Cooking 101: Pasta

I've doing a lot of cooking the last couple weeks - or at least 'a lot' of cooking compared to what I used to do, which was almost none. Now that I'm not on my feet working for eight plus hours a day I have more time and energy to actually put together a meal. Although, in the course of writing this I've realized that so far I've been making pasta almost exclusively. That was unintentional. I always love pasta dishes, but more practically pasta is just quick and easy to cook. Not to mention, you can just throw everything into a bowl and serve it. Anyway, I've decided to focus just on the pasta dishes for this post.

I gathered these recipes from a myriad of sources: off the internet, out of a book, from a magazine. I have found there are all kinds of free recipe sites online and I think that is the easiest place to get recipes from since it's so easy to find what you're looking for.

This dish had a very interesting taste to it because the main ingredients for the sauce are tomatos and limes. I really liked this one although it is a little spicy. But it has a pretty good, multi-level flavor to it. Even though there are only two limes in the quantity I made the limes are much stronger then anything else. I think next time I make it though I might try adding more tomatos. You can find this recipe here.

The easiest pasta recipe I've made is this plain fettuccine alfredo recipe. (That links to a similar though different recipe than I used.) I'm not always a huge fan of creamy fettuccine alfredo dishes because they are often very heavy. This version isn't quite as heavy and it is very simple with only three ingredients. It's great for a busy night. 

I also really like pasta salads. They are great because you can make a large batch and put the leftovers in the fridge for later. I made this pasta salad the weekend Hurricane Irene hit as it was something simple that it I could have eaten if the power went out (which luckily didn't happen). I omitted the feta cheese and added a Tuscan spice blend I bought at a specialty store. I like to make this recipe because I can take a little bit with me to school each day for lunch.

And finally this recipe for "Chicken Caprese" which I found in a magazine and made earlier today. The chicken has tomatoes and mozzarella cheese rolled up inside it. I secured the two ends together with a toothpick. I paired it with some aglio e olio. I love aglio e olio because it has a simple taste and can go with almost anything. I followed a recipe in one of my cookbooks but there are multiple versions of this online such as this one.

One thing I've been doing that makes it really easy to have a good cooked meal even on a busy night, is to prepare the full recipe and keep leftovers for later. With the chicken caprese recipe it made three servings although I only ate one serving because it's just me. Afterwards, I put each of the other pieces of chicken into separate tupperware containers. Then, I divvied up the rest of the pasta in between the two containers. That way, for the next two nights I can just throw one of the containers in the microwave. I like to think of it as my own homemade microwave dinners.

I plan to write a post later about some of the other (non-pasta) recipes I've been preparing. First, though, I'll have to work on making a wider variety of dishes.

Sept. 2-5: Labor Day Weekend

This weekend was pretty eventful. I saw the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, watched my brother's football game, and took a trip to the zoo. Oh yeah, and I read a bunch of cases for this week.

Otterbein Football Game Versus Gallaudet University
Gallaudet is a school for deaf and hearing impaired students so it was definitely different from your average football game. It was even more disconcerting than being surrounded by people that speak a different language at first. I tried to buy a hot dog from one of the fraternities selling refreshments at the stadium. There was a lot of pointing and luckily one of guys must have had a hearing or something because he understood what I was saying. Overall, it was kind of eye-opening to see such a different subset of the population.

The game was super exciting, with a final score of 28-27. At the end of the game the score was tied at 21-21. Otterbein ended up winning the game in over time when Gallaudet went for the two-point conversion instead of the extra point and missed it. But it was a very well-played game.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
While difficult to find, it was worth the trek. Once you find it, it's in a pretty cool location. You can see the Washington and Jefferson Memorials.

Zoo
The best thing about the zoo is it's free. While it's not quite as big as say the Columbus Zoo it still has a decent number of exhibits. Luckily, the day we were there a lot of the animals were pretty playful.

First Week of Classes

Unfortunately my first week of law school, which I've been looking forward to forever, was vastly overshadowed by Mother Nature. But other than that, the first week of classes was great. After being out of school for over a year, it's taken me a while to get used to getting up so early again.

Monday was the first day of classes. They went pretty well all in all. I wasn't the first student called on Monday morning so that was a huge relief.

Tuesday as I was reading in between classes when the earthquake struck. It was a bizarre feeling and as it was happening I just kept thinking "I hope this stops soon because its really uncomfortable." We stood outside on the streets around the school for about an hour before they let us back in.

Wednesday I got called on for the first time in my Contracts class. I didn't make a huge fool of myself so that's always a plus.

Thursday it became apparent that Hurricane Irene was going to hit the East Coast so after classes I headed to Safeway. I stocked up on all kinds of food, but I couldn't find a flashlight there.

Friday, after my only class in the morning, I headed out on an expedition to find a flashlight. I went to this shopping area in nearby Tenleytown. I trekked to Best Buy, Ace Hardware, Radio Shack, and several CVS, but all to no avail; each place was sold out of flashlights. I finally walked by a bike store and I thought, hey why not? In the basement, below the bike shop, I found the Holy Grail of hurricane preparedness. They had not one, not two, but three different kinds of full-size flashlights still for sale! So luckily, I did not return empty-handed.

Saturday I woke up early to finish preparing. I took a shower and afterwards filled the bathtub up with water. I made sure to get cash from the ATM, put batteries in the flashlight, and made a pasta salad to eat later for dinner. By lunchtime I hunkered down on my sofa ready for the hurricane. And then . . . it never really got that bad. I didn't loose power at all, which allowed me to marathon through two seasons of Mad Men on Netflix.

So, all-in-all, a very busy week. Sunday I let out the water in my tub and got down to reading. Nothing too exciting but this week is going to be even crazier.

8.17: Annapolis, Maryland

Wednesday we took a little trip to Annapolis which is only about 40 minutes away from my apartment. It is a quaint little town. It's home to the U.S. Naval Academy. Boutique shops and restaurants line the streets by the docks. It's a really nice place to walk around for a day or afternoon. Every restaurant is stock-piled with fresh sea-food entrees.

Arriving on the main street of Annapolis

Watching the ducks on the dock.

In the afternoon, we took a boat ride on the Severn River on which Annapolis is located. The Severn River eventually opens up to the Chesapeake Bay but the little cruise stayed on the Severn. We sailed around the U.S. Naval Academy and got a much better view of the school than one can get from in the city.

U.S. Naval Academy 

We're on a boat! 

Little sail boats on the Severn River

We also got our fill of seafood. For lunch we ate at a little dinner on the main street (Chick and Ruth's Delly was the name). They had great crab cakes and the rest of the food was pretty good too. In the afternoon Dandrich had oysters from the Middleton Tavern. For dinner we ate at the Federal House. I had a salmon fillet with pesto sauce and Dandrich had a seafood medley with shrimp, crab, and scallops. All the food we had there in Annapolis was excellent and fresh.

Maryland crab cakes and ribeye steak sandwich 

Oysters 

Salmon fillet with pesto sauce, rice and vegetables

Overall, I think Annapolis is a great little day trip, especially if you live or are visiting the D.C. or Baltimore area. I'm sure we'll head back sometime because I really don't think you can go wrong at any of the restaurants there (unless you eat at the Jimmy John's we passed on the main street - don't waste your time on that when there's so much good seafood available).

Annapolis Harbor