This yummy light recipe is from Cooking Light. It calls for mushrooms but since Jeff isn’t a big fan he omitted them – I’ve kept them in here though as I think it would add a nice meatiness. The sauce while creamy feels very light with just a hint of lemon flavor – yum! You could easily add other vegetables – maybe zucchini or squash. We also commented that it would be yummy to fry up a little prosciutto into crispy pieces and sprinkle it over the top adding a yummy salty crunch.
Spring Vegetable Penne with Lemon-Cream Sauce (Serves 4)
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c. chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion
1 (4 oz) package pre-sliced mushrooms
1 t. chopped fresh thyme
1 garlic clove, minced
1 T. A.P. flour
1/2 c. fat-free, lower sodium chicken broth
1/2 c. half and half
3/4 c. frozen green peas
3 T. shaved Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 t. grated lemon rind
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
8 oz. uncooked penne
1 lb. (1 inch) diagonally cut asparagus
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add onion and mushrooms; saute 5 minutes or until tender. Add thyme and garlic; saute 1 minute. Sprinkle mushroom mixture evenly with flour; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and half and half; cook 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add peas, 2 T. cheese, lemon rind, juice, and S&P; cook 1 minute or until peas are thoroughly heated.
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. During the last 3 minutes of cooking, add asparagus to pan; drain. Add pasta mixture to mushroom mixture; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with remaining 1 T. cheese.
Serve – YUM!!
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting old clients Kate & Finn and their adorable 15 month old twin boys. We had a grand time exploring, visiting cows, picking grass, and giggling a lot. We ended our visit in their room where they were getting ready for a snooze!
Last night our book club went to “The Great Gatsby” after reading the book this past month. I’ve talked to some people who loved the movie and others who hated it. Having just finished the book one thing that struck me was how closely they adhered to the storyline and even specific lines in the book lifting them word for word. Being a Baz Luhrmann film it was obviously totally over the top in terms of set design, costuming, etc. but for me it worked.
Jay Z was an executive producer and it was a bit strange to hear rap and hip hop music interspersed but again I liked it. The costumes and party scenes were SO well done and it felt like a visual feast for the eyes. There were a few scenes where they either shot it in HDR or on a green screen and things didn’t quite line up which was a bit distracting. Casting was well done – I had known who the main characters were but didn’t realize that Isla Fisher played Myrtle – loved her. Overall I found it to be a very enjoyable and entertaining movie!
I met up with sweet Eka and his Mom and Dad last week – Eka’s Dad had gotten a gift certificate for photos for his Mom for Valentine’s Day (what a great gift!) but we waited for warmer weather and for Eka to turn 1! He is at such a fun age – so curious and enthusiastic about exploring his world. Enjoy the photos!
He wasn’t thrilled about being in his crib but we managed to distract him long enough for one smile to slip out
Alright this has been fun but I’m exhausted.
We just finished a MARATHON weekend in the garden mulching, planting, and in general tidying up. With wedding season starting this coming weekend (!!) I know my long weekend days in the garden will be a bit more limited moving forward so we’re hoping our forward assault will deter the weeds at least a little bit!
But before I move onto the garden I wanted to share some photos of a very ongoing project in our woods. Two Septembers ago during Hurricane Irene a HUGE tree came down in our woods (this was before we bought the house) – apparently it was the largest tree in the neighborhood and it does make me curious about how it changed the canopy and the look of our woods. It’s been sitting there ever since so we’ve decided to slowly but surely chainsaw it into lengths, split it, and use it for firewood. The thing is though this tree is enormous and it could take us years. But no matter – we go out there every few weeks and do what we can!
These photos were taken back in late March on a warm-ish day
The doggies are very helpful
I took these a few weeks later just to try and show the size and scale of the tree. We will soon need to borrow a longer blade chainsaw to even be able to cut the tree into segments which we can then split
That’s one loooooong tree!
Not speedy work but so satisfying to see the woodpile building up and it will make our house cozy cozy next winter!
Have a good week everyone!
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