Holy dinner, Batman!

Y'all, if I did not make a fabulous dinner tonight, I simply knew I would perish. I was hellbent, HELLBENT!, on cooking for my T and then eating well together. He has been working awfully hard during the busy season. As an aside, the "busy season" appears, to my novice eyes, to span approximately 49 of each year's 52 weeks, but I am not in finance, so how am I to know.

#wifealwaysknows

Anyway, dinner. Because of a recent sale on Brussels sprouts, aka a direct-line siren song to my heartgutmind, I realized tonight that I was slightly inundated by them. Like, they were overflowing the crisper drawers and trying to free themselves from the too-full fridge. I roasted some last night but those didn't totally do it for me.

So tonight? My pasta with caramelized shallots, Brussels sprouts and speck. Do y'all know of the magnificence that is speck (pron: spaik)? It is similar to prosciutto but, in my humble opinion, infinitely better. I have never cottoned to prosciutto, but speck? It's like shaved, perfectly cooked bacon. 

Hailing from the sudtirol, aka South Tyrol or Alto Adige, region of northern Italy, speck was created as a means of preserving pork; making it incorporates smoking and curing techniques. I first tasted it in Tuscany and have bought it regularly in the States since, at Whole Foods or farmers markets.

Because just yesterday I'd made some fresh pumpkin puree and today thought I'd perish not only if I didn't make dinner but also if said dinner didn't include a spice cake of some sort, a spiced pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing.

I cannot even tell you how delicious dinner was. And, frankly, continues to be as I cannot stop eating this cake.

Outstanding carbs needed to enable our limp across the line

We have fortified ourselves with extremely satisfying dishes of pasta and grits and bread throughout the past few days as we've limped towards the finish line that I feel we just crossed by closing two tired boys' bedroom doors.

The time has come, the bags are packed and T and I are wiping the sweat from our brows.

Amen, friends. We are back to school!

A few nights back, we had pappardelle with corn, fresh herbs and ricotta. Then came my springtime shrimp and grits, and last night the grand prize: my pasta with caramelized shallots, Brussels sprouts and speck.

Of.the.gods. Tonight, carb-fest continued as we grilled pizzas and called it a day. I am going to throw myself in my bed right now and read away my sadness at having finished All the Light We Cannot See by jumping into The Girl in the Spider's Web, the fourth installment of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo et al) though, naturally since Larsson is now dead, written by someone else.

In the Spider's Web, David Lagercrantz, also a Swedish journalist and writer, takes the helm of leading us back into the labyrinthine world of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Nervous but hopeful that this one is a honorable follow-up to the original, thrilling, enticing series.

More delish food

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Peeps, our meals of late have reminded me that maligning winter produce is quick-tongued. The panoply of citrus alone, a bounty of multi-hued jewels, could sustain the pickiest eater for a month. And, forget scurvy! Much can and should be done with these delicious treats. My salads of last night and this evening were made that much better because of their additions of orange: last night the Minneola; tonight the blood orange.

I figured my Italians would be yearning for some pasta by now so made my Brussels sprouts, shallot and speck with long noodles (mafaldine this time) which is always lovely!!

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This afternoon, the boys and I watched the first third of Raiders of the Lost Ark. What a fun, adventurous film. Harrison Ford was so ruggedly dashing, and within ten minutes of the opening scene, Jack had donned all clothes that could possibly resemble Indy's and fashioned a whip from Zoobs. I love that kid's creative bent. A costume always makes things more real, a belief he and Oliver subscribe to completely. Here is young Indy, sans hat and chest strap, attempting to put excitement behind him so as to do homework.

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Isn't he handsome?! Look at that tussled hair and rosy lips, eyebrows and lashes any woman would kill for.