Mediterranean Pasta

Here is the recipe for the pasta that I mentioned in my previous post. (I omitted the shrimp)

12 oz linguine (or bunny shaped pasta!)

3 tbsp olivie oil

1 med red onion, thinkly sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 cups loosely packed baby spinach

8 oz feta (2 cups)

olives, optional

grape tomatoes, halved

 

1. Boil salted water and add pasta. Boil 8 to 10 minutes and then drain. Reserve 1 cup of cooking water.

 

2. Meanwhile heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic and saute until tender. About 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes and olives and cook another 5 minutes. Then add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 2 to 3 minutes.

 

3. Return the pasta to the large pot with 1/4 cup of pasta water. Add the tomatoes and shrimp mixture and toss the spinach and feta. Toss until the spinach wilts and drizzle with olive oil.

 

4. Enjoy! This pasta also tastes good cold, if you have any leftovers. 

 

yum!

Celebrating My Birthmonth

In my family, it's tradition to extend the birthday celebrations as much as possible. After all, who does not like to celebrate and have fun?? So in keeping tradition, I have begun the birthday festivities (my actual bday is the 16th). Here is my list of what I've accomplished so far:

1. Friday at the Masters

Okay so technically, it was not for my bday, but I did get to miss a day of work, watch some hotties play golf, eat the infamous pimento cheese sandwiches, and drink some cold beer. Not a bad day in my book! (Well, minus the horrible tanlines/sunburn.)

2. Wine Tasting/Bday Party at Pour Wine Market

Ever since we did the wine tasting at Perrine's, I have been dying to go back. I recently found out about Pour so I instead wanted to give it a try. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, although we did not get the explanations to go along with the wines like at Perrine's. Still, we tasted three reds, three whites, and nibbled on some meat and cheese plates. My sister and brother-in-law also bought a bottle of sparkling wine for all of the ladies to have. What can I say, I have some wonderful friends! They are so wonderful in fact that they didn't even mind when I had to leave my own bday early. (I'm still not quite sure what happened, maybe they overserved the bday girl.)

3. Girls Supper Club

I had the pleasure of hosting the girls dinner. This was a big deal since no one had seen the condo yet! I cooked some pasta, which I'll later post the recipe for as it was quite tasty, easy, and healthy. My sister was in charge of dessert and gosh was I surprised when I saw what she had baked. Strawberry cake!!!! It was absolutely amazing, I wish I could share a piece with you. But I can't, so I'll just have to enjoy my leftovers. 

bunny shaped pasta!

strawberry cake!

Still to come:

1.  Friday Night Lights Season Five Premiere 

Like the Masters, this is not technically bday related, but the thought of the show starting the day before my bday just seems significant. I actually watched the entire season four in one day just to brush up on what happened. And also because my body didn't want to move after #2 above. 

I love me some Tim Riggins. And one of my favorite scenes too

2. Bday Dinner on My Actual Bday
Since we celebrated quite a bit last weekend, I hope to take it fairly easy. We are trying out Wisteria and I could not be more excited.  I have heard such great things about Jason Hill's restaurant and I knew that we had made the right decision after I looked at the menu- pimento cheese deviled eggs, the traditional shrimp and grits, southern fried catfish, sweet potato souffle with candied pecans, and carrot cake with bourbon sauce, just to name a few! My mouth is watering as I type.

3. Easter
Since my Uncle's bday and my bday are only four days apart, the family usually combines the celebration with Easter. (True story, my 21st bday was on Easter Sunday.) Last year was the big 2-5 and my mom and sis actually gave me 25 gifts! Seriously, do I have the best family or what?? This year I expect it to be a bit more tame but just as fun! I tried talking my mom into making popovers for Easter but she said that she was not ready to tackle them this year (insert sad face). 

my 25 presents!

4. Bday Dinner with My Dad
It worked out that my dad will be here Easter weekend (going to see Yanni at the Fox) so we will celebrate with an early dinner at Livingston. I hope he will enjoy it as much as we did! If you haven't figured this out yet, my family and I love to eat out and try new places. Don't get me wrong, I like to cook, but I also enjoy eating a delicious meal out.

5. The "Sisters" Bday Dinner
 I met my long lost "sis" a few years ago. We quickly discovered that we shared many many many common interests (even same first name and are both lefties) and I have her to thank for introducing me to Twilight. We share a strong obsession for the series and have attended two of the midnight showings together! So with all  of these similarities it was only natural for our bdays to be just nine days apart and I look forward to celebrating our bdays together in a few weeks!

All I can say is that I will be sad when April is over!!

The Windy City

First off, it's not an exaggeration at all to say that Chicago is "The Windy City". I was a bit skeptical but once we arrived I quickly learned that this wind was legit and ever present. I won't bore you with every detail from our long/exhausting/fun trip, but instead focus on the highlights.

1. Our room at the James Hotel

our sitting nook

2. Sightseeing

Millennium Park

The Bean

ferris wheel at Navy Pier

Navy Pier

3. Dinner at Primehouse

my popover!!!!

Our dinner here on Sunday was absolutely fabulous. I had my long awaited popover, which surpassed my expectations and the BF was gracious enough to give me part of his too.  Since the entire wedding "weekend" (Fri-Mon) was vegetarian/vegan (see below) we were ready to eat some real food. We started off with a scallop appetizer with pear, root vegetable, duck confit, and hazelnut. I think the BF liked them more than me so I gave him more scallops in exchange for his popover. For entrees, I decided on the king salmon with asparagus, mushrooms, black truffle, and potato gnocchi while the BF chose the filet with black peppercorn crust and sauce. We also decided to split the classic "bake potato" that was actually potato gnocchi with cheddar, chives, and bbq bacon.... it was to die for!!! Seriously one of the most delicious things that I have ever tasted and such a creative spin on a classic side. Funny story, I have not eaten red meat in 7 years, but after a vegetarian weekend the thought of a steak sounded amazing and I actually had a bite of the BF's steak! Apparently this is what happens when I am deprived of food.

4. Experiencing my first Jewish wedding
I'm not going to go into too many details as the BF has tried to make a pact with me but here a few words that come to mind: lots of singing (in Hebrew), goats, speeches, juggling, more singing, and being "green" to the extreme.

the chuppah!

the goats aka the "kids"

Lowlights of the Weekend:

1. The windy/chilly weather
I just don't think that I am cut out for Chicago. Walking around Navy Pier with the wind was miserable after awhile and I'll admit, I was a poor sport about it. Plus,the wind made it difficult to look put together for all of the wedding events. I was not going for the "windblown" look.

2. The vegetarian/vegan food
Not much to say except that I'm an extremely picky eater and don't like a lot of vegetables. It was torture being surrounded by so many restaurants and knowing that we had to go eat veggies. No thanks.

3. Waiting at the train station for over an hour
I knew I jinxed myself when on our train ride out to Deerfield I commented about how cute and fun the train ride was. They had a guy come by checking for tickets, just like in the movies! That enthusiasm was short lived as our train back to the city was delayed... and delayed... and delayed. It finally arrived after what seemed like an eternity and we then made our 50 minute train ride back to the city. At this point, my excitement for the train ride was long gone.

4. No barely any time for shopping
It was torture to be surrounded by an abundance of fabulous stores (Bloomies, Burberry, H&M, etc.) and not be able to shop.  There was not enough time and really the last thing that the BF wanted to do. As he put it, "we have all of these shops in Atlanta, there is no need to shop here". I tried to argue that although we do have the same stores, their inventory is different. Plus the stores in Chicago were multiple stories! Luckily I hauled it over to Forever 21 Monday morning and picked up a few things. It gave me a sense of accomplishment and happiness. I was no longer going home empty handed!

two story Forever 21

All in all, our trip to Chicago was one full of new experiences, some better than others.  Would I go back? Yes, but under certain circumstances- only when the weather is warm, we don't have a jam packed itinerary, and we are able to eat any food that we want! Windy City, I'll be back to visit you... eventually.