okay, an easy one today... pasta and seafood, killer combination.

found a barilla pasta shape called....ummm....campanilla? anyways, came out great. nice texture and holds just the right ammount of a pesto.

speaking of a pesto, i guess that's what you would call it. two roasted red peppers, some salt, 2/3 head of garlic, 1/4 lb of fresh parmesano, and i really don't know how much fresh oregano...enough to balance out the color and give it some body.... olive oil to emulsify.

HINT: you don't have to drizzle the first amount of olive oil into your processor thus wasting time, pour just less than you think will work and process on high. then you can add slowly as needed.

oops, don't forget to peel, seed and devein the peppers. other than that.... after mixing really well....kinda like chunky peanut butter, also, when i peel roasted peppers i never rinse them, just take the back of your blade across the flesh and try also to catch the juice that is inside of them whem you first open them up... i warmed some of the "pesto" in a pan (about 2tsp) and tossed with the cooked pasta. served immediately with some water...lots of water it was a long day without paying attention to the 8 glasses of water thing. oh yeah...also flash sauteed some langostines in brown butter that were pre-shelled and cleaned at the meat counter. about 9.00USD per pound which was more than enough for the two of us. I miss my old grocery store, people talk to you, offer advice, are just generally friendly... there was this one time where i was getting some stuff for a light picnic with my mom, and i was walking down the catfood aisle on my way somewhere else. Some guy was on his cell phone, and i directly quote "I don't want to get this wrong again.", I tapped him on his shoulder (mind you this man was wearing a pretty expensive suit and tie) and said, "You're talking to your cat aren't you?" He had to put his hands on his knees for a second...i guess the person on the other end thought something was wrong, because when he got back to the phone he looked at me saying thanks and told the person "No, I'm okay, some guy just asked me if i was talking to Mrs. Natalie." okay, that kind of stuff doesn't happen everytime i go, but it happens more at my old one than at the new places i ahve to go to now... people are just kinda stuffy and i just don't get it...relax, it's food- not a necessary evil, a necessary goodness, respect it. the french never get fat because they love food, it's part of their lives...americans look at food as an inconvenience...it's gotta be fast and easy...sure sometimes i like it quick (who doesn't? wink wink) but i really enjoy having the freedom to cook good food now.

the kids are going to smell garlic all day tomorrow but that's their own problem... ncie thing about garlic, you sleep well. you sleep alone, but you sleep well.

Have to go to the art museum tomorrow, usually i say get to go, but this time i have to get the lesson plan stuff done. maybe tomorrow the museum staff won't bug me as much when i get really close to the paintings....well, i don't get that close to them, not like licking close, but really close.

wow these are starting to get long.

fact of the day... the only marsupial that natively lives outside of Australia is the opossum.
it could get you out of an argument some day, trust me...it saved me today.