We've lived in our house now for some years now and before the big bad builders came and tore them down, my backyard was all trees. Over the years we've had our share of animals. Deer of course, squirrels, groundhogs, cats, moles, raccoons (lots of them) and a wide variety of birds. You could say I'm used to animals traipsing through my yard. Well, today I was on the phone with my MIL and I looked out back and saw this gal
I predictably named her Tomasina.
I took this through my back door since I wasn't sure if she would fly off or if I couldn't get outside in time.
She seemed pretty scared but finally found her way into the trees. I hope she finds her family.
After seeing her walking around, I thought back to all the Thanksgivings I've held over the years. Every single year I get grossed out when I prep the turkey. I'm not surprised I've become a vegetarian. I can't eat Tomasina nor can I clean her. If someone (Brian) wants turkey, he'll have to take care of it. He kind of freaked out this past holiday when I was a new vegetarian. "What do you mean you're not going to eat turkey? You love Thanksgiving! Its your favorite holiday! Come on. Really, you're not going to have turkey?" On and on and on!Well, I didn't have turkey. I bought myself a 'turkey' roast. I can't even remember which brand it was. I'm always a side dish girl anyway. I love all the different potatoes & veggies! Thanksgiving for me is about tradition and family and yes, food, but I don't think not eating turkey is a deal breaker.
On to tonight's dinner. I was supposed to make salad with poached eggs but I was just a slacker today. I've hurt myself in five different ways. I won't go into to detail, but one of them was me burning my head. Its just not my day. So to make myself feel better, I wanted spaghetti. Brian brought home some sauces and I went to the pantry to see what noodles we had. I noticed we had like 3 open packages of different noodles & I thought, why not use them up? So for the main pot, I boiled tri-color wagon wheels, O's & a little orzo.
Now, for my dish I wanted something a little more comforting. In my family when you are a baby but finally old enough to eat solid food, for Sunday dinner you got pastina. When you got a little older, you got one of grandma's meatballs smashed in with the sauce & noodles. She used to make it sometimes for me along with the babies. I'm the oldest by 3 years so I got it most often! My jarred sauce is no match for her homemade, but it works in a pinch.
Tonight I boiled myself some Acini de Pepe, mixed in a little sauce and covered in Parmesan (which I grate with a microplane now)
Here's the problem with tiny pasta, I ate 3 bowls! I feel like I'm going to explode. I look pregnant right now. But it was so worth it-I loved every bite & am beyond comforted! I plan on having it for breakfast lunch & dinner until its gone! If I had one of her meatballs right now-vegetarianism be damned, I would smash it into my bowl so fast!
Tonight I'm planning on watching Gordan Ramsey's new cooking show on the couch under a blanket.
Have a great night!
