Amazing Delicious and so Easy

yes it's cockeyed but so is my brain tonight!

 

Hi guys! I hope your ''last week of summer'' was has been good. Beach weather here usually lasts thru October yet in a way there is a feeling of the summer coming to the end. I haven't had much to share this week because car shopping has turned my brain into tapioca pudding. Forgive me if I blither.

 

So...what's amazing and delicious, you ask?
Pasta with Brie and Fresh Tomatoes!

 

 

My friend here Kelley [of the mango salsa yumminess] shared this recipe with me a few months ago. I've been waiting for the tiny tomatoes to come into season. This week I picked up a pint of  grape tomatoes at the farmers' market, along with a nice ripe runny brie from Trader Joe's.

This is the easiest of pasta sauces! NO cooking on a hot day. No standing over a hot stove stirring the marinara for hours like Helen Plum. Five---I think five---main ingredients. Perfect for a late summer supper, especially if you've been swimming in the high surf of August [or supplies shopping for BTS, whatever] and want to treat yourself and your kiddies to a delicious meatless meal.

At least four hours ahead:

Tiny tomatoes, halved or quartered.

Garlic. Minced.

Basil. "Ribboms" or chiffonade.

Ripe brie. (Buy ahead, bring it out of thr fridge now and then to ripen it. I left the rind because it's my favorite part of the brie cheese.

 

 

Mix all the ingredients with olive oil and salt and pepper, stirring now and then as it sits on the counter.

Later: Pasta. I used these cute artisan somethings.

I thought they were campanellas, but no. Whatever is cute, I'd suggest.

 

Cook until just al dente, no moooshy pastas here, please. I do time my pastas and I am just about the worst at watching the clock and timing things. But well worth it.

 

 

Toss hot pasta and sauce, serve with parm. Mmmmm. Perfection.

 

 

 

 

So dielicous, so easy. Recipe written by Kelley, below. Thank you, Kelley!

love

 lizzy

gone to the beach........

 

 



Mo, helping me sew the Eagle block of the Flag quilt.
Reveal on September first!
Linky on Humble Quilts

Brie and Fresh Tomatoes Pasta recipe

You do not cook the sauce. Prepare it at least 4 hours before you're going to serve it.

4 large tomatoes or basket of grape tomatoes chopped (I cut grape tomatoes in half)

1 lb Brie cheese, rind removed ( or less Brie if u want)

1 cup fresh basil cut into strips

3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1 cup olive oil

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

\

1 or 1 1/2 lb pasta ( I usually only cook a pound)

Fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

In a large bowl add olive oil, garlic salt, pepper, basil, and tomatoes. Using the thumb and forefinger, break the Brie (pinching it) into small pieces and add it to the olive oil mixture. Combine all ingredients. Cover loosely ( I usually use a cloth dish towel) and set on the counter at room temperature for at least 4 hours. Stir occasionally if you're around.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain quickly and pour pasta into large pasta serving dish. Immediately pour the pasta sauce over the hot pasta. Stir gently and top with Parmesan.

And this is the pasta I get....

http://www.dececcousa.com/Pasta/Long-Shapes/Bucatini-15/?Product=60

this isn't fun.

town beach in distance...
all those people!
on ''my'' beach!

Hi guys, cranky blogger here today. It is a beautiful cool and sunny Sunday at the beach.

I was sitting there under my umbrella, working on a future block for the Flag quilt...and I had a revelation. I really, really really do not enjoy doing appliqué work for quilts.

It is just so hard, and I don't think my work is good enough. Or good at all. I get so upset and irritated. I am thinking Why bother? My kids will never want these quilts, as they will someday lead slick NYC lives of stainless steel and sidewalk grey. It's not like I am enjoying the process. Maybe I need a break?

This won't affect my sewing the Flag quilt, for Lori's quilt along, which is always a fun thing to participate it. There's plenty of pieced blocks in that project.

Not so sure about Mr. Sunshine. The zillion leaves in the Tree of Life block didn't defeat me, but perhaps all the tiny stars in the Oceans block will emerge victorious. (They are so tiny. And very hard to do.  Ans so not there yet.)

My friend here, Hunter, quit the Dear Jane quilt about 1/3 of the way through. All those tiny hand pieced blocks. And I don't think she plans to start it up again or even put together what she has in a small quilt. Credit for stopping when she decided enough is enough.
And that's not my only gripe---this week, the last week of official summer, I have to go buy a new car. Hardly anything [well, dentist] is as awful as buying a new car. Did I not just buy the one I have? Can it really be three years?
Tomorrow I shall channel my grumpiness and go into bitch mode, and take it all out on the poor sales guy who does not wish to sell me a new Jeep* for nearly nothing.
Maybe this:

Budget. Right.
Okay, I'll end on a cheery note. The first morning glory bloomed yesterday!

"Flying Saucer". And the sweet peas have sprouted and are about 8" tall.

And look what Mo and I saw on our walk:

A swallowtail butterfly. It was so big and ---hover-y---[I'm terrified of bugs, okay?]---that even Mo noticed it and tried to take a sniff.

Have a good week! Wish me car karma and good luck.....



a few nasturtiums
and a mini cinnamon sunflower...

love

lizzy

gone to the beach

*Why a Jeep? Well 1- I've always owned Jeeps and except for one lemon [its computer] I've never had a bit of trouble. 2- You get a lot of goodies w/out paying for ''extras"--like roof racks come stock. 3-They are 100% off road so when we have floods and crappy weather, they go anywhere, everywhere. 4- after H Sandy, of all the cars owned by friends and family ONLY the Jeeps made it through the storm and were drivable afterward. So---I am hoping for yet another Jeep. I've never had white, it's pretty, isn't it.

 

And No, Jeep did not pay me to say that.

Brrrr! Goosebumps in August!?

Yes! Shiver weather here, who'd ever expect this chill in late August, usually a time a bright sun and too hot temps.

I'd planned today to be a beach day, did all my chores and errands earlier in the week to keep Friday --and the weekend--- free. Packed up  my sewing and knitting projects, filled a little cooler with drinks and antipasto snacks for later. Got to the beach, met up with my friends and family.
No sooner did I knit a row of ribbing than the wind began to howl and one of the guys pointed to the northern sky!

Doesn't this look ominous?

Weather Bug said 2% chance of rain, so, well....okay. Fine.

We built wind barriers with our umbrellas. I borrowed a long sleeved t-shirt form one of the guys. But no. Just too too too cold.

See how dark the path is? 2 PM!

Fun bench, too bad it gets removed in the winter. Mo and I would love to sit here on sunny winter days.

The dunes are suddenly very lush and well-planted. That 14" rain last week did the dune plants a world of good.

 

 

Remember: not-quite 2 years ago, H Sandy tore through these dunes and all was washed away. Good rebound, I am so happy.

 

 

Hints of autumn in the rose brambles.

 

 

 

Back home, the wind had blown away my ladybug sculplture.

I was sad and finally found her splayed on her back behind the planters, waving her legs in the air [no not really,lol]. I gave her a new fancy stake [broom handle] and placed her back in a different pot.

 

 

 

New Guinea impatiens are so basic but so pretty and dependable, even late in the season.

 

Mo is proud! He can get up on the deck chair by himself now! Good boy.

Have a great weekend! Dig out your jeans and sweaters? I may have to....

love

lizzy

gone to the beach..............

tiny colorful butterfly shells