A Love Squashed

We had just pulled up to my high school in my purple Dodge Neon, circa 1999. I in a swishy dress, he in a handsome suit. We walked through the front double-doors, a little nervous and giddy inside. My parents greeted us with big hugs and remarked how much they really liked Bo. We gathered our name tags and followed the nametag woman down the hall to our table for dinner. I was really very excited about being able to attend a Reunion Prom and even more so that Bo would be with me for the fun. We arrived at our table, set for four, and as the nametag lady handed me my first course, I clumsily tried to pull my metal chair out while balancing a bowl of pasta. It dribbled over the side of the bowl, requiring me to quickly wipe the drip with my finger. I was far too preoccupied with getting to sneak a taste of the gorgeous bowl of squash ravioli slathered with the deapest red marina to even consider that it might further drip onto my swishy dress. As I drew my finger toward my mouth for that one sneaky taste,

my alarm clock went off.  The rude, inconsiderate thing.  I freaking love squash ravioli in a delicious marinara sauce, and my jerk of an alarm clock had to go and wake me up a millisecond from my being able to taste it.  Gahhhh, the agony. 

Cooking with Sara: Creamy Lemony Blueberry Pie

For this week's recipe, I really wanted something summery.  It's the 4th of July, after all!  But, here's the thing - I do not grill.  I do not bbq.  Those are Man Jobs.  Yes, I do whip up marinades and the like, but gosh darnit, I love making sweets! So, sweets are what you get.

This recipe is basically a chilled, no-bake, cream cheese pie that my family has made for years, but with the addition of a lemon curd layer on the bottom.  I thought it was deeelicious!  The texture of the whole ensemble is fluffy, so if you're not a fan of those kinds of desserts, too bad so sad.  But if you are, this one is fun.  And it resulted in my getting to add a fabulous lemon curd recipe to my repertoire.

Creamy Lemony Blueberry Pie on From Blah to Ta-Daa

Happy 4th of July, lovelies!!

Choose My Book, Please

I've been plowing through books this past month, and I love it!  I read more books in the month of June than I did over the entire past year.  Madness, huh?  Anyway, I've made it my goal to read some of the books sitting on my shelves before buying/borrowing new ones.  I'm about halfway finished with my current book, so I thought I'd poll you all to choose my next book for me. 

Let the voting begin!



Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell:  I don't read much nonfiction, but I love me some Malcolm Gladwell.  (sidenote:  one of the things that caught my eye on Bo's eHarmony profile was a mention of Malcolm Gladwell.  Swoon.)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer:  This book is by the same author as one of my most favorite quirky book-turned-movies - "Everything is Illuminated."  It got really great reviews and is completely different than my other books on the shelf.

Father Time by ML White:  This novel was written by a girl from my high school! Which doesn't seem all that amazing until you consider the fact that each graduating class had roughly 70 students, and the town's population hovers near 2,500.  So, it's pretty darn fantastic that she's got a book out there in Published Land.  Congrats go out to her!

Yada Yada Prayer Group (book #1) by Neta Jackson:  Either my mom or my sister gave me this book, and I haven't read it yet because I've assumed that it's a ripoff of the YaYa Sisterhood book.  But maybe not?  It's actually part of a 7-book series; I had no idea!  Also, it might be a light, fun read after my current book, which is a little heavy and about grief and mourning.  And apparently, I have the "party group" edition of the book, which has recipes in it!