I thought I would double up on the blog and share one of my recipes I created and my family time. This past weekend, we combined both and it was so sweet. Due to so many health issues, work related tasks, and also the confinement atmosphere due to the economy and the COVID reoccurrences, our family time has been limited to the extreme. After a lot of thought and contemplation, we agreed it was time for my sister, my daughter, my husband, and my sister’s great granddaughter to gather at our house and do some cooking, laughter, outings, and good ole talks. Of course GA DAWGS played and we mixed yelling and catching up at the same time.
First, all of you have learned how close my daughter is to me and her stepdad. We share a lot of weekends now that she is closer in proximity. She and I love to cook both separately and together with created dishes that we create. This weekend we took different tasks and then put them together at our house with our guests. On the first day, Saturday, we went out for lunch, seafood at a local restaurant Charles’s Seafood, been here forever but still great food. Since the DAWGS played at 3:30 pm, we chose to eat out and get back to the house to cheer them on to victory. Pizza was delivered later that day with dessert available with ice cream for anyone who had an inch left in their tummies Next, I will go over the dessert recipe I created for a fall treat (or it could be great for any time of the year)
Our family visit was long overdue and we made the most of it. Before they came, I invited God to join us and it seemed we were blessed with the most joy and love we could have experienced.
Now for our Sunday dinner, with Missy making her awesome fresh garlic bread and her deviled eggs. I made a chef’s salad with ham and mozzarella cheese, black olives, pickled banana peppers, iceberg lettuce, and of course Thousand Island Dressing. For the main course, I made Lemon Garlic Peppery Pasta. Here is a summary of how it was made:
Lemon Garlic Peppery Pasta
1 pkg. Spaghetti or other type of preferred pasta cooked in large pot with oil and salt
1 cup Pasta water (save from spaghetti pot)
Drain spaghetti after retaining pasta water. Allow to properly drain.
3/4 – 1 stick butter melted in large saucepan
1 1/2 T. freshly ground black pepper (I covered the bottom with pepper I ground)
Lemon zest from 1 lemon and the juice from that lemon
Freshly roasted garlic 4 cloves or as much as you like to taste.
1/4 cup chopped chives.
Salt and pepper to taste (I added a little more pepper at the end)
1 1/2 cups Picaroni cheese hand grated from a block
3/4 – 1 cup Parmesan Romano Cheese (freshly grated is best).
In a flat sauce pan, I melted butter with black pepper. Once I blended this together, I added the garlic, lemon juice and zest, and 1/2 cup pasta water. I allowed this to blend and added cheeses. Once this combines into a sauce, I added the chives and the spaghetti. I gauged the sauce and added about 1/4 cup more pasta water. It is done at this point so turn off the burner. Allow to sit for a few minutes before serving. Sprinkle with more Parmesan and chives if desired. Bon Appetit!
I hope you enjoyed our visit and recipes. One more joyful moment. Later, after Missy, Juanelle and Makenzie had gone, we were blessed again to have Cory, Teddie, Nolan, Mason, and Rubie Miller, more of our great family drop in because the youngest granddaughter kept telling them she wanted Nana. For those of you who have grandchildren know how they will fixate on one name when they are little. Nana made Rubie’s list and I am loving it. Granddaddy kids her but she was sharing a lot of love. They enjoyed Missy’s deviled eggs and then on to the dessert. It was happiness all over again. Mason showed me her pierced earrings and I told Nolan how everyone thought our German Chocolate cake we made was a big hit too. Great times for all of us and that brings me to my final thoughts.
When things try to get in the way of family times, and it seems you will not get to share times with your loved ones…..Stop and make time! It is never going to be easy to fit in time, but it is healthy for your soul and heart. It’s those smiles and laughter that keep us going and loving so fill ’em up and plan for the next visit. Live Life, Love Life, and Live and Love Life by Filling Your Days with Love and Family!
