3pepper bacon caper’d fettuccine carbonara

challenged. that is me. especially true while making a recipe on the spot, with what i have, when hungry, and my digital clocks have moved from evening to night. you know the story, late work day goes later, you go to the gym, forget about any Friday plans you had.. and go home to make dinner.

this one turns a winner, trust me.

resolution? well, thanks to the nature of yeast, we're enemies, pizza was out of the question. plan B?

carbonara. healthy. colorful. carolie-ful. carbonara.

an improvement on my last effort, but still better if i were capable of adding that Italia accent, Mmm!

sports update, this is on my mind. basically, the Cards lost to the Cubs today. bring on the sadness. Djokovic couldn't find the court. sad still, but lesser.

believe it or not, the above gets trumped by my redic' productivity in the lab, the gym and how i'm about to celebrate at a friend's annual bash on Saturday night. life is seriously bringing it right now.

i'm on an eat, sleep, repeat diet for the next weeks.. STL, KC, Labor Day weekend dove hunts, KY Lake. to my dear friends in Springfield, i'll be there soon.

happy reading, fair writing.. in true life. salute!

the printer friendlier version

3pepper bacon caper’d fettuccine carbonaraserves one, 20 min

3 slices fresh bacon, semi-to-thick
1 large clove garlic, chopped
3 small peppers, mix of colors (red, orange and yellow is nice)
1 tbsp fresh cut parsley
1 large teaspoon capers
single serving fettuccine
1 fresh farm egg
1/2 c. spinach
2 tbsp fresh parmesan, grated
salt and pepper, to taste

preheat medium saucepan over medium high heat. cut sliced bacon into smaller pieces (your preference to stir into pasta later), then add to skillet. chop garlic, dice peppers and cut up spinach while bacon is cooking. you may also add the egg, s&p, and 1 ½ tbsp parmesan to small bowl and scramble - set aside.

bring small pot of salt water to a boil. add pasta and cook a la dente.

cook bacon until done, but not crispy. remove, saving drippings. add garlic and peppers, cook 2 minutes. toss in the capers and stir for another minute - longer is okay.

remove pasta, strain and return to pot with small amount of olive oil (or butter) - to prevent sticking. make sure pot is removed from heat, add egg mixture, spinach, bacon, and stir quickly being careful not to scramble the egg.

plate, top with 3pepper mixture, grade fresh parmesan on top with s&p and enjoy!

pecan’d zucchini cranberry bread

[no pic. who knew this would be a fan fav?..]

a few things are happening right now. i am blogging per request. success!

without half as much has been my recent attempt(s) to overcome my greatest kitchen challenge. baking. yes, yeast hates me.. or we’re allergic or something. i’ll just say it has a problem with getting its weight up.

so here’s the story.. my friend Ellie is busy farming up in the northeast, leaving me with a surplus of jealousy. au contraire my oven produces these tasty goods while Ms. Ellie faces a surplus of zucchini.. you see the match?

well luckily for all of us, this zucchini ‘bread’ ain’t actually bread. ya, yeast sits the bench for this one and my DH, “MAD” Baking Skills, homer’d this beautiful 9x5 loaf of delicious, moist... mmm. mm.

as i was saying, saying we all have a little zucchini to spare is an understatement. so if you are so enthused, get shredding!

the printer friendlier version

pecan’d zucchini cranberry bread 
adapted from allrecipes.com
makes one 9X5 loaf, 1 hr 20 min

1 1/2 c. all-purpose, unbleached flour
1 c. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 farm fresh egg
1 c. zucchini, shredded
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. cranberries, fresh or frozen
1/3 c. pecan, chopped

preheat oven to 350.

in a large bowl, toss together ingredients flour-to-nutmeg. in a medium bowl, mix together zucchini with egg; adding in vegetable oil and vanilla as you go. add wet to dry, folding in egg mixture to flour mixture until just blended. fold in berries and nuts next.

grease all sides of a 9x5 pan with a stick of butter. pour batter into greased pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. when the loaf passes toothpick test, take it out of the oven to cool on a wire rack if you have one.

*note: if you in the slightest way take a liking to raisins, or oatmeal raisin cookies, pack this thing with raisins instead of cranberries. either will please as much as the other.