Bikram Cooking

Trying to up my "crunchiness" factor, I quickly joined in when my friend suggested we split a whole share with an organic local farm co-op this year. Every Wednesday, we (she) pick(s) up a bunch of fresh organic veggies/berries/herbs that we split. Side note: Looking forward to something in the fall? Hate the heat? Want to, for any reason, make the summer fly by? Join a farmshare. Wednesdays come fast! Anywho, so Wednesdays, yes. They come every 7 days or so and I feel this need to beat the clock to use up everything we got with the last bunch (those beets still hanging in my crisper? Don't you worry about those.). This is also super fresh, locally grown produce and it seems like a disservice to let it go past its prime before we eat it. Sometimes though, its impossible. We get busy/Bubbles craves non-organic-locally-grown-fake-cheese-smothered-pasta/I just can't eat 1 1/2 heads of lettuce myself in 1 week (ahem, hubby, a little help here please?)/or in this case, I bought a bunch of asparagus at the store (for conventionally-grown food non-snobs) forgetting that Wednesday was once again visiting us soon. So I said to myself last Tuesday, "Self, what should we do with this almost-beyond-its-prime-asparagus tonight, the hotest day of the year so far? Oh! We'll roast it in a 425 degree oven, of course!"

So we did pecisely that, on our way to Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter. I've made this before, apparently for hubby, although I don't remember making it for him. I've learned that a whole stick of butter is unneccesary (truth hurts, Paula), but other than that and subbing a skinny noodle for a fat noodle, made the recipe as written. I've even become a little more brave/patient in my reduction skills and think this was my best balsamic reduction yet!

must. take. better. photos. oh, and clean stove.

You know it's done when it coats the spoon like that. It certainly doesn't look like enough for a pound of penne (or in my cupboard's case, rigatoni) but I promise, it is!

While that was reducing, I was "waking up" the asparagus in the oven. That is old. At 425F. And not sealed well.


roasted, with a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Because a hot oven and 1 sauce pan wasn't enough, I boiled a gallon and a 1/2 of water to make the pasta. If I wasn't sweating bullets, this would have been a simple, delicious, quick meal. It was only 2 of those. Although it was easy in and of itself, it's not easy when you have to dump a pasta pot into the colander with one hand because the other hand is attached to the Gatorade bottle you're chugging from to stave off dehydration.

But once all the pieces are done, simply combine with 1/2 a stick-ish of butter and some fresh grated parmesan, wipe the sweat from your brow (and cheeks, and arms, and ok, getting gross here) and dig in.

And if you're lucky, you'll get a bite of rigatoni with a piece of asparagus stuck in the middle! Those silly kids!

LoveLove CowCow

It's been a while since I've visited the Dog portion of DinnerandDogs. Unfortunately, due to never ending home projects, our time with the homeless pups has been quite limited. This weekend though, I broke out! I escaped the spackling and headed over to NJ to hang with some awesome dogs. (shhh! Don't tell Hubby. I told him I was "cleaning out the basement.")

Even better? The amazingly talented Lauri from Lalee Photography stopped by Cutters Mill to take some pictures of our sweet pups. She's responsible for Hubby's and my postcardmuseum-worthy engagement and wedding photos, and hopefully, she'll be responsible for catching the eyes of future furever families for our pups! Check out all of her WJVA photos here.

I got to reconnect with a few dogs that have been hanging around for a while, as well as meet some new ones. Specifically, I really got to know (and love) Pete and CowCow. The ride TO Cutters Mill was a little hairy*, with Pete trying to get into the front seat while restrained in the back seat, and CowCow pulling a "Ribby" and pawing for pets from the seat next to me.

Petey. Poor Petey. He has no idea what a dog's life entails. He's super sweet, there's no hiding that! I was told to expect a very shy and scared dog when I picked him up. He is definitely NOT a fan of the car, but once (lifted) in the (front seat of the) car, settles right down and goes along for the ride. He certainly wasn't shy on Saturday though! He wanted to investigate everything. Grass, cardboard, plants, Mountain Dew bottles, everything. He didn't seem afraid of anything he checked out, but did show a bit of fear when a loud truck or motorcycle passed by.

Pete seems to be fine with other dogs, I didn't hear him growl once. We don't know how he is with cats, but my gut** tells me he would pay them no mind. (**my gut offers no guarantee, all dogs will be cat tested before going to a home with cats) He really doesn't know how to walk on a leash, but doesn't do the puppy "I'm done now, you go ahead and I'll just sit here til you come back" thing. He nudges for head-scratches, but doesn't seem like he's had many before he was rescued by WJVA. He will need time and guidance to get aquainted with a dog's life and I believe will quickly bond to the family that adopts him. Pete is not for the absentee owner, he needs a patient owner who will teach him to be a dog, and one that will give him the confidence he needs to continue exploring his new world.

CowCow, oh sweet CowCow. Even though she's a 35lb-ish brown brindle and white dog, she reminded me so much of my Ribbinator. Those eyes. They get me every time.

I'd only heard good things about CowCow before finally meeting her on Saturday. I found those good things to be understatements. What a fantastic family dog just waiting for her family! CowCow is good with most dogs, but if getting a fur-sibling, would probably do best with brothers. She's a tomboy at heart; loved to play tackle with the boys!

But kids? Oh man does CowCow love kids! She's great on a leash and seems to know a lot about what a dog's life is. She doesn't have striking features, but I think that her future family is going to be saying the same thing Hubby and I say so often about our boys: "How could someone give this dog up?! We hit the jackpot!"

If you are interested in fostering or adopting these or any of our wonderful dogs, please contact me, or WJVA directly at wjvolunteers@yahoo.com. Visit our website at http://www.wjva.org/ for links to all our animals and upcoming fundraisers.

*The ride FROM Cutters Mill was a lot less hairy. We swapped seats, CowCow sat so well in the back seat and Petey curled up and caught a cat dog-nap in the front. I came this close to turning left instead of right on Rt 130 and heading home with these 2 sweeties.

Unordinarily ordinary

Now that spring has skipped us finally arrived, I'm getting antsy with dinners. I'm tired of comfort food regulars and eager to try all the fresh veggies sprouting up*. So naturally this week, I did none of that.

We had pizza.

With pepperoni.

What I did do, however, was bring a little summer into my ordinary pizza. Seriously, the simplest change in the recipe and it was so tasty I can’t believe I’ve never done it before.

Grilled pizza, anyone?

Hubby was out mowing the lawn, and I was starving and wanted dinner done quickly. I decided to give it a shot, and at $0.99 for a ball of dough at Trader Joe’s, what’s the worst that could happen? Tony’s Pizza is right around the corner if the worst did happen.

I spread the dough out on a plastic platter, not knowing how this would pan out, the last way I wanted to ruin it was by dropping a heavy pizza stone in transport to the grill. Although my pizza started out with a semi-round shape, it certainly didn’t retain it.

I spritzed the dough with some olive oil and sprayed the grill grate with some Pam for Grilling, so nothing would stick. In less than 5 minutes over medium heat, I was able to flip the dough, as it had gotten stiff enough that flipping was a breeze with regular tongs. After I flipped the dough, I spooned some jarred sauce** (also Trader Joe’s) and spread it around. I topped it with sliced fresh mozzarella cheese and slices of pepperoni. Close the lid til the cheese melts and wa-la! 5 minutes later, pizza is done, house is cool, and lawn is mowed!

Ok, I can’t guarantee the lawn mowing part, but that’s how my Tuesday evening went.

*Although everything I love is finally coming into season, I'm having trouble getting motivated to cook new and original dishes. See, we've discovered that we're expecting an itty-bitty new family member in December, and what is planned for dinner often seems to go by the wayside when baby makes his or her desires for mac & cheese known. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for me?

**I've had a request to perfect homemade pizza sauce. I obviously haven't started my attempt yet. I have a feeling I'm going to be inundated with homegrown tomatoes this summer, so I will get on that as soon as the harvest begins.