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This is one of those “go to” recipes from my mom’s recipe book. It’s totally delicious and a complete snap to make. Bow Tie Pasta with Sausage in Tomato Cream Sauce is also the perfect dish for entertaining. Make it the day before, pop in the fridge overnight and reheat on the stove top as your company arrives. Guess what? It actually tastes better the second day!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings remove and crumbled
1/2 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
1/2 c. diced onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 oz.) Italian plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/2 tsp. salt
12 oz. bow tie pasta (With the 1.5 cups of whipping cream, it is hardly heart healthy)
3 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Notes: If I am just making this dish for me and Mr. D, I will often prepare it with pre-cooked sweet italian chicken sausage (sliced thin) and whole wheat bow-tie pasta. It tastes fabulous – and is *slightly* healthier than using white flour pasta and regular sausage.

Directions:
Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and pepper flakes. Cook until sausage is no longer pink, stirring frequently. Add onion and garlic to skillet and cook until onion is tender and sausage is light brown. Add tomatoes, cream and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until tender. Serve sauce over pasta, garnish with chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese.

E N J O Y !

Recently I’ve been overwhelmed by baby shower offers,  which is an incredibly pleasant thing to be overwhelmed by if you ask me. However, as someone who didn’t really intend on having a shower (maybe an open house type after baby?) I haven’t given any thought at all to a registry. When a close friend brought up the idea once again I said yes and the planning began. I would have preferred to use alternate registry options, such as my personal favorite Wishpot, but the host (who is also a mother to an 8 month old) advised creating one at a physical location as well. I chose Babies”R”Us for its close proximity to my apartment, making returns easier just in case any well-intentioned guests decided to veer off the registry and pick up items we know we won’t use, and set about creating an online wish list of things I’d be able to open with a genuine smile.

My favorite item found on my Wishpot registry. I’m sure my organic farmer father would love to see his first grand-baby wearing this! From seller Twig and Closer on Etsy.

Aside from the daily “registry update” emails I seem to be unable to escape from, creating this second registry wasn’t so bad. Except at the very beginning, when they forced me to put down my due date to continue the sign-up process! Though I’ve been a bit more liberal about tossing it out toward the end, for the most part my exact due date has been held close. I’ve heard the stories from other women, detailing how miserable those last few weeks are, which is often compounded by the endless inquiries dropped in casual conversation by well-intentioned yet clueless strangers making jokes along the lines of “You still haven’t had that baby yet?” Trust me, with cankles, tiny feet in her ribs, trips to the bathroom on the hour every hour, heartburn, and the inability to lift herself off the floor, she would like to be able to provide you with an answer other than “Nope, not yet” accompanied by a rather forced smile.

This is why, on the Babies”R”Us registry… I lied. I pushed the date back by several days, hoping it might eliminate some of those questions for me. When people ask when I’m due, instead of responding with a due date, I give a due month, April. According to the American College of Midwives, only 5% of babies are born on their actual due date. Baby is considered full term at 37 weeks and can bask in my uterus for about 42, and so I think it’s silly to pinpoint a specific date on the calendar. As my belly gets bigger, and I start to look more miserable, I’m going to hold firm to my belief in the due date. There is no magic number, baby will come when s/he is ready and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Will you join me in my anti due-date campaign?

Let’s rephrase the question from “When are you due?” to “What month are you due?”.  That way, the woman can decide what route she wants to take. If voicing the actual due date is important to them they can, but if they’re like me they’ll be free to answer however they please.

Oh, and if I respond to your question (no matter how you phrase it) with “April”, please don’t lean in and say “I mean, what day?” I feel bad when I feel cornered into telling lies, even little white ones that save my sanity.

As you may recall from my post about beach inspired interior decor, we were asked to be in Florida for an interview the week before last. Mr. D has been talking to this company off and on for the last year about this job position – it was supposed to be the meeting that determined whether or not we were going to stay put in New York City, or relocate to Southern Florida. Par for the course, the interview was never scheduled. We’re still waiting with baited breath.

We’ve been living without a cocktail table in front of our sofa since early December. Finally, we broke down and requested time at our storage facility in the Bronx. This past Friday morning, we liberated our glass table from storage. Hooray!! The addition of one simple piece has kicked me into nesting mode! I am totally dying to fill this spot on the wall over our Ballard Designs Terrific Table.

I’d like to put the Eagan Mirror from Pottery Barn in the empty spot on the wall to the right in the photo above.

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We’re lucky enough to have a large patio in our new apartment. While I love grilling and lounging in the sun with a good book as much as the next person, I must confess the biggest reason our patio excites me: GARDENING! The patio of our last apartment was always too windy for anything to prosper, but I’m hopeful that the interesting angles of our new patio will provide protection from the wind and offer both sun and shade.

I’ve so missed having my own herbs right outside to use while cooking (seriously, I grit my teeth every time I have to buy basil at the store, which is weekly). And I love the thought of trying to grow greens and vegetables in containers, too – maybe as practice for the “real” garden we might have someday. Here are some images from my urban patio garden inspiration folder that have me eager to dig in (winkwink) and get started:

Even the tiniest spaces can accommodate container gardens, depending on your conditions. I mean, if this apartment can do it…

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Herbs galore! Going vertical is so smart.

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Are you ready for the easiest impressive gourmet DIY you’ve ever seen? (Ok, maybe not EVER, but it’s pretty easy).  Two words for you: Rosemary Salt. You’ve already probably figured that out from the post title. So away we go!

You will need:

-1 cup of sea salt, your choice (they say there’s a difference in qualities of sea salt but darned if I can tell the difference, so I just use whatever’s on sale)
-1/4 cup packed fresh rosemary
-Jar in which you can put your salt (can’t say this enough: save your old glass jars!!)

Step 1: Measure.

Step 2 Put in food processor.

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