extending our vacation

In an effort to squeak the absolute last bits out of my vacation I have opted to plant myself on the couch and have my version of girlie drinks rather than get anything done. This drink was tested and ultimately honed over the last day or so and it is definitely making my Sunday afternoon a bit brighter.

Pomegranate Cosmopolitan

1 part vodka (we received a bottle of Bison Grass vodka and this turned out to be the best to bring out the drink)
1 part triple sec
1 part lime juice
1 part pomegranate juice

Toss it all in a shaker with ice, shake, and serve.

Sorry about the lack of pictures.... all efforts were thwarted. Maybe it is so delicious that it cannot appear on film?

I have not fallen off the map.....

I was just here

Our friends got hitched in a Jamaica and it ruled. However between helping them out and our travels the posts have been rather sparse. But stay tuned after the holidays.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

I have been wanting to try pasta with carbonara sauce for some time and last night the stars aligned. Sitting at work yesterday I realized that we had all the fixin's for carbonara at home. I know that I could have just gone to a restaurant, but I frankly go out for Italian food very, very rarely. Not that I do not like Italian food.... I just don't get jazzed over what generally turns out to be mediocre food that has been turned into an excuse to eat 16 pounds of mozzarella cheese. Please, I can do that on my own. There are a select few places that I will go and when I do rarely do I order pasta. It's just not my style, there are other way tasty things are to be had.

This turned out great and was a snap to throw together. I tweaked a Tyler Florence recipe sightly. I used four strips of lower sodium bacon, omitting the olive oil, the bacon grease was plenty. We also used less cheese; about 2/3cups rather than the full cup. The spaghetti was also whole wheat. It was still cheesy and wonderful. Not at all as heavy as I thought it would be. In my high class way, I likened it to pasta with butter and parmesan for big kids.

Belated Turkey Day

The Hubbs and myself hosted Turkey Day for the first time this year. It was fun, we had a houseful, and a GINORMOUS turkey. We intended on taking pictures of various wonderful dishes but alas we really only to pictures of the bird. Mostly because it was comically large.

We tried to place items of known size by it for comparison but I don't think it really captured moment. This 22 pounder was ordered from Homestead Farms about 15-20 minutes outside of Albany. The turkey was well worth the price. It was honestly one of the best tasting turkeys that I have ever had. The fact that it got to live a nice little life on a farm wandering about was very evident.

Given the sheer amount of leftovers, turkey and otherwise, the Hubbs ate pretty much a Thanksgiving dinner style supper for almost a week before the remaining turkey was transformed into Mexican turkey lasagna.