Nostalgic Dreams

Seriously...Who dislikes yard sales? =)

Hello again, everyone, it's Michille, and Happy Saturday! It's been a great day. My wonderful husband came home a few days ago and I couldn't be happier. Yes, it was early, and things may not have turned out how we expected, but we have to keep looking on the bright side. After all, "when one door closes, another door opens," as a famous fortune cookie once said! ;)

We spent the day together hopping around to yard sales and flea markets around the general area. Martin is one of the few men who enjoy doing that. And if he doesn't, he hides it well. Either way, I'm taking advantage of it! We didn't do too bad considering the late start we got. Stratton has started waking up during the night again since his dad came home and all 3 of us were up late and kind of slept in. Then we grabbed some KFC for dinner and to munch on outside on a blanket while we watch night one of the Perseids meteor shower tonight. Do you have any special plans to watch it?

Anyhow, I've recently decided to be a bit more thrifty and whatnot by making a few things by hand. Starting with butter. Martin got me one of the crank-and-jar types off of EBay, it should be here in a few days.

 I'm so excited! And while I'm making my own butter, why not make some bread too? That one will probably be more of a challenge, I can almost guarantee you. Every. Single. Time that I work with yeast, something goes horribly wrong. Please don't get me wrong. I love to cook, I'm very adept at it, and at baking. But yeast is my culinary arch-nemesis. That and beets, but to be fair, it's because I don't like beets. At all. Anyway, here's hoping though! 

Today, I am going to leave you with a recipe for a wonderful tortellini salad that we have from time to time. It's pretty hearty, despite how it looks!

Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini Salad

Ingredients:

1 package of tortellini, any flavor you like. (I like the sweetness of a prosciutto and cheese stuffed pasta)

1 red bell pepper (or 2, if you really like the taste!)

Mixed herbs/greens/baby spinach (any combination of greens is great!)

Feta cheese

Olive oil

Red Wine Vinegar

1 large ripened tomato, diced

2 medium cloves of garlic, minced

Red onion, diced

Salt and pepper to your taste

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and also get a pot of water boiling for your pasta. 

2. Wash your veggies!

3. Line a cookie sheet with foil. Put the red pepper on the foil and stick in the oven to roast, turning to even out the blackness, I do it every 10 minutes or so for half an hour. Once the pepper is roasted, put it in a bowl and use the foil to cover. The red pepper should peel a whole lot easier after a few minutes.  Once it's cooled, peel off the skin, cut the top off, and gently use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Do not rinse the pepper. Just cut into strips and set aside.

4. Your water should be boiling now. Toss in the tortellini and cook according to package directions. Drain.

5. Arrange your greens on a plate or plates.

6. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet, and toss in your cooked tortellini and red peppers and cook until they start to brown a bit. Toss in your minced garlic, pepper and a tiny bit of salt. (IF you want to throw in your tomatoes and/or red onions, feel free. If not, that's fine too!) Saute together until the garlic is just light brown, then remove from heat and transfer to the top of your greens immediately. Add the extra cut veggies, if you didn't saute them.  Drizzle lightly with your oil and vinegar and top with the crumbled feta. 

It's very, very filling, and pretty yum too. I hope you like it!

See you next week! 

-Michille