along this gauntlet, and have to rebook on a later flight. I lucked out this time, and my luggage made it, too!

Running, weight training, and Birkenstocks paid off here on my power walk from one end of the airport to the other, hauling my camera rig, and a backpack filled mostly with a laptop and books.

This is really not the kind of plane you want to fly on if you're afraid to fly. It's not that I think flying is unsafe, it's just that a plane crash would be such a horrible way to go.

An hour or so later, I was hauling my luggage to the rental car place, then to the hotel where I promptly unpacked, showered, drank a Coke (with sugar, not corn syrup!), and attempted to stay awake by working until 8PM local time in hopes of acclimating to the time zone.

11 days later, I embarked on the reverse trip out of this terminal.

Traveling to Europe for work is totally glamorous ;-)

iced tea

I prefer homemade iced tea to soda and powdered drink mixes because it's natural, inexpensive, low in calories, and full of antioxidants.

I adapted this from a southern sweet tea recipe that was about 4 times too sweet for my Yankee palate :)

6 tea bags

1/8 t baking soda
1/3 cup sugar
8 cups water

In a measuring cup or small pan, cover 6 tea bags with 2 cups of boiling water. Stir in 1/8 t baking soda (this keeps it from looking cloudy). Let it steep for about 15 minutes, then remove the tea bags.

Measure 1/3 cup sugar into a large pitcher. Add the steeped tea and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Add 6 cups cold water. Whisk to combine, cover, and chill.

I serve this over lots of ice with lemon slices or fresh mint. It travels well in Mason Jars for picnics, road trips, and other away from home beverage consuming occasions :)