It's the most wonderful time of the year...

I often say that my birthday (Nov. 7th) kicks off the Holiday season.

Every year for my birthday I receive new Christmas music. Two years ago was a "Christmas by Sinatra" CD, last year was "Elvis' Christmas Album" on vinyl, and this year was "A Very She & Him Christmas" on iTunes.

Since the City of Austin has decorated downtown and I have a new Christmas album, spiced nuts are naturally the next step in paying tribute to the most wonderful time of the year.

In words best sung by Nat King Cole: "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose...", lets roast some nuts, y'all.

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Almonds (slightly altered from Better Homes and Gardens.)

1 egg white, slightly beaten

1 tsp water

2 cups raw almonds

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 and bake almonds (spread in one layer throughout the pan) for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Lower oven temperature to 325. Whisk egg white and water until frothy. Stir in remaining sugar, spice & salt. Mix in almonds until covered completely.

Bake 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.

Move almonds from the baking sheet to parchment paper to cool. Place in a festive bowl, or bag up as gifts.

On top of the fact that these almonds are easy and so tasty, they will make any house smell like pure Holiday cheer.

Happy (almost) Holidays!

Sarah

Home Sweet Home

Last week, Ross and I moved into a new home.

It's about a hop, skip and a jump from our old pad.

courtesy of etsy.

One week into the new place I didn't know if the oven worked, much less the stove top. Once I discovered that a wooden match was the gas stove top's best friend, it was time to make this house a home.

Now, what to cook. I had a box of Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup, some pasta, and one bunch of asparagus. Clearly something tasty would come from combining three of my favorite foods... right?

Here's what I did: Cut off & discard the woody ends of the asparagus, and chop up the rest into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Boil one small pot of water (for the asparagus) and one large pot (for the rotini pasta). Toss asparagus into boiling water for 2 minutes, then places immediately into ice water. Add pasta to salty, boiling water and cook until al dente.

Brown hot turkey sausage in a large pan, with 1 tbsp olive oil. When turkey is browned, toss asparagus in with sausage and season with cracked black pepper and garlic powder.

Drain rotini & pour 1/2 to 3/4 cup Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup over the pasta, stirring in sausage and asparagus mixture.

This was the result:

It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

Sarah

Fall Favorites

Apples.

Fuji, gala, red delicious, granny smith, honeycrisp...

Gourds.

Pumpkin, spaghetti squash, zucchini, acorn squash...

Root vegetables.

Sweet potatoes, carrots, leeks, yukon gold potatoes...

I have a feeling my dishes will be getting a little bit heartier.

Sarah

Victory Garden

I stumbled upon a really cool group from Portland the other day, Victory Garden of Tomorrow. They design posters that comment on food culture in the US and have the energy of WWII propaganda. I really love how they are merging the worlds of design and food. Here are a couple of my favorites from their website.

Katie

Spaghetti No More

We all have spaghetti sauce recipes that are "the best ever." And I'm pretty sure each of the recipes make two to three times more than we could possibly consume in a week.

To be honest, I don't love spaghetti. I like making it because it's quick and easy, but I don't really crave it. However, I do enjoy the aftermath. Containers of spaghetti sauce fully prepared, making leftover creations a breeze.

This time (like every other house in America, we eat spaghetti at least once a month) I decided to make a cheesy-marinara bake. I also happened to have leftover ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and a box of pasta.. so it wasn't a difficult decision...

You will need:

3-4 cups leftover spaghetti sauce

8 oz (or more) low fat ricotta cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese (shaved, shredded, or otherwise)

1 box of rotini pasta (whole wheat works perfectly)

What to do:

Cook pasta according to directions on the box, salting the water heavily. Spoon 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce onto the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. Pour cooked pasta into the baking dish and season with garlic powder and black pepper. Spoon dollops of ricotta cheese over pasta, and cover with remaining spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted.

I'll admit... Not exactly a ground breaking recipe, but the perfect comfort food for the first legitimate cold snap of the season.

Sarah