Food, Friends & a little Python

Monday night one of our first Glasgow friends but who has since moved back to the US came over for dinner. B & I lived in he & his wife's flat for the month of November.

It was great seeing him again but reminded me of how much we miss hanging out with him and his wife. They are good people.

So, company for dinner means one thing. Need to cook something tasty. How about:

Penne Alla Amatriciana

1 500g package penne pasta
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 oz pancetta, sliced thin & julienne (ok to substitute Parma Ham if you can't find)
1 tbsp sliced garlic
1 white onion fine dice
1/4 tsp chili
1 oz dry white wine
4 oz chicken stock
2 Roma tomato, julienne
6 oz tomato sauce
2 tbsp Italian parsley leaves
salt for seasoning
Parmigiano Reggiano

- In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente, or around 5-6 minutes
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat
- Add the Olive Oil and sauté the Pancetta until it begins to crisp
- Add the diced white onion and cook until becomes tender
- Add the chili and garlic and just cook thru, but don't brown
- Deglaze the pan with white wine, and add the stock- Add the Roma tomatoes, tomato sauce and the cooked pasta
- Season the pasta with salt to taste
- Finish the pasta with the Italian parsley
- Toss the whole pasta mixture and transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Then Thursday had another friend over for dinner and a rehearsal. Didn't take a picture of that meal so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was good.

Saturday for a change had a friend come over for brunch! Now that is a meal that I normally don't do for company. I'm more of a dinner girl but there were strawberries on sale and a loaf of bread in the fridge so this is what I came up with

French Toast with Sweetened Cream Cheese & Strawberries



Not much too it really. Just make some French Toast
- dip pieces of bread in a mixture of eggs, vanilla, milk a little bit of sugar and cinnamon
- as you fry them up in butter (I didn't say this would be healthy) keep the finished ones warm in the oven
- when all made up then take a pack of cream cheese and mix in some sugar, vanilla and cinnamon all to taste.
- take two pieces of French Toast and spread the inside with the cheese mixture and a layer of sliced strawberries and place one on top of the other
- serve with 100% pure Canadian Maple Syrup.

Yum

On to other news. My travel free month of September is not to be. Heading to wonderful downtown Leatherhead (just outside of London) for a days meetings. But will treat myself to a weekend in London after. This time I was smart and I've already purchased my ticket to Spamalot

Don't think of it as entertainment but culturally educational. Here's a clip that gets into socio-economics etc etc etc.