biaggi's penne sardi - copycat recipe

{photo credit}

A while back, while I was visiting my Mississippi family, we went to a restaurant called Biaggi's. I ordered the butternut squash ravioli, but by mistake they brought me the "penne sardi". Well, it was an awesome mistake, because it was the best pasta dish I think I've ever had, and I eat a LOT of pasta. I searched for copycat recipes online, but there were none to be found, so I experimented with my own. This doesn't taste exactly like the restaurant's, but it's pretty darn close! I don't eat meat, so I left the chicken out of my version. You carnivores out there will have to figure out how to copy the chicken part on your own, but I have to say ... it's delicious without the chicken!

Biaggi's Penne Sardi:

serves about 6

Start with the breadcrumbs. Tear 3 pieces of bread into bite-size pieces, then blend them lightly. You don't want them too fine or they'll just burn!

They should be similar to this texture.

These seasonings, plus salt and pepper, are what I used to flavor my breadcrumbs. You'll probably want to use lots of parsley, so make sure you have at least a tablespoon or so on hand.

Spread the crumbs out on a baking dish, and cook them at 200 for about 3 minutes at a time. Take them out, and mix them up thoroughly. The crumbs on the outside are going to cook faster than the middle ones, so you want to be careful to take them out and stir them every 3 minutes! Keep going until they are golden brown and crunchy. This shouldn't take more than about 10 minutes. Now set them aside and move on to the onions and mushrooms.

Take a large pan (a cast iron skillet works best) and melt about 3 tablespoons of butter in it. Slice one large yellow onion into very thin slices, and add one cup of sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle pretty heavily with salt, stir, add more salt, stir.

This part takes about 45 minutes, but it's worth it, I promise! Keep cooking the mushrooms and onions over VERY low heat until the onions go from white and stiff, to clear and flimsy, to brown and syrupy. Use the before and after pictures above as for reference of how much they should cook down! Now you can set that aside and move on to the sauce.

I sort of use this recipe, sort of, but with lots of modifications.

• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream/ half and half
• 1 cup butter (I know)
• 1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 5 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter and cream together in a large sauce pan, and bring almost to a boil, but not quite. Stir in the cheeses until they are melted, followed by the tomatoes.  Add salt and pepper to taste, set aside.

Now it's time for the pasta! Cook about a pound and a half of white penne pasta, then drain. My husband is the official rice and pasta cooker of the house, so I let him take over here. Drain the pasta, then dump it into a large bowl. Now throw in the sauce, caramelized mushrooms and onions, an extra half cup (or more, if you'd like) shredded mozzarella cheese, and stir it all up! Pour it into a large baking dish, and top it off with more shredded mozzarella and the breadcrumbs. You may want to spritz the breadcrumbs with Pam to make sure they stay crispy.

Bake it at 350 for about 20 minutes or so, checking once or twice to make sure the breadcrumbs aren't burning.

Enjoy!

pat's, stencils, and more (happy) tears

There's a really strange, but really awesome furniture store in North Park, San Diego called Pat's. You can click here to read a great review and learn a little more about it:) Behind Pat's is a yard that is something like a furniture graveyard. I got this weird little chair with mis-matched upholstery, but beautiful, detailed wood, for about $10.

And this coffee table for $25. I have big plans for both of these pieces!

I also got this pretty wood frame for $2

I used some burlap-ish cloth as a mat, drew a charcoal sketch version of this guy, and viola! Quick, free art:)

But back to furniture: I've been wanting to try my hand at painting a design on a table-top for a while, and this sad little end table that I found by a dumpster seemed like a good piece to experiment on.

I ripped off the weird leaf, resiny thing, patched up the holes, sanded it down, primed it, and gold-leafed it.

Then I added three stripes (in 3 different thicknesses), and used a box-cutter and stencil paper to create a stencil based on this art deco-looking design.

I'm actually not that pleased with how it turned out, but it was just a practice-run anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.

And last but not least, here I am yesterday, dropping Lovely off at her residential program. I cried, (again!) but I'm very happy for her:) 

Hope everyone is having a great day!

tote-ally cute. pardon the pun.

Nearly everyone these days has a few duffel bags and tote bags stuffed under a bed or in a closet somewhere, but it all started with this guy: The Boat & Tote Bag from L.L. Bean

I grew up in an outdoorsy family, so I've always been fairly familiar with the wares from L.L Bean, Eddie Bauer, and the like. We had a few of these bags, so they definitely bring back a bit of nostalgia for me. Besides that, however, they really are incredibly sturdy and always in style.

Nowadays they come in a variety of colors, and even have an option to design your own. But in my opinion, it doesn't get any cuter or more timeless than the nautical-looking white and navy blue.

Even if you aren't a frequent traveler, these are perfect for carrying groceries, bringing books home from the library (especially if you're like me and you usually leave with armfuls), or storing toys or art supplies.

And just for the record, I'm not getting paid to say any of this;) I just really like these bags!

You may remember that a few months ago I wrote a little book review for Frankly, My Dear. Well, I've read a few books since then, but they were all kitschy Christmas books (except for one very sad Christmas book by Truman Capote which I don't think I'd recommend, too sad for the holidays), so I haven't done a book review in a while!

I just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and I loved it. If I had to sum up the book in one word, it would be "charming". It's very cute and, for the most part, a light read. It has a very colorful cast of characters, and it will leave you feeling like you know all the members of the Potato Peel Pie Society. My mother was the one who first told me about it, and it was on my list of books to be read, when my book club selected it as our next book!

It's the story of a young woman and serious book-lover, Juliet, who lives in London and writes a well-known fictional series. One day she gets a letter from an eccentric-sounding man named Dawesy, who is a resident of the island of Guernsey and a fellow book-lover. This letter from a stranger kicks off a series of events that take Juliet on a big adventure. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll stop there, but I do highly recommend this book. It takes place in the year immediately following WWII, so do prepare yourself for some disturbing facts and stories about the German occupation of Guernsey, and the bombing of London. The book definitely doesn't hold back any facts of the terribleness of the war.

One unique thing about this book is that there's no narrative. The story is entirely told through letters sent between Juliet, Sidney (her publisher), her friend, her manager, and of course .. the members of the Literary Society. I really enjoyed this twist on a novel, and it will really make you want to write long, newsy letters to all your friends.

It's very funny, very fresh, and very entertaining.

can't imagine why they didn't pick me

The London Times put out a list of the world's 50 best design blogs, and some of my very most favorite made the cut, including Design*Sponge, Apartment Therapy (number 1!), Making it Lovely, and Young House Love. You can read the complete list by clicking here. I must say, though ... Katy Elliot should have been on that list!

a first of many book reviews.

I just finished reading Frankly, My Dear: Gone With the Wind Revisited by Molly Haskell, and I found it very interesting. This book is fairly short at just over 220 pages, but it manages to cover a lot of ground. It includes the basic biographies (and a peek into the psyche of) Vivian Leigh, Margaret Mitchell and David Selznick, as well as a history of how the book came to be, behind-the-scenes stories from the making of the movie, and some very interesting comments on social and racial climates before, during, and since the book and movie were released.

Some interesting facts I learned from the book:

Mammy's character wasn't intended to be a realistic portrait of what a mature female house slave would actually say and do in those days. She is meant to be the steady force that we can rely on throughout the movie. While the other characters come and go, and change dramatically in their personalities and situations, Mammy remains the same as always. She is meant to be a mother figure to Rhett, Scarlett, and the audience.

Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Mammy, but because she was black, she was not allowed to sit in the front with the rest of the cast. Instead, she was assigned a small table in the very back of the room, with only room for herself and one guest. That made me :(

The censors seemed to have little problem allowing the scene where Rhett Butler sweeps Scarlett off her feet, carrying her up the stairs - determined to have his way with his wife, in comparison to the terrible time they gave the production about using the word "damn". They author even included an excerpt of a letter sent from Selznick to the censorship office in which he told them that even the Oxford Dictionary did not classify "damn" as a curse.

As part of a marketing and PR campaign, agents were sent from Hollywood to go through the South, pretending to be scouting for potential Scarletts. Thousands of southern women showed up to these phony auditions, convinced they were perfect for the part. One of the people in charge of these "auditions" wrote a letter to a friend, complaining that "every Miss Atlanta from the last 20 years was there". Eventually the South caught on, and published stories saying that Hollywood was just doing it to promote interest in the film. The producers quickly tried to save face by casting several southern girls to play extras in the barbecue scene.

Margaret Mitchell was a would-be Southern Belle raised in Atlanta. She got invited to debut with the other young ladies in Atlanta society, but proceeded to shock everyone at the debutante ball by performing some of her risque flapper dance moves. The Junior League was shocked and offended, and refused to allow her to join their ranks. Later, after Mitchell had written and published the book, the movie had been made, and Atlanta was to be the host of the big movie premiere, the Junior League threw a big bash (almost as expensive as the premiere party) to celebrate the cast and crew. Margaret Mitchell finally got her revenge by refusing to attend.

If you love the Civil War, old Hollywood, or the GWTW book or movie, you'll love this book. If none of these things interest you, skip it. There's little there for anyone that isn't a fan of at least one of the three. Since I am a fan of all three of those things, I give this book 3 out of 4 Waxflowers.