Gardening and pasta
2002-03-31 @ 10:44 a.m.
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Today was supposed to be gray and rainy, like yesterday. I had all kinds of indoor plans. I also haven't gotten much sleep the last two nights because of a bladder infection (why do they always seem to come on Friday evening when I have two more days before I can call my doctor and get a prescription? At least the pain relievers are now available over the counter. I remember when you used to need a prescription for those, too.). I was planning to do a little cooking, a little laundry and a lot of sitting around reading and drinking tea. But now it's pretty and sunny outside.
I have a flat of impatiens left to plant from a big trip to Home Depot Wednesday. One sure sign of Spring: I spent a fortune on plants. I put most of them in Wednesday. But there is a flat left that I'm going to put in Jake and Sara's yard. So I'll do that first. I still have to do laundry. I do it on my days off, all of them. But that doesn't eat up a lot of time. I do it in between other things.
I also have cooking plans. It's time to make some more ice cream. I have created a recipe for caramel ice cream. I use the Ben and Jerry's recipe (Ben and Jerry's ice cream cookbook) for chocolate (I think I have this in a previous entry) and use about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of caramel instead of the chocolate. You have to melt the caramel in a double boiler so it will mix with the other ingredients so I have to make it early in the day so it has time to cool down in the fridge before I put it in the ice cream maker. I use about half the sugar that the recipe calls for since caramel is basically cooked sugar. It's my favorite recipe and I can add chocolate stuff to it so everybody else likes it, too. I've made it with brownie chunks and with toffee candy pieces that Sara got for me at Kroger.
I also got some shrimp and scallops yesterday to saut� with some veggies. I want to make some homemade pasta to go with it. I've only used the pasta maker that Badsnake got me for Christmas once so far. Pitiful. So for dinner tonight we will have shrimp and scallops saut�ed in olive oil and butter with some garlic and onion, maybe a little fresh herb like oregano and some zucchini, yellow squash and tomato also saut�ed. All that over pasta with some grated Parmesan over it. I'm sure I'll add or change that combo somehow between now and then. This is how I come up with meal ideas. I start with an ingredient or two and decide what to used with them and how to use them. Then I play with it all in my head for a day or two. When I start the actual cooking, I always think of something else to add or change.
Yesterday I picked out a bottle of wine to go with it. Then I remembered that I have a bladder infection and shouldn't be drinking alcohol. Maybe just one glass. I got a bottle of Soave -not the cheap jug Soave by the likes of Bolla that tastes like water with a little wine mixed in. But a real Soave. Soave is made from a grape called Garganega (the Italians have a lot of indiginous grapes that we've never heard of). It is a light wine with great acicity and a lot more character than you will find in Bolla (which is probably just made from Trebbiano grapes). This one is made by La Cappuccina.
Now I have to take the dog out so I can get started on what was supposed to be a restful day.
For Belle: I'm not sure what was clashing with your Pinot Grigio, but next time try a light Sangiovese or Chianti.
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