A Chicken Parmesan of sorts and a quick marinara sauce…

Music: Jeff Buckley – Corpus Christi Carol (we’ve been watching The Tudors)

This year for my REAL birthday (I’ve been celebrating since September) my family and I went to Peasant for dinner.  We were all so impressed with the simple marinara sauce they served – I was even surprised my mother ordered it with all the amazing things on the menu.  But man, were we glad she did. Since then I’ve been attempting to recreate their simple marinara and I’ve come pretty close. And so in honor of my Mother’s Birthday today I made her this!

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Cheese Night!

Music: Monsters of Folk – The Sandman, The Breakman and Me

Ugh! Does anyone REALLY want to think about food right now?? I though in honor of yesterday’s feast I would just talk about the greatest birthday present I ever got. This year for my birthday BJ, Ally, Scott and Brendan got me CHEESE from France! They had ordered the gift from www.fromages.com, a fantastic website filled with many wonders (Go. Look. Now.).  They prepare and send cheese packages to anywhere in the world. I have no idea how they thought of this gift but it really was a great surprise and really really awesome.  I mean really awesome.

Something about Thanksgiving…

Music: Spoon – I Summon You

A few years ago, while I was in graduate school in San Francisco, I couldn’t make it home for Thanksgiving.  I decided to have a small gathering of friends and my cousin Tom (who made a terrific turkey) over my apartment to celebrate the holiday. Orphan Thanksgiving included Tom, my friend Casey, his brother Evan, their friends and a celebrity animal whisperer.  It was my first attempt at hosting Thanksgiving and I really enjoyed it. There won’t be pictures yet because I haven’t made the food this year, but once I do I will post. I have no idea where these recipes came from and I wish I could pay homage to their origins.  What you’ll find here are a bunch of suggestions for great sides to serve 8-10 people. Enjoy!

Mushroom Ravioli with Butternut Squash Walnut Sauce

Music: The Violent Hour – Seawolf

Sunday Night Dinner! Potato Leek Soup, Eggplant Sandwiches, Parmesan Crusted Brussel Sprouts and Amish Apple Pie

Music: Elvis Perkins – Doomsday

Hooray for the first Sunday night dinner! It was a success (hopefully!) and we sure ate well.  We had Melissa and Shannon (from Charlottesville) over to share this dinner and it was good to start this tradition with such good friends.  I wanted to christen the Sunday Night Dinners with a proper fall meal but it was 67 degrees out today, defeating the purpose of soup entirely.  Since I was making Vichyssoise (potato leek soup – just really wanted to use that word somewhere) I could have served it cold…but that just seemed wrong.

Pesto with Fresh Fettuccine

Music: Phoenix – Love Like a Sunset Part 2

Does anyone know where all the basil was this summer?? We couldn’t find it anywhere. So when James came home with 3 brilliant bushels of fragrant basil I promptly began a pesto production line.

Sunday Night Dinner – Onion Pie, Schiacciata, Fig & Goat Cheese Bruschetta and Kir Royale

Music: Honky Tonk Women – The Rolling Stones

This weekend we went to Connecticut to see my family.  My mom invited her sister and my cousins  over for dinner on Sunday night.  It’s been a long time since we’ve all been together and we spent most of the afternoon preparing the meal as a family.  It was a fairly traditional Sunday Night Dinner; pasta with meatballs, red sauce and ricotta but we had some noteworthy starters and sides.