Little Pickle

It's been a stressful week. There was yard work to be done before the rain came and work has been especially busy since I started the week travelling for work.

Then, as we were preparing to eat leftover brisket sandwiches, I got out the jar of pickles and found.....

Is that not the tiniest pickle you've EVER seen?!?! It's like someone knew that I needed to smile and planted that little guy in the jar especially for me. We put it next to the clothespin to give you a little perspective and as you can see our camera-shy Michael just couldn't resist! ha

Happy Thursday!

Sister Sister

I don't have any biological sisters and truthfully, if I had two daughters I think I'd be lost in how to handle them and the unique relationship that ensues. But Ashley was already part of the Anderson family by the time I joined and soon we'll add Sara when she marries our brother-in-law David in June - and I'm starting to think that sisters seem like a pretty great addition to what is my family!

A couple of weekends ago (yes, I'm very behind) we had a girls weekend here in Dallas for Sara. Girls came in from Lubbock, Austin, Houston, Oklahoma and St. Louis! We did girly things like make gourmet grilled cheeses, get manicures and pedicures, shop, watch girly movies, etc. but more importantly we made lots of wonderful memories.

Ashley, Sara and I all come from families where we have younger brothers and though we didn't choose each other as sisters (in-law) any more than you can choose your biological siblings, I think we are a pretty great match! It's crazy to think that our commitments to each of these Anderson brothers is also a commitment to be in one anothers lives as well - these girls will be my sisters for life... and I think that's a pretty awesome deal!

Love you girls!

Natasha

Snow Pics (More)

I found some more pictures of the snow on my camera tonight. I got HOT the other day running errands and it wasn't even a month ago that our house looked like this...

Snow on the roof.

Pasta-thon 2: Pasta with Italian Sausage, Spinach and Peppers

The half-marathon is 4 days and a drive to Arkansas away, but the pasta keeps cooking. This recipe is from a magazine... either Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray's or Southern Living... don't have the original page anymore to give proper credit - my apologies. I usually half this one because typically the pasta's with wilted spinach aren't as good reheated as they are round one.

INGREDIENTS
- 20 oz. package sausage (we like the pecan jalapeno kind because we're spicy)
- 2 yellow bell peppers cut into bite size strips
- 1 small sweet onion cut into strips (sometimes I omit this, other times I use a quarter of a yellow onion)
- 14 to 16 oz. pasta (I use spaghetti or angel hair)
- 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. chicken broth
- 6 c. baby spinach
- Sprinkling feta or Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
- Cook sausage in skillet until edges brown (note: I used pre-cooked sausage but do this to get the sausage hot and because I like the texture better).
- Add onions and yellow peppers and cook until tender.
- Meanwhile cook pasta with salt and red peppers added to the cooking water.
- Once pasta is cooked, drain pasta water (reserving a cup) and return to pan.
- Toss with sausage mixture. Stir in chicken broth and enough pasta water to thin (I rarely use the whole cup).
- Add spinach and toss until begins to wilt.
- Sprinkle with feta or Parmesan to serve.

Pretty pasta to serve, but cools quickly so you gotta serve fast!

Pasta-thon 1: Spinach, Tomato Bacon Pasta

In honor of Michael's approaching half-marathon and the long runs that have been part of the training, I'm going to post a couple of very easy and delicious pasta recipes we've discovered along the way! Enjoy :)

Spinach, Tomato and Baco Pasta
Pretty much the Quick Creamy Spinach & Tomato Pasta on All Recipes

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces angel hair pasta
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon prepared basil pesto
• 5 slices of chopped cooked bacon
  

DIRECTIONS

• Cut the bacon into small pieces with kitchen scissors and cook in a skillet. Transfer cooked bacon to a plate with a napkin to absorb grease.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook per the package until tender. Drain.
• In the meantime, cook the tomatoes and spinach in the bacon saucepan over medium heat. When the spinach begins to wilt, stir in the sour cream and pesto.
• Add bacon and give the sour cream just a minute to warm up.
• Toss sauce with drained cooked pasta and serve immediately.

So easy and so good!

Winter Wonderland

So we got 2 - 4 inches of snow last night and they expect we could get up to 6! It felt more like a Winter Wonderland (which is a good thing) before the power went out (which is a bad thing) but it is still sooo beautiful.

Our Dog, Huck the Cat

Hucklebear loves carrots. They're nearly the only treat he gets (unless he goes to the grandparents' or great grandparents' house). However, unlike most dogs who scarf up their favorite treats immediately, Huck likes to play with his first.

Huck was playing in the formal living room the other day while I worked (notice the destroyed plastic bottle on the floor) and because he was doing so well I gave him a treat...sorry the video quality is so poor.