Farfalle with Turkey Sausage, Peppers, and Onions

This past weekend we attended the annual Easter Egg-citement at Eckert's Farm, just as we have the past two years. There were a couple differences this time, however. For one thing, it was freezing! Normally by the end of March, it's not too painful, but this past weekend it was in the 30s. I don't think it would have been quite so bad, had it not been for the wind. It was brutal! It didn't matter to the kids, though; they still had a blast. The other difference this year was that Evan is finally old enough to participate in the egg hunt! He had a lot of fun, not only with the hunt but also just running around and taking in the sights. He's definitely an outdoorsy baby! Just look at how happy he is outside on our deck.

Now, onto last night's dinner. This is one of the few recipes that I make repeatedly; most of the time I enjoy trying new ones. But this meal, from Giada De Laurentiis' cookbook Everyday Pasta, is worth making at least every couple of months. It's relatively simple to prepare, requires mostly inexpensive ingredients, and it's fabulous the next day as leftovers. Plus, it makes the house smell heavenly while it's simmering away on the stove!

Last night was the first time I actually made it with the Marsala wine that the recipe calls for. I have to say, it really did make a difference to me. Previously I had simply used chicken broth to deglaze the pan after cooking the veggies, but I thought I'd go all out this time and splurge on the bottle of Marsala. After all, it will give me an excuse to use it in other dishes. In this meal, the wine added a deeper, almost fruity flavor, and it blended surprisingly well with the tartness of the tomato paste. I recommend letting the sauce/sausage mixture simmer for at least the suggested 20 minutes, if not a half hour or more. This meal definitely benefits from a longer stay on the stovetop before hitting your plate.

Farfalle with Turkey Sausage, Peppers, and Onions

adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

serves 4-6

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 lb. sweet Italian turkey sausages
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, sliced
2 yellow onions, sliced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup Marsala wine
1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes, with juice (I pureed mine a bit)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional, but we added it in)
1 lb. farfalle pasta (Giada's recipe calls for rigatoni)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Directions
1. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown on all sides, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove sausages from the pan.
2. Keeping the pan over medium heat, add the other 1 Tbsp. oil. Add bell peppers, onion, salt, and pepper and cook until golden, 5 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and basil and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir until incorporated, then add the Marsala wine. Allow the wine to cook out a bit, scraping the bottom of the pan with a spoon to release the brown bits. After a minute or so, add the tomatoes with their juide, and the (optional) red pepper flakes. Stir to combine, then bring to a simmer.
3. Cut the sausages into 6-8 slices each, then return them to the pan. Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce has thickened, at least 20 minutes (30-40 would be even better).
4. While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the farfalle and cook according to the package directions. Drain pasta and add to the thickened sauce; toss to combine. Spoon into shallow bowls and sprinkle servings with Parmesan cheese.

A Daring Escape Attempt...and Other Stories

We just got back home yesterday afternoon after our Easter weekend out of town. Over the course of the weekend Xander decided to do a couple of things that were either ridiculous, clever, or both. It makes for good storytelling, though!

When we were trying to leave the house to go out of town on Saturday morning, I had Andy take Xander to go get coffee and gas before we headed out. While they were gone, I started setting up the house so that it looked like the Easter Bunny had come. I busted out the bag of bright, shiny, foil-wrapped chocolate eggs and carried Evan around the house while I set about hiding the eggs. I thought it would be fun for Xander to get back from our trip and walk in the house to find that he had an Easter egg hunt to go on! Just as I was almost finished hiding everything, the boys came home. Andy left Xander in the car and came inside to help me tie up loose ends.

Almost immediately, I heard the car door slam. "He's coming!" I warned Andy, so that he could go and intercept Xander. Andy ran to the door and caught him just before he burst inside. He gave Xander a couple magazines to read in the car and sent him back out. I hurried to finish what I was doing, but a minute later Xander got out of the car yet again. This time, he had a different tactic to get into the house. "I have to go poo-poo!" he yelled at us.

We scrambled to get ready for Xander to come inside. I stashed the bag of candy that I had in my hand so that he wouldn't see it, and Andy grabbed Xander and carried him to the bathroom quickly so that he couldn't look around and possibly find eggs. We left him to do his business. I went back to the kitchen and un-hid all the eggs that he would be able to see when he came out of the bathroom. Suddenly I saw out of the corner of my eye that Xander was done on the toilet. "What's going on, Xander? You're not done, are you?" I asked him. He informed me, "Oh, I didn't have to go poo-poo, Mom. I just had to pee."

I had to laugh. He's a clever operator, that one. He knew that telling us he had to go poo was probably the only way he was getting back into the house. And of course, it worked. Everything turned out fine in the end. Xander went back to the car, I brought out a couple of filled Easter baskets and set them up on our kitchen counter, and we hit the road without further incident.

However, about five minutes before we were to reach our destination, we had another mishap. Xander, having been so good for the two-plus hour drive, had finally gotten bored enough that he thought it would be fun to pull on his car door handle. Suddenly, I heard what sounded like the rear window opening. Not so. It was his door! Andy freaked out and pulled over, obviously. Everything was fine and the door didn't really open that far or anything, but it woke us all up! It especially woke Evan, who up until that point had been comfortably sleeping. I think it'll be a while before Xander tries that again!

We made it back home just as safely, although the same cannot be said for Xander's stuffed BFF, Fred. The poor doggie was left behind, and Xander is being very mature about it, although he is pretty sad. I keep telling him that he'll get Fred back in just over a week and a half, but he doesn't really understand how long that is, so every few hours he'll ask me if it's time for Fred to come home. Poor boy.

Finally, we started Evan on solid food today, a momentous occasion in his life for sure. We took some pictures, some of which are below. He did a great job of eating for the first time, but the real surprise was his big brother. Xander was so excited about the whole thing, and he wanted to participate somehow. Who knew that Xander would actually be kinda good at feeding the baby? But he totally was. Sure, he stuck the spoon too far into the baby's mouth a few times, and of course most of the food missed his mouth altogether, but it was still super cute to watch. Even cuter? Xander telling me at dinner that the chicken I made was "the best chicken I ever ate, Mom." Kids are so great for your self-esteem sometimes!