Nored No More:

I've not quilted a SINGLE THING since February, which is why you haven't seen anything from me. Public Apology. Bizzy, bizzy around here.

But I've crawled out from under the pile of objectives I'm writing and reviewing to make a dish to take to work tomorrow for a colleague's baby shower. She's a vegetarian, and I had no go-to dishes. After consulting with my mother, and then feeling too lazy to make anything she recommended, I decided that the angel hair pasta they sell at the Market Cafe at Wegman's was going to be my meal.

HOWEVER - I have a HUGE problem in that I can't *stand* taking store-bought stuff to places where you're asked to bring a dish. I don't know why I can't do it, but I can't. So I googled pasta recipes, and that was a total fail. Then I went to Smitten Kitchen and googled pasta recipes, and that was a total win. I've made some of her stuff before, and it always turns out amazing and ends up being something I make over and over again. So the recipe totally came from her, but I altered it in that hers is a summer recipe using goodies from the farmer's market, and mines a spring recipe using goodies from the produce, frozen foods, and veggie aisle at Harris Teeter. You can see the original recipe here. But check it:

Pea and Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Small bag of frozen peas, nuked and then thrown in an ice bath

Sugar snap peas blanched, tossed in an ice bath, and slide thin on the diagonal (so if you think you see something that looks like a sliced scallion, it's not - it's a snap pea).

Jar of roasted red peppers, a shallot, some oil and vinegar, some salt and pepper zipped through the food processor.

Toss it all together with some pasta. BAM. You're done.

Smitten Kitchen also said the sauce (which makes about 2 cups but you only need a cup for the pasta) (oh - and it's really a vinaigrette - I don't know why I keep thinking "sauce") could go on a bunch of things. I had extra peas, and a can of white (cannellini) beans - so I mixed those all together with the sauce and WHOA. I most definitely have a new favorite go-to dish/meal.

Raise your hand if you missed Charlie Boy!

How cute is he chewing apart his (MADE IN CHINA!) duck:

(the plastic blob on the right is what made the duck HONK-HONK like a real duck/goose/whatever)

And in case you wondered where he hangs out these days, especially while I'm cooking, I'll leave you with this photo, which MAY contain some clues....