Pasta Primavera…Or, “I ate too much meat this weekend”

Well really, who doesn’t love a good pasta primavera?  Primavera means spring in Italian, so I suppose this is supposed to include spring-time veggies? I don’t know.  

Chocolate Hazelnut spread...Or, Heaven in a jar

Who doesn't love Nutella? I first had it sometime in college or shortly thereafter. It apparently first became available in the US back in 1983, but I suspect it was only available in speciality markets at that time. Fortunately, it seems to have gone more mainstream, with most grocery stores maintaining a decent stock. Hallelujah!


According to the Nutella USA website, Pietro Ferrero created Nutella during hard times in Italy during WWII.  Chocolate was quite expensive so he used ground-up hazelnuts to add substance and flavor so he could reduce the proportion of chocolate needed.  Signore, I salute your ingenuity!

Butternut Squash Lasagna…or “It has vegetables in it so it must be healthy, right?”

Well, the jury is still out on the dietary pros and cons of this dish. I meant to enter the recipe into a calorie counter, but got too nervous about what the results might be, so it never happened.  I’d venture to guess, however, that it is no worse for you than traditional lasagna and maybe, just maybe, it is better given the addition of squash, which is oh-so-tasty and has plenty of good nutrients and benefits (a girl can dream).  Either way, how can you go wrong with the classic butternut squash and sage combination, especially when you throw in browned butter and cheese!

Vegetarian Tikka Masala…or, “How can I use this leftover tomato soup and fresh cilantro?”

Tomatoes and fresh cilantro are two of my favorite things.  Although, I suspect that most recipes I will post here will contain a line or two with me proclaiming, “[insert edible item here] is one of my favorite things!!”

I digress.

Housekeeping

I have been thinking about starting a cooking blog for a while. So today is the day. There's a lot of behind the scenes stuff I need to figure out about blogger though, so don't judge too harshly.  Like, how do I add a nice little print feature to the post? Hmm...

Warning: this might not always be just about cooking... I have a good crochet project I want to brag about.  And we're going to New Zealand in September. I'm sure I'll have lots to share about that!

Also, in case you were wondering, "Mappine" is pronounced, "Mah-PEEN" It's Americanized (butchered)Italian slang for dishtowel. No, I didn't get the phrase from Rachael Ray, she stole it from my mom.