Butternut Carbonara

OK, this is snowverkill.
I am snowverwhelmed. And stir crazy. Yet too lazy to leave the house. It's a weird combination.

For dinner tonight Chuck and I scrounged around the fridge a bit, but rocked out a somewhat nontraditional, yet delicious pasta carbonara. The dish included butternut squash and sage... sage from our rooftop garden... sage that I had to shovel 4 feet of snow to get to.
4 FEET OF SNOW!!

Anywho... it was worth it. This dish was awesome. The slight sweetness of the butternut, the super salty bacon. Fabulous. Make it.

Ok, bye.

Creamy Potato and Broccoli Soup

The DC Snowpocalypse is starting to get really ridiculous... ridiculous or not, the snowy weather really called for some soup. Scrounging up odds and ends from the fridge (as the grocery store is a total shit show right now- long lines, bare shelves, nothing fresh), I was able to pull together a pretty tasty broccoli and potato soup with a little cream and some cheese. Topped it off with cheesy garlic toasts and some bacon bits. Perfect winter comfort food.

"Man-Catcher" Brownie Sundaes

I've been making these "man-catcher" brownies for several years since seeing them in the Washington Post. Despite the ridiculously goofy name, they are awesome. Super fudgy and rich. None of that cakey crap. If you want a chocolate cake, make a chocolate cake; don't make brownies.

Also, they are easy. Almost as easy as making brownies from a box, and 10 times better, so don't be intimidated.

The recipe is easily halved, which is good since it makes a massive amount. I successfully made a half recipe in a 9"x9" pan and cooked it for 30 minutes.

Made the sundaes for the Superbowl by topping a small brownie square (zapped briefly in the microwave to warm) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some blackberry coulis. Awesome.

Superbowl Snacks

We were basically snowed in for Superbowl due to the Snowpocalypse here in DC, but we were able to turn out these fun homemade soft pretzel bites with a cheddar cheese dipping sauce.

The pretzel bites are really good- definitely best served warm. The recipe makes a million bites- we made all the dough, but only cooked half of them. We are freezing the other dough (already shaped into the bites), so we'll see how that turns out next time we have a soft pretzel craving.

We upped the ante on the cheese sauce by sprinkling in some smoked paprika- yum. However, I should warn you not to make the cheese sauce until right at the end- it cooks very quickly and doesn't keep its consistency very well. I got a little excited and made the cheese sauce before the pretzel bites were done cooking: bad plan.

Baked Shrimp Scampi

This baked shrimp scampi is a pretty reliable Ina Garten recipe that I've made several times. However, I think this time I squished the shrimp too close together in the dish, because it took waaaaaay too long to cook the shrimp in the center. Perhaps next time I'll do these in individual dishes.Anyway, it's garlicky, buttery and delicious- good with some bread to dip in the sauce! We took the tails off for ease of eating, but they do make the presentation a little bit fancier.

Mushroom and Ricotta Pasta

This was a super quick pasta with ricotta, lemon, and mushrooms that I saw in my Everyday Food magazine. Definitely fine if you're in a hurry and have the ingredients laying around, but not tasty or pretty enough for company.

Quilted Coasters

Chuck has been using her paycheck stubs as makeshift coasters for her bedside water glass. I thought she should have something a little classier.

She had an extra purple velvet curtain hanging around that had a hole in it, but was otherwise useable fabric, so I cut some strips out of it and sewed these simple quilted coasters, using directions provided by the other Martha. I used contrasting thread that matches Chuck's wall color. Pretty cute and very easy!

(Yes, they are crooked and uneven. Give me a break- I'm relatively new to sewing)