Ever since I can remember, pasta has been my favorite thing to eat. I love all kinds of pasta: spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli, macaroni and cheese, pasta salad, etc. Pasta was also the first thing I learned how to cook. What kind of pasta did I cook? Kraft macaroni and cheese in the blue box. It was the cheesiest after all!! Since then I have cooked so many pots of pasta, but it was my love for pasta that got me in the kitchen in the first place. Was there something that you loved that got you into the kitchen? Do you remember the first thing you ever cooked?? I'll be asking you again later.
For my 101st post, I decided to cook a pasta dish from Tyler Florence. I've had my eye on this recipe for Penne Pasta for a long time. I had to adapt the recipe slightly. I used canned artichokes hearts instead of fresh. I also used a spoonful of tomato paste instead of chopped tomato. Additionally, I left out the peas because I didn't have any. The pasta was very bright from the lemon and very fresh tasting with the artichokes, lemon and olives. The tomato paste created a pretty color and a nice tomato flavor. I really enjoyed this as a light lunch. I think it could even be eaten cold as a pasta salad.
Now onto the giveaway!! I have a part-time job at one of the most fun places up at the mall.....LUSH FRESH HANDMADE COSMETICS. Everything is handmade up in Canada and shipped to us fresh. We have all sorts of goodies: bath bombs, bubble bars, solid shampoo bars, lotions, skincare, fresh face masks, handmade soaps, etc. This giveaway is for two products!! One of our BESTSELLING bath bombs......SEX BOMB (see below). Drop this bath bomb into the bath for a jasmine scented bath and enjoy the light pink colored water!!
The second part of the giveaway is for one bar of extra-virgin olive oil soap. This soap is great in the shower or great by the kitchen sink. It has a very gentle lather and a very light floral scent which comes from the fresh EVOO. This is a great and moisturizing soap.
Remember earlier when I asked you about the first thing you ever cooked? Please leave a comment sharing the first dish you ever made. I'm really excited to see all the different answers.Each comment will receive one entry into the giveaway. The giveaway will go on for one week, ending at midnight next Friday. I will announce the winner next Saturday and mail them their prize. I will do the giveaway the the old-fashioned way. All names will go into a hat and one will be chosen by this little guy below. He plays fair, I promise : )
This is my entry this week for Tyler Florence Fridays. Head on over there to see what everyone else is cooking up.
I love pasta, too, but it isn't the first "dish" I remember cooking. No, that would be toasted mozzarella. Yes, I did say toasted and I didn't mean on a sandwich. When mom wasn't around, I would spear a big hunk of mozzarella on her big fork and hold it over the gas flame until it got nice, blistery char marks--yes, and made a mess, which I'd clean up after devouring the melted cheese. Your little one is a cutie.
ReplyDeleteHi! Fun to find your blog! You've got some great looking stuff, it will be fun to explore!
ReplyDeleteYay...happy 101 :D My first dish ever cooked was probably just plain old spaghetti. I loved to make spaghetti w/ garlic bread as a kid!
ReplyDeleteI'd have to say that my first dish I remember cooking was pasta too. Lasagna, specifically. Although, that was when I was a little girl. It wasn't until years later that I really "got into" cooking. And the dish that sent me down the current path was homemade egg rolls!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my site. Such a small world that your parents lived on the Shore! It's definitely a great place to live and raise a family.
Great giveaway too. I live for baths...and bath paraphernalia. lol.
Hi :) Thanks for the comment on my blog :) I LOVE yours too. I adore Tyler too...he's such a hottie :) I haven't tried any of his recipes yet, unless you count his dishes at Applebee's ;) I will have to join Tyler Florence Fridays! Oh...my first dish wasn't pasta...it was a Pilsbury boxed cake mix. That's not really a dish...more of a dessert..but hey..it got me in the kitchen :)
ReplyDeleteHi :) thanks for visiting my site. Cool blog. I love all the tyler florence recipes, he's awesome. Will have to try this pasta dish. Always looking for new and cool dinners to impress the fussy hubby :D
ReplyDeleteThis pasta dish sounds wonderful Kim.. Love the artichokes in there.
ReplyDeleteYour little one is a cutie pie!
My first dish I cooked was when I was 10, and .. gasp.. it was shake and bake pork chops .. I still remember my poor mom having to clean about the 50 dishes I used to make such a simple dish. And complaining bout it, while my dad laughed.
I am a huge pasta fan, too! I could literally eat it EVERY night!!! As for the first dish I ever made, well...you've got me stumped! I likely made a cake or cookies of some sort, but when I moved out and first lived on my own, it was likely a good, hearty spaghetti sauce. (I'm a big fan of something I can make in bulk and eat on throughout the week...especially when I was in college and now that I have the two little ones!)
ReplyDeleteWe really do seem to live parallel lives, don't we? I love pasta, I LIVE for pasta....unfortunately, my butt doesn't agree!
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I ever cooked? Well, the first thing I remember cooking was my dad letting me help him make Sunday morning pancakes. But, when I first got interested in cooking was when I got back from living in Spain when I was 16, and I was determined to make paella! And I did! I call that my first real dish.
The first thing I ever cooked was provalone cheese. You fry it and it becomes stringy. As kids my brother and sister called it zooey ooey. I love pasta too. I would eat it every day if I could.
ReplyDeleteI don't really remember the first thing I cooked - I remember making a lemon/coconut cake when I was little, but I'm not sure if that was the first thing! This pasta dish sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Lush! I don't know which would be worse for me...working in a gourmet cooking shop or a Lush store...but on to the story of first things cooked...
ReplyDeleteOne of the first things I remember assaulting in the kitchen was venison round steak...I won't credit myself with the term "cooking"... It had a bit of a gamey taste I wanted to kill...so I added garlic salt, and onion salt, seasoned salt, Worchestershire sauce...and salt and pepper. Talk about salty! The gaminess was gone, but the salt like to killed us!
I loved this dish when I made it! And yes pasta is my obsession as well. I think it has a disproportionate number of entries on my blog!
ReplyDeleteI have always loved pastas too! This dish looks great!
ReplyDeleteI think the first thing I EVER made was something in my Easy Bake oven- but that doesn't count!=). The REAL first thing I ever made was no-bake chocolate oatmeal drop cookies.
ReplyDeleteYour pasta looks great--sorry we missed it in the round-up last week. ;-( Happy Post #101, I want a part-time job at Lush--I love their stuff! The first thing I cooked was my version of ice cream pie when I was like 5 or 6--it invloved melting ice cream and refreezing it in a pie plate with srpinkles on top! ;-)
ReplyDeletePasta is my favourite too. Looks delish!
ReplyDeleteI love Lush, I didn't realize it was Canadian. Woohoo! Go us!
The first time I made dinner, I made it for a friend and two boys. We were all about 13. I made spaghetti. My stepfather had mentioned that it had to cook for hours.
He didn't know that I was using a jar sauce.
I cooked it for hours.
We had to order a pizza.
Luckily I have grown since then...
Coming over from TFF. I love this contest! I was going to say something from the easy bake oven too, something real? I can't remember, but I'm sure it was terrible. My kids are learning with the blue box already, so I think they will be ahead of me. This pasta sounds wonderful, especially for the summer.
ReplyDeleteHey, there is a Lush here in Ottawa (I can't go in it, I'm allergic to perfume). Are you around here or in Toronto?
ReplyDeleteCongrats on post #101, the pasta sounds fabulous.