Spagetti Tacos

My husband emailed me this article today from the New York Times featuring a new food phenomenon among kids today, Spaghetti Tacos.

Yet here is the thing. My family was eating spaghetti tacos for as long as can remember! I have even blogged about it before here. I'm not exactly sure where or how the tradition began. It may have started with my grandmother. However, whenever we had spaghetti my Mom would make extra sauce and the next day we would have spaghetti sauce tacos. So yummy! In face I think I may need some spaghetti tacos soon.

Gallery Wall

I love gallery walls. In our apartment I had a great one in the living room over the couch. We moved into our house in May and I have been planning to get one up for months now. A few weeks ago we finally got around to it. Because we live with another couple I wanted this gallery wall, which is in our living room, to be a mixture of pictures from all of us. I also wanted a mix of old and new, art, photography and family pictures. I think it turned out really well.

My favorite picture is the oval frame in the center. It is a photograph taken in 1945 of my grandmother and her sister. My grandmother, on the right, is 9 years old. Growing up this photo, still in its original frame, was in my grandmother's house and everyone always said that it looked like me. My Mom gave this to me after she died a couple of years ago. My other grandmother is on the far right. This is her graduation picture. And this particular copy, given to me by my grandfather, is signed be her to him. It is such a classic beautiful picture I just love it.

What are your thoughts on gallery walls? Do you have one?

Views of our Kitchen on a Sunday Afternoon

Fall is definitely here. Temperatures are starting to fall at night and the slugs and snails have returned to wreak havoc upon our garden. It was for this reason that I decided to make chow chow yesterday afternoon. I had some of this wonderful green tomato relish in Tennessee a couple of years ago and have been wanted to make it ever since. By far the best chow chow I had was at Martha's at the Plantation, at Belle Meade. Sadly Martha's has since closed but lucky for me I have the cookbook which has her amazing chow chow recipe. Because one kitchen project is just not enough for a Sunday afternoon I also embarked upon a huge pot of warm comfy fall soup for lunches this week, and while I was at it dinner also simmered on the stove.

Tomatoes from our garden turning red

Successfully canned chow chow

My favorite easy pasta, roasted red pepper and sausage pasta.

This is a great pasta recipe that I came up with a few years ago when my Mom bought me a huge package of Italian sausage at Costco.

Roasted Red Pepper and Sausage Pasta

3 links of Italian sausage, casing removed

1 onion chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup roasted red peppers chopped up

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 cans tomatoes, or 4 cups fresh tomatoes chopped or combination

1/2 cup broth, red wine, or water

pasta of your choice

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in pan, when hot add sausage and onion. Break up sausage while it cooks, when sausage is mostly brown add garlic, cook a few more minutes breaking up sausage. Add broth or wine, scrape all bits of bottom of pan, season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, roasted peppers, herbs and pepper flakes. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, simmer 30-40 minutes. Add more broth or water if sauce gets too thick. Cook pasta according to directions, top with sauce and serve with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!