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Cooking (53) Outdoors (32) Travels (44) Updates (36)

Monday, May 16, 2011

Spaghetti Carbonara and Baked Peaches with Rosemary-Scented Mascarpone

Mmmm, I love bell peppers and mushrooms!
Jeremy came home on Wednesday so I made a fancy meal for him. It was different from what I usually make in that the main ingredients were pork, eggs, and cheese. How often does that happen? But in some ways it was also very much like what I like to cook: Italian!

The recipe? Carbonara.

Quick note: sometimes I find it difficult to write down what I cook because I don't so much follow a recipe as use what looks good, what I have at the time, and what I feel like eating. :P

Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti (we use whole wheat)
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, diced
4 cloves minced garlic
2 eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano
1/4 cup cream
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Cook spaghetti according to package.

While spaghetti is cooking, heat olive oil in a pan. Add pancetta and cook until criping, about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and saute another minute.

Drain the pasta and add to the garlic and pancetta. Toss to coat with oil and fat.

In a bowl, combine, eggs, cheese, and cream. Stir well and add to pasta, stirring the pasta quickly so that eggs coat but do not scramble. Add pepper to taste. Salt does not usually need to be added due to the pancetta and cheese.

Ingredients:
4 peaches
White wine
Butter
Brown sugar/Cinnamon
Sprig of rosemary leaves
3 tablespoons cream
6 ounces mascarpone, room temperature
Honey

Originally, I was going to grill the peaches, but that wasn't working out so I decided to bake them.


Directions:

Cut four peaches in half, removing the stone and placing them in a glass baking dish. (Sidenote: I added a little white wine and water to the bottom of the baking dish to keep them from drying out and roasting. On the center of each peach half I placed a dab of butter. I cannot stress how little I used, maybe a little more than half a teaspoon for each, but just to keep them moist. Then, for a little more flavor, I added some brown sugar and cinnamon on top, again, maybe a half teaspoon total.)

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

While the peaches are baking, heat the small amount of cream in a saucepan with the rosemary leaves until cream is heated, lightly pressing the rosemary leaves. Smells so good!

Add the rosemary scented cream mixture to the mascarpone and stir well. When peaches are finished, top with mascarpone and drizzle with honey. I served the majority of the mascarpone on the side. Mmmm...

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day Weekend & Cycling the Foothills


Spring was in full swing this weekend...so much so that it kind-of, sort-of swung into summer. That made for the perfect weather to kick off this time of year with a busy weekend.

My beautiful mom. :)
First: exciting events! With perfect spring timing (as well as Mother's Day timing) our friends had their baby boy a few weeks early and J and I were lucky enough to visit them in the hospital.

Also, since it is Mother's Day I'll share my facebook profile pic I just posted. I know I posted this belatedly...most people were on this three days ago. :P

Lastly, J and I also took advantage of the weather and went on a beautiful bike ride down to Morrison, CO and enjoyed ice-cold Morettis between hauls. We ended the night on the front porch of our building listening to the Rockies game and eating our well-deserved dinner. It was blissful.






Our Ride:
Golden to Morrison
Created by My Tracks on Android.
Total Distance: 10.89 km (6.8 mi)
Total Time: 53:22
Moving Time: 41:32
Average Speed: 12.24 km/h (7.6 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 15.73 km/h (9.8 mi/h)
Max Speed: 55.37 km/h (34.4 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1671 m (5482 ft)
Max Elevation: 1957 m (6419 ft)
Elevation Gain: 296 m (971 ft)
Max Grade: 5 %
Min Grade: -6 %
Recorded: Sat May 07 17:18:29 MDT 2011
Activity type: Cycling

Morrison to Golden
Created by My Tracks on Android.
Total Distance: 11.86 km (7.4 mi)
Total Time: 50:27
Moving Time: 43:04
Average Speed: 14.10 km/h (8.8 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 16.52 km/h (10.3 mi/h)
Max Speed: 53.52 km/h (33.3 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1745 m (5725 ft)
Max Elevation: 1954 m (6411 ft)
Elevation Gain: 200 m (658 ft)
Max Grade: 3 %
Min Grade: -8 %
Recorded: Sat May 07 19:00:25 MDT 2011
Activity type: Cycling


View 2011-05-07 17:18 in a larger map

Mmmm...the beers even came with frosted glasses. This is the life.