That rant sums up my week in a way. I am going along my own little way at a good speed and then someone or something comes out in front of me and slows up my whole process. I was unprepared, I feel, to face this week. It has been a roller coaster ride. There have been really great things that have happened and really frustrating things that have happened. Both are playing a significant role in my exhaustion as I type this right now. I don't really have an insightful word to sum up this week other than crazy- so I apologize for the blogging drought. I have not found any time, other than now, to just sit and write.
I hate the saying "always expect the unexpected". Um, I can't do that because I don't know what the unexpected is going to be-duh. (Yes I just said duh.) Never the less, I feel like I am on the brighter end of this, full-of-unexpectedness week. My husband has been out of town and that always kind of puts a little twist in my world. (Although, I do get to cook slightly more adventurous things while he is gone since I don't have to think about avoiding certain ingredients. However, much to my frustration, I didn't do much of that this time around.) He's coming home tonight and I'm so glad. Life just seems a little "off" when he's not around.
Anyway, the only two significant dishes I have to blog about are two that I made with some friends last Friday and last night. The first one below is Cacio e Pepe with Warm Tomato Salad. This is a very fresh dinner without meat- my little brother would like it (who I got to see on Sunday and it made me smile). It's a Rachael Ray recipe. I changed it a little bit, but I think if you follow the recipe it would be just as good. I didn't feel like messing with smelly garlic yesterday because it was quite the day and somehow garlic plus a bad day just don't work with me. So I didn't saute my spaghetti noodles in garlic, but it was still good. And- anytime I can use herbs out of my garden it makes me happy. I made this dish for my friend Jesse who grated the parmesean cheese that is on top (that's a substitution, the recipe calls for pecorino-romano). I must say, she is a magnificent cheese grater. Then, we made chocolate chip cookies (from already made dough, believe me, I didn't attempt any baking this week) and ate them because they were good. I saved some for my husband, wasn't that nice?
On Friday night, two of my other friends, Becky and Janice, came over. Janice and I played an intense game of tennis and then we all came back and cooked dinner. I did a mix of recipes. We had cucumber couscous, marinated cucumbers (yes I do realize that two dishes contained cucumbers, one was a leftover), and salmon. For the couscous, we diced a cucumber and chopped a scallion and added it to cooked couscous. I added a splash of Italian dressing for flavor. Originally I had planned on making a balsamic and thyme glaze for the salmon. Well that was a failed attempt. So, I resorted to a glaze that I have made before. It is a mix of maple syrup and soy sauce, heated. All of the meal was pretty tasty. Becky had chicken instead of salmon because she, well, doesn't like salmon.
Sorry the pictures aren't great...I was off my game this week. Next week promises to be better. And- my husband just called with some great news...so life is good, even when people pull out in front of you, you feel overwhelmed, and things just seem crazy- life is still good.
Until next time...
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