Game Days

Games. 

Hubby and I pretty much never plays games at home, even though we have several sitting on the shelf.  Why?  Not sure.  We love to play them with my {our!} siblings but we just don't really think about doing it when it's only the two of us.

One evening we had a couple of my little sisters over and hubby broke out Yahtzee.

I'm not sure who ended up having more fun -- him or the girls! 

While all this fun was going on at the kitchen table, I was busy making milkshakes, each one with their special-orders of Oreos or Reeses, vanilla or strawberry.  It was great fun to watch them playing, that is until I stopped paying attention to the shake I was blending and sprayed myself, the floor, counter, and packages of candy with a healthy dose of blended ice cream.  Um, yeah.   There was definitely a reason my mom always made me clean up my own messes in the kitchen after I cooked....probably because they were always twice as big as when she cooked.   Maybe even three times bigger. 

But moving on. . .

I loved watching the girls giggle and laugh, shaking the dice and counting their points.  And when one of my little sisters beat da hubby?  Yeah, that was pretty funny too.  Some kids just have a knack for games, and she certainly is one of them.  Doesn't matter what it is, she's always on a winning-streak with something.  But then she giggles and blushes when we tease her, and is utterly adorable. 

The girls played with our bunny and then we took them to see a local musical.  Such a lovely evening...I love family nights! 

Do you have games nights at home?

Longhi's

I know I've written about Longhi's a few times, our favorite restaurant in Maui.
Several months ago I purchased their cookbook off Amazon.com and recently tried my first recipe from there -- Lemon Zucchini Pasta. 

Oh me oh my. 

Creamed wine sauce.  Ohhhh yes. 

Eating this pasta takes you to a place where calories don't exist.

Are you drooling yet? 

Want to try making it yourself?  Go right ahead.  Make your tastebuds happy.  They will start singing with joy.  By the second bite, you will be in pasta-bliss. 

Lemon Zucchini Pasta

1 tablespoon salt
1 pound linguine
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 small zucchini, julienned
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper


Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil. Add salt, then drop the linguine into the boiling water. Cook until al dente, and drain.
 
While pasta is cooking, combine garlic, wine, and lemon juice and zest in a large sauté pan with high sides and reduce until 2 tablespoons remain, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and simmer for 1 minute.
 
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the zucchini and sweat for 1 minute.
 
Add the cooked pasta to the cream mixture. Add the zucchini and toss. Season generously with salt and pepper.
 
***  I also included a grated carrot which I added in with the zucchini and some diced grilled chicken.  It was a complete meal all by itself and so good. ***

Happy cooking,

New Addition

Please welcome the new addition to our family:

GIZMO

Super Soft

 Hilariously Hyper

Astoundingly Adorable

Spectacularly Spastic

 Fantastically Friendly

We are so glad we decided to add

this fuzzy furball to our family!