Tonight’s dinner was fettuccine with three different colors of asparagus in a light creamy garlicky lemony sauce that I guess is kind of like alfredo. People can’t make up their minds whether or not fettuccine alfredo is Italian. Recently I read that contrary to popular belief, it is actually Italian, contradicting the former popular belief that it wasn’t, which of course is a correction of the original belief that it is. I’m so bored of writing about this.
I’m coming off of 5 consecutive days of working on 3 different jobs, and as most of you know, work for me usually involves standing for 10 hours at a time, cooking and styling food all day, socializing with clients on set, and in the case of yesterday, shopping at 8 different grocery stores and walking 7 miles! Phew. Honestly I think that ironically I felt healthier when I had a desk job and actually had the energy to go to the gym and lead a more balanced life after work. Okay let’s quickly move on from this depressing thought.
One of those grocery stores I shopped at yesterday was Eataly, which is a food stylist’s go-to for beautiful produce. While I was there, I bought myself some purple and white asparagus from a gourgeoisie display I regret not taking a picture of.
John really loves asparagus, and during these periods of chaotic work when I’m mentally unavailable and leave dirty clothes on the floor in seemingly every room of the apartment, he is always patient and supportive and I thought it would be nice to get something special for him.
I sautéed a bunch of sliced garlic in butter, added scallion whites and deglazed with vermouth. Then I added some cream, more butter, seasoned with salt and pepper, and let that reduce for a bit while the pasta cooked. In the last 2 minutes of pasta cooking, I dumped the asparagus in the pot to let it get crisp tender (I axed the zucchini pictured - who wants boiled zucchini?)
When the pasta and veg were done, I tossed it into the skillet of sauce, added a bunch of parm, parsley, mint, scallions, and pasta water, stir stir, done. Sometimes I feel unfulfilled when cooking dinner is so quick, like I’ve been thinking about making this pasta all day and the process was uneventful and over so soon. I know my friend Graceann, mother of 2 boys under 4, will hate me for writing that sentence. I’m sorry Graceann.
I bought a basil bunch at the store last week that had a chunk of dirt and its roots attached. At the time, it was the prettiest, crispest basil I’d ever seen. Currently it sits on our table in a small pitcher of water, and nearly every meal since has had basil sprinkled on it since. Table Basil forever.
This is some chicken salad I made for lunch today. I felt it was important to stay true to reality and include the lime half from dinner on Saturday that neither of us had cleaned up yet. I just looked over my shoulder at the table to see if the lime is still there, but it’s gone now.
For dessert I started to make something like a chocolate mousse, but I wasn’t following any recipe and mixed the chocolate custard part with too much whipped cream, so instead of mousse I stuck it in the freezer to make semifreddo, a dessert I don’t really love because it’s an ice cream knockoff. 42,048,000 minutes in an average lifetime and I spent 30 of them making a dessert I don’t really love, that I don’t even get to eat right away.
When it comes to toothbrush storage, there are many design factors to consider. Can my toothbrush breathe? Will it be sitting in a puddle of water? Is there a risk of it touching adjacent toothbrushes?
I bought this toothbrush holder because it answers “yes, no, no” to those above questions, respectively. Every time I look at it, which is every day, I nod my head and think “I’m glad I bought this” and very few things in life are reaffirmed for me daily in this way, not even my relationship.
This looks amazing! I’m making this tonight. Thanks, Laura!