Dinner Party

How many people does it take to have a dinner party? Well in this case 4 - my husband and I of course and hubby's grandpa and his wife, Nancy.

I love spending time with Grandpa and Nancy. They are just wonderful to be around! We had a wonderful time eating, drinking and talking! Even had a visit from Steve's sister Kelly and her beau Jesse for them to show off Kelly's new ride. She bought a 2003 Eclipse - gorgeous! I must say that I am a tad jealous of her sporty little ride but it has two problems for me. It is no where near a Mom car and though I do not need one yet I hope to in say the next year. Other problem is it is a stick and I hate driving stick! Haven't done it in at least 15 years and would rather not ever have to again.


Now that I have totally gotten off the topic lets get back to dinner!


I decided to make a nice summery dish of Veggie Lasagna only to find out that Grandpa hates most all veggies =(


So either he was extraordinarily polite or the tons of cheese hid the flavor of the veggies enough to make it at least bearable. He of course said that everything was delicious but..... guess we will wait and see if Nancy tells me his true opinion next time I get a chance to talk to her.


I didn't get any pics of the finished lasagna but it turned out beautifully. I made it basically the same as last time but added squash too. Here are all of the wonderful veggies just waiting to cut up


And after chopping away - a very full cutting board



For dessert we had Paula Deen's Strawberry Shortcake which I followed the recipe pretty much exact except that I bought cherry gelatin instead of Strawberry - oops!!! Still turned out great!

And here is a picture of our Money tree that they brought us as a house warming gift! See the 20s hiding in there!

Creamy Asparagus Pasta

Here is one of the first "real" meals (I do not count frozen entrees as real meals) that I have made in our new house - with the tiny kitchen! Although I am surprised to say I am not hating the tiny elf kitchen as much as I thought I would!

I am really working on the pics, I seem to really suck at taking clear ones!

Ingredients:

8 oz whole-wheat penne pasta (I used regular penne since I didn't have any WW on hand)

1 bunch asparagus - trimmed

1 1/2 cup whole milk (I used skim b/c that is what we had, I think whole might have been better though )

4 tsp whole-grain mustard

4 tsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2 tsp evoo

3 garlic cloves; minced

2 tsp minced fresh tarragon or 1/2 tsp dried ( I didn't have any tarragon and neither did Giant Eagle so we went with thyme and rosemary instead)

1 tsp lemon zest

2 tsp lemon juice (I used juice from one lemon - but it needed more)

1/2 cup grates Parmesan cheese divided

Recipe directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Ad pasta and cook for 3 minutes less than the directions. Add asparagus and continue cooking until the pasta and asparagus are just tender, 3 minutes more. drain and return to the pot.

Meanwhile, whisk milk, mustard, flour, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over med-high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant and lightly browned, 30 seconds to one minute. Whisk in the milk mixture. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tarragon, lemon zest and juice.

Stir the sauce into the pasta-asparagus mixture. Cook over med-high heat, stirring until the sauce is thick and creamy coating the pasta, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Divide the pasta amount 4 bowl and top with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.

Enjoy!

Now since I do not know how to read a recipe and didn't have tarragon I added 1/2 tsp of thyme and 1/4 tsp of rosemary - a tad much since I used dried -oops! I would say this was a decent meal. I would definitely add more lemon juice and add the correct amount of dried herbs. Fresh would of course be better! I think I would also like this with some grilled chicken tossed in but that that is just the carnivore in me coming out! Steve had no complaints and seemed to like it the way it was!

Calories (according to sparkrecipes) 212 calories per serving - of course will be more if you follow the directions and use whole milk

*tip - throw the asparagus into the boiling water with the rubber bands still around them, they will be easier to fish out and the rubber band will not taste the water at all - I promise! Cut into 3/4 inch pieces then throw into the pasta.

And now for your viewing pleasure: Pretty flower in the front of our new house! Love them!

Zekers enjoying his new digs!