bacon and butternut pasta

We had a great meal from "Cooking Light" a couple of weeks ago - I took pictures and everything... and forgot to post it! So, better late than never!

This is a nice, inexpensive meal, using some things you probably have in your kitchen already, and a few low price items - BAM you have a great meal!

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon salt
8 oz. uncooked fettuccine
2 bacon slices
2 tablespoons butter
3 cups cubed peeled butternut squash (I used a half squash that has already been peeled and packaged)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup (2 oz.) crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup sliced green onions

Bring water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Add pasta and cook for 8 minutes (pasta should still be a little firm). Drain in a colander over a bowl, and reserve 1/3 cup cooking liquid.

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings in pan. Crumble bacon and set aside.

Add butter to drippings in pan and cook for 30 seconds or until butter melts. Increase heat to medium-high. Add squash and saute for 7 minutes or until almost tender. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt, pasta, reserved cooking liquid, and cheese. Cook for 2 minutes or until pasta is al dente, stirring frequently.

Sprinkle with bacon and onions.

Yield: 4 (1 cup) servings. Calories: 385 Fat: 14.1g Fiber: 4.7g

Note - This could be made healthier by using whole wheat pasta!

I paired this with a spinach salad with sliced apple on top. I made a dressing - also from "Cooking Light".

Dressing:
Combine 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons honey, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Whisk.

Toss with 4-5 cups fresh spinach and top with a cored apple (I used a granny smith), cored and thinly sliced.

French Onion Soup - more filling than you'd think!

We've made french onion soup twice lately, and I have to share the recipe because it's easy and delicious. Also, it's more filling than you'd think! The first time I told Dennis we were having soup for dinner with nothing else, he was a little skeptical. But this soup is a real meal. Trust me.

By the way - this is yet another standby recipe I got from my "Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook" by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford. You need this book. Everything in it is a perfect 10.

12 french baguette slices cut on the diagonal (each 1 inch thick)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups sliced yellow onion (about 1 large)
1/8 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup cream sherry, such as Harvey's Bristol Cream
3 cans (10.5 oz. each) prepared french onion soup
2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups (4 oz.) grated gruyere or other swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and bake, turning once, until lightly toasted on both sides, 10-12 minutes. Set aside. Turn the oven to broil.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and salt and season with pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the sherry and continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 3-5 minutes. Add the canned french onion soup, water, and thyme and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Ladle 1 1/2 cups of soup into each of four 2-cup ovenproof bowls. Top each with 3 pieces of toasted bread (or less, depending on the size of the baguette) and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted and bubbling, 3-4 minutes.

I love this recipe.

a little change... and dining room pics!

The tidy cave blog has been neglected as of late. So sorry about that!

So I've decided to change the blog slightly. I'm not going to number the days anymore. I'm spending too much time trying to figure out the timeline. I want to focus more on the things we're doing around the cave. Also, I want to focus on more than just the day to day cleaning - like home improvement projects and cooking!



So you may be asking... what have you been doing around the cave, exactly?

Well. As promised - here are the dining room pics. The wood trim is called "ultra pure white" and the paint is called "campground", which is basically the color of spicy brown mustard. I like it a lot! We've been having dinner in there quite a bit, and I have to tell you, it's so nice having dinner in an actual dining room again!

Dennis really got the job done - he painted the walls mostly, and hung and wired the chandelier. After it was hung up, I was able to move things around and decorate. I went through the floor and cleaned up all the little places where paint splattered.

What's left in the dining room / kitchen area you ask? Well...

Duane is going to come over and frame in the hole around the breakfast bar with painted white trim. It's going to look great! He's also going to help us put up the baseboards and heater we took off while building the new half wall. We also removed the baseboard in one other place, and that will have to be put back on. No big deal.

My Mom is going to make curtains for us! We're doing a valance on the window over the kitchen sink, kitchen door, and the little bay window in the kitchen. We're doing longer drapes in the dining room with rod iron curtain rods. Also, the light over the sink has not worked for quite some time, so I'm getting a new one that matches the chandelier. Oh, bar stools would be nice too - but we can use the old ones for the time being.

Below...

The chandelier being assembled, then Tommy trying to help us with the wiring. He was not much help.