Something I need to remind myself of...

Gnocchi fail...

Gnocchi - starts off like this...

I love being home from work! Love the luxury of time to do things you have been needing/wanting to do for months. Like sweep up all the lint dust bunnies that cover my laundry floor. (Check!) Or make gnocchi from scratch and revel in my success. There are few things in life I adore as much as gnocchi - it is absolute perfection, the way I see it.

And ends up like this... ideally!

Well, not the way I made it. I will probably try again. As soon as the disappointment of watching my little dumplings dissolve into floating lumps of potato lessens slightly. At least I can say I've tried it! Here's how it went:

Me: They might not work. I've never done this before.
Hubby: They will. Everything you make works. Except for that one time.

NOTE: There were actually two times - the time he forgot, I cooked a delicious steak with the BBQ closed (hazard of being raised by practically vegetarians, no idea how to cook red meat!), and it shriveled into a tiny, jerky-esque piece of crispiness, so we went out for dinner. And another time, I tried some spanish lemon chicken recipe I found online and it honestly tasted like poison. Either there was a typo in the recipe or I misread it, but it was hilarious becaue we'd been arguing and it was completely feasible that I'd be trying to poison him - we laugh about it to this day.

Anyway, the water boils, the gnocchi are plopped in and...

Me: It didn't work :( We should get take out!
Hubby: What do you mean it didn't work? I mean, can we still eat it? What would it taste like?
Me: Really soggy, lumpy mashed potatoes
Hubby: Yum!
Me: We are NOT eating that.

A bag of penne saved the day, sauced with the sauteed mushrooms in brown butter sauce that I'd made for the gnocchi. I'm not quite ready to try again yet!

Tamale Festival!

Moving to Tucson when I was fifteen, there were a LOT of things that were new to me. Sure, we speak the same language, which is a BIG common denominator, but things are still pretty different here. And in the Southwest, there are more unique experiences that were completely new to us. Take, for example, tamales. I love them. Like tasty little presents, wrapped in corn husks and served steaming hot on wintery nights. I make a little batch every year, for my hubby and I. Anyway, this weekend, we found ourselves in Indio, at the International Tamale festival. Apparently that's a thing!

There were tamales from everywhere (even Canada, I heard, although I didn't see those while wandering around), all different kinds and it was a fun atmosphere with live music on several different stages, carnival rides and arts and crafts booths. I can't say I'd drive out to Indio especially for it, but lots of people do, apparently thousands of people attend over the course of two days. I'm glad we were able to enjoy a day there!

It's the little things in life...

Like this tiny, indescribably delicious tub of the WORLD'S MOST AMAZING GELATO that my friend recommended. Do you like salted caramel? I am a tad obsessed with it at the moment. Do you like gelato on a hot day? Never mind whether you like hot days in October - that's besides the point. But GELATO makes everything better, even weather that seems like evidence that points to global warming, climate change and enormous problems for future generations... ALL forgotten with one spoonful of THIS. Try it. Savor it. Try NOT to overindulge - I dare you. One spoonful feels a bit like crossing the line :P


I found this creamy deliciousness at Target!!