My First Test

After a long day at work I made my way home with two goals in mind. The first was to finish mowing our yard which is no easy task because we live on a corner lot and have a hill in our front yard. My second goal was to complete two recipes from The Bon Appétit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook.

The yard was a failure as I mowed only a small section and left the mower out overnight (which I’m sure that I will hear about from Matt when I get home today). After trying to become motivated, for the last week, to complete the lawn I have decided that we need to hire someone else to do the mowing. To me it would be worth paying a neighborhood kid or even a landscaper. The rain this spring and summer make it impossible for us to stay on top of it ourselves. I would much rather spend an afternoon at the pool with Emma!

When it came to my dinner goal I was 75% successful. On the menu for last night was Crab & Corn Chowder with Bacon (p. 71) and Spaghetti alla Carbonara de Zucchini (p. 212). Both items surprisingly lived up to the “Fast Easy Fresh” promise in the cookbook title and I found myself with time to spare before Matt came home from work. I had Matt call when he was five minutes away so that I could start to boil the spaghetti and by the time he was home dinner was ready and on the table.


The chowder was great! I discovered a little too late that I did not have as much clam juice on hand as the recipe called for but it was no big loss. The taste was still delicious and when made again I would include just 1 cup, as I did yesterday. The Spaghetti alla Carbonara de Zucchini was just okay to me. The fresh Zucchini from the farmers market was great but I do not think that I am a fan of Carbonara sauce in general. There is just something that does not seem right to me about tossing raw egg, parmesan cheese, and hot spaghetti together to make a sauce. The idea is that the heat from the pasta cooks the egg but I’m just not feeling that method of cooking…

I have a busy schedule tonight… starting with a walk through of a wedding space (Hotel Monaco in Washington, D.C.) with an old co-worker/friend. I will be acting as her “day of” coordinator for her upcoming July wedding! Wedding/Event planning is where my heart is so I am excited and honored to help out. After viewing the space I will pick up Emma from her swimming lessons and get home to cook. Tonight we will have Layered Chicken Enchiladas w/ Salsa (p. 264). This recipe allows you to use a store bought rotisserie chicken which should cut down on cooking time and make it perfect for a busy evening like this one!

2 recipes down 498 to go… wow that seems like a scary number