Octopiggy !!!! Land sea and some Farfalle!!!!

You're probably thinking, “this is one weird recipe”. No - calamari and sausage go great together. This recipe is actually one of the most requested dishes at my restaurant, especially in winter. It is very filling and tends to be a whole meal. Me, you, this pasta, some crusty bread ….. Hello! Can you say heaven??

Bring 1 gallon of water to a boil and cook 1 pound farfalle. Drain from water and run under cold water to stop cooking. Hold the pasta on the side.

Farfalle, Sausage and Calamari

Cooked farfalle – 1 pound

Sweet Italian sausage – 6 links

Calamari cleaned and cut

into ½ inch rings – 1 pound

Extra virgin olive oil – 1 ½ cup

Garlic cloves – 20

Crushed red pepper flakes – ½ teaspoon

Parmigiano cheese – 1 cup

Heavy cream – 1 cup

Cut the garlic into thin slices. Remove the sausage meat from its casing. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil then the garlic. Sauté for 1 minute then add the sausage. With a wooden spoon, break up the sausage while you cook it. When the sausage is cooked turn the heat up to high. Add the calamari and quickly sauté until cooked. Toss in the pasta. Sauté for one minute, then add the heavy cream and cook for 2 more minutes. Season with the red pepper flakes. Serve with warm Italian bread, your favorite wine and love.

Simple things for simple people

There is nothing better then some home style cooking. One of my favorite dishes (and the food i crave most) is a simple roast chicken. There is one requirements to being a great roast bird... first.. the skin has got to be crispy!!!!! this is so very important. The way to get a good crisp skin is to first wash your bird then dry it off very well (ohh i cut my bird in 1/2.. it cuts the cooking time down) I then let the bird sit in the fridge for an hour or 2 uncovered to dry a little more. I then make a mixture of olive oil and herbs. I mix about 1/2 a cup of olive oil, garlic, parsley, sage, rosemary, salt and pepper together and rub the bird down with it. OK heres the best part. I then cut up potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato and onions and whole cloves of garlic. Now i season the vegetables then lay the vegetables on the bottom of the pan and place my 1/2 chicken (skin side up) on top of them. The fat and flavor from the chicken helps to flavor and marinade the vegetables. OMG just thinking about this makes me hungry... There is nothing on this earth that says Fall better then the smell of roasted chicken. Well i hope i have inspired you to do some cooking TTY

MVP

:)

Snow White's Poison Apple

Hey just wanted to put up some pictures of the carmel apples made. I came up with some fun packaging for them!!! I put them in plastic party bags and label them"snow White's poison apple" i also burn the card to give it a vintage look.... hope u like them its easy and it a great party idea!!

I also made some other cool little thing... I mad a jar of "DIRT" its ground oreo cookies that i grind in a foodroses and mix with gummy worms... i then put it in a jar and top it off with coconut that i color with green food coloring... IT LOOKS LIKE THE REAL THING!!! and the kids (big and small... love it) i attache a pic of that too. Well i hope i gave you some fun Halloween ideas ......XOXOX

M V P

Carmel Apples

So i spend my evening making carmel apples and i cant believe how easy it is. Well at first it took me some time to find a recipe that gave a recipe for carmel... most of the recipes out there tell you to buy carmel squares and melt them (lame) So after i located the recipe i set off to make these sinful delights. I grew up on carmel apples (with nuts.... HELLO!!!!) i have made them before but always out of a package never from scratch...

This is the recipe i found and LOVE!!!!!! here is the link....

I did change it around a little bit!!!!!! I added almond extract and only added 2/3 cup butter

i make 3 batches one had pepper and cinnamon added to the recipe (they where so good) the second had kosher salt on the outside of the carmel (just a sprinkle... yum sweet and salty) and the third was plain.

This is not my recipe but i will post a new one (i think this recipe could use a tweak or two)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter (no substitutes)
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 8-10 wooden sticks
• 8-10 medium tart apples

Directions

1. 1

   Insert 1 wooden stick into each apple.

2. 2

   In a heavy saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and milk; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

3. 3

   Cook and stir until a candy thermometer reads 248 degrees (firm ball stage) about 30-40 minutes and for a softer caramel cook just to a few less degrees.

4. 4

   Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

5. 5

   Dip each apple into hot caramel mixture; turn to coat.

6. 6

   Holding by the stick, sprinkle with nuts or whatever you desire while the caramel is still warm.

7. 7

   Set on generously buttered wax paper to cool (make certain to generously butter the paper).

8. 8

   Note: if making a double recipe make two recipes in two separate pots.