Swiss Chard and Sausage Rigatoni + Real Talk

I am going to get real here. I am sorry, you can skip to the recipe if you want.

I don't mind.

Derek has been gone since the middle of September. He came back for two weeks for Christmas and we try to talk everyday. I am going to see him in 62 days (for two weeks). That is it.

Then he is coming home in 143 days. 

I miss him more than I can say.

I am totally a modern woman. I am self-sufficient, someone who manages people (in small numbers), organizes travel, and drives long distances alone. I have lived alone, travelled abroad alone, and worked in foreign countries. I do not think of myself as co-dependent. Derek and I have totally done this before too. He spent a year in Germany while I was in graduate school in Denver. 

Somehow this year is different. Derek is gone and I am empty. I get home from work and the house is empty. There are no cuddles in the bed before I go to sleep (except with the kitten, but that is a different story). Everything is very empty. 

I feel like I should not feel sorry for myself. I have a great home, wonderful friends, a great family, an awesome job, and a very cuddly stripped kitten. I also get to have a full time Derek in just 143 days, tons of people are not so lucky. It's just that I am missing my love always.

When I busy with friends, work, and sewing it not a big deal. When I am not busy it is easy to be a little sad. 

Sorry for the pity party. 

Now for a recipe. This dinner makes me happy, in a way only food can. Derek loves this dinner too. 

It is really easy and fast. Perfect happy food, plus if you use rainbow chard you get to eat a cheerful rainbow, which is nice on a cloudy day. 

Rainbow!

Swiss Chard and Sausage Rigatoni

Extensively modified from an old Real Simple cookbook

Serves 4

1 pound dried rigatoni (penne or ziti would work too)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound chorizo or hot italian sausage*

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 14.5 ounce can of vegetable broth

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated parmesan

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. Boil water with plenty of salt and cook the pasta al dente according to the directions, about a minute less than the package directions. 

2. In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook it all of the way, about 7 minutes. Spoon off and discard the excess fat. 

Cooking the pork. This is the best pork ever.

3. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Then add the broth and red pepper flakes and bring them to a boil. Then, add the swiss chard, cover, and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the butter and pasta to the sauce and stir until combined. 

Yes, I have a kitty cat spatula. It makes me smile.

Pork Sauce!

Swiss Chard and pork sauce.

4. With the lid off stir the pasta and the sauce until the sauce thickens and some of the broth boils off. Stir in the parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. 

Now it is time to stir.

Pasta combined!

5. Serve. No cheese on top. This has plenty of cheese already.

Dinner. Wine. Always.

*Please buy locally raised and antibiotic free pork. Smithfield is the devil. 

Pork from here. 

Swiss Chard and Winter (in a manner of speaking)

Is that swiss chard in that sandwich? Brilliant.

It is winter here in North Carolina.

Winter is hiding just like the fuzz (sorry couldn't resist posting this picture).

Well, that is not exactly true. It would be more accurate for me to say it is February in North Carolina.  Winter implies a certain amount of cold miserable weather, which has just not happened. I am okay with that. I have decided that if I can not ski I do not care for winter. All it does is kill my favorite vegetables.

Except this year it has not! I mean, I am not eating tomatoes or anything, but certain winter greens have been coming to the farmer's market every week (that's right, we hippies in the south have a year round farmer's market). It is certainly not the bounty we get in summer. In February, I will take it.

I have many favorite winter vegetables. I love carrots, brussels sprouts, squash, and I have even developed a soft spot for kale (prepared properly). My favorite is swiss chard.

Reasons swiss chard is kick a** (this blog is PG, sort of):
1. It is beautiful (I know it comes in rainbow and plain, as with most things, I prefer rainbow). I love bright colors and this is one vegetable that can give me that in spades.

Rainbow Chard! I have no idea why my cell phone is right there. I am probably checking Facebook or something else essential. A glimpse into my fascinating life.

2. It is versatile. Soup, gratin, tossed with pasta, sauteed with [insert favorite seasonings here], and many other applications all taste wonderful.

3. It makes me feel healthy. I know that chard is not healthy when doused in cream, covered in cheese, or cooked with olive oil, but a girl can convince herself otherwise. This is a vegetable. Healthy.

Garlicky Swiss Chard Grilled Cheese
Serves 2 to 4 depending on how much chard you get

1 Bunch of Swiss Chard (I like rainbow, but it really does not matter)
2 cloves garlic
Olive oil
Salt
Butter
Bread (I prefer sourdough sandwich bread, but a whole grain bread would be healthier and anything will really do)
Cheddar Cheese (I like a sharp white cheddar, but make it your own!)

1. Remove the swiss chard from the stems and roughly chop it into approximately 2 inch square pieces. Peel and chop up the garlic cloves. If you are a better person than me chop up your stems and use them too. I am going to save these for something else because I do not like the texture in the sandwich.

Tasty chard and so beautiful

2. Heat a heavy pan to medium heat with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss the chard, garlic, and a pinch of salt in the heated pan. Stir to get everything combined. Cook for about 1 minute like this then cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook this way until the chard is tender and droopy (about 5 minutes). These will need longer if you added the stems. Remove the lid and let all of the water cook off. Take the chard out of the pan, but leave the pan on the heat.

Before

After

3. Take two slices of bread and butter one side. You can be as generous or stingy as you would like here. I try and straddle a very fine line between gluttonous and boring. More butter = more crusty deliciousness.

Buttering bread. What's that Sarah, an apple cider? I am going to start calling it chef juice (thanks Gilmore Girls).

4. Slice your cheddar to taste and place it on the unbuttered side of one of your bread slices. Cover this cheese with a generous handful of chard. Add the other slice of buttered bread on top (butter up). Repeat process with all of the sandwiches you wish to make.

Assembling sandwich.

5. Put this sandwich on the heavy pan. No grease necessary, remember the butter. Cook until the bottom is golden brown and the cheese has started to melt. Sometimes I use the lid for part of this time to speed up the cheese melting. Flip the sandwiches and do the same for the other side.

Sandwiches in the pan.

6. Remove and serve with tomato soup, roasted potatoes, by themselves, the world is your oyster.

Served with roasted potatoes. Winter dinner. Done. 

I finished my Mom's birthday quilt

I just needed to share these pictures because they make me so happy! Feel free to ignore the glimpses of my neighbors house and my crazy yard.

Quilt!

This was the secret project I alluded to about a month ago. The colors are inspired by the winter sunrise as I see it through my rearview mirror while driving to work. Do you see it? Maybe not...

I love you Mom!

I cut, sewed, quilted, and embroidered. Now it is done. It is warm and soft and I hope she loves it as much as I do.

This is hard to see, but the back is pieced from some of the same colors  as the front.. Also, yes I have a traffic cone in my back yard, no I did not steal it. Uh, if you do not know my neighborhood it is a little hard to explain. Can I just say it is interesting?

I put a lot of love into this quilt, now it is off in the Portland wilds. Second quilt done!

My List Accomplishments

Max has no goals, which I feel this picture demonstrates.

Remember my list?

Okay, you probably don't remember. When my husband left to work in Germany for 9 months I made myself a bucket list of sorts. The goal was to force myself to live my life to the fullest, even though I was alone. I have not been recording it very well, but I am making slow and steady list accomplishments! 

That hole was so easy to dig, just like a big shovel test. 

I planted a tree. Do not worry arborists, I planted this tree in the fall when it was appropriate (I know all of my readers were deeply concerned). Her name is Wanda and she is a Brown Turkey Fig tree. I did my research (there is a Brown Turkey Fig tree up the street) and I know it will grown in my climate. It should also produce this summer, if I can manage not to kill it. She is small, but cute!

Wanda in the ground

Turns out planting a tree is just like shovel testing, meaning, I just had to dig a hole and put the tree in it. But, now I have a tree!

I went trail running last Saturday. It was beautiful and rewarding. The sun was shining and we were having a freakishly warm day (I mean in the 70 degrees Fahrenheit range). I liked it. Driving to run seems a little silly to me, so this will be a sometimes treat. 

This is totally a posed picture, I did not bring my camera running silly!

Okay, I am saving the best for last! This is actually the reason I have been an itinerant blogger lately. I have been obsessed with quilting. 

I can not believe I turned this fabric...

 into a bunch of little squares,

which I sewed together and added applique circles.

Then I trimmed the fabric,

 and added a border.

 And attached to a batting, then tried to add a backing. It turns out the cat loves quilting. It is the MOST fun thing a cat can do to slide across the living room on fabric. Tunneling under fabric is pretty fun too.

Sewing machines are less fun, but make great human hunting blinds.

After some intense cat battles and some actually quilting, I got this! (full disclosure: it is not actually done, it still needs trimming and binding).

It is a beautiful and rewarding thing. There are tons of mistakes and little things that will bug me. But, I am a beginner. I have gained so much confidence in my sewing! The reason the binding is not finished is I had to start my second quilt (I do have a solid start on my binding and I will probably bring it when I have to go to Savannah at the end of the month). The next quilt is going to be a gift for someone and I am operating on a deadline.

Unfortunately, that person reads this blog. So, no pictures until after the deadline.

Back to sewing! Happy Sunday!

What month is it again? Oh right, Happy New Year!

It is January 1, 2012.

This was our Christmas card, which I sent out by email at 10:00 p.m. on Christmas Day. Epic fail. 

What?!

I am going to start this post by apologizing for missing December. I am not even sure December happened at normal speed.

I am not going to try and explain the crazy. I will make a list. I like lists.

1. I worked. A lot. Let's see I think I was only in Tennessee and Georgia this month. But, oh the deadlines.

2. I made Christmas happen. I believe the holidays should be special and this was our first real, grown-up, "at home" Christmas. I got a tree, made stockings and cookies, wrapped presents, wrote cards (well, some cards), played music, and sort of nested. It was wonderful. I also watched the entire "Fireplace for Your Home" episode at least four times (it is on Netflix, check it out).

I made these stockings. Including the embroidery. It was intense. But they sure do look good with Fireplace for Your Home. 

The best baby Christmas Tree. 

Potica. A Croatian Christmas bread. 

3. I started and (almost) finished my first quilt. It will not be my only quilt. This was a magical experience and I am totally hooked. I am going to write a real post about this, for now I just need to say this process appealed to me creatively and aesthetically.

My quilt top. Clearly, I really like flowers.

4. I have spent a great deal of time with my friends who have become my family here in North Carolina. Then Derek's mom and step dad came to visit for New Years and we got to see them too!

Hi Julie!

5. My true love came home for two weeks (which are actually not quite over yet). There have been many meals, laughs, couch cuddles, episodes of Parks and Recreation, and long cups of coffee. I will miss him a great deal when he returns to Germany to work on his research.

My true love with the skin of a salmon we cured. Doesn't he look so manly?

Cured Salmon.

For now, I will just say Happy New Year! Welcome to 2012. It is going to be a great year. I know it.

I am going to come back soon (I know, show it, don't just say it) to share some of my treasured moments from the past couple of weeks and talk about the food. Oh the food! I have a brussels sprouts recipe that will blow your mind, without ruining any newly created resolutions.

Much love to all.

Pecan Pie for the Holidays

I am not the cool kid.

I mean I had friends and everything, I do not deserve your pity.

I was in band, I had really good grades, my backpacking buddy was my dad, and I worked for the science department (for three years!). No one hated me (they really liked me when they needed help with their science homework).

I am trying to say, I was not mocked. I just did not get invited to the cool kid parties (you know the ones with the booze).

That did not matter at all, because I had a great group of girlfriends and did not need to be cool to have fun. I did not miss it at all. I did not even really know we were not cool.

I am saying this because my bestest high school friend came to spend Thanksgiving with me. She is amazing and beautiful. Spending the weekend with her was good for my soul.

I made this tart for her. It has bourbon in it (for the win). You should make it for your loved ones for this holiday season.

Bourbon Pecan Tart
from Bon Appetit

1 12-inch round tart crust (I am going to just link to this amazing tart crust recipe that you should use for every sweet tart, this women is amazing)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups pecan halves or pieces (I prefer halves)


1. Follow the directions on the tart crust recipe to completely bake the tart recipe. The crust should be golden brown. 

2. Place pan with crust on rimmed baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat in the corn syrup. Add butter, bourbon, vanilla, and salt. Beat until these ingredients are blended. Stir in the pecans (do not use the blender for this).

4. Pour the pecan filling into the crust. Bake about 25 minutes or until the filling is set (I find this takes a bit longer for me). Cool tart on a wire rack for one hour, then remove pan sides. 

5. Eat warm or at room temperature. This gets stale (soggy) if you make it too far ahead. I would not let it sit for more than 8 hours.