More Yummy-ness

Robin's summer recipe round up the other day reminded me of a recipe I got to taste about two years ago when she made it but hadn't tried it yet myself. It was so good I can't believe I forgot about it. Perfect for the summer.

Pasta with Fresh Corn Pesto!

It takes a little bit of prep time but it's totally worth it. Here's what you will need:

• 4 bacon slices, cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 6 large ears)
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced (I used two HUGE garlic cloves and it was great!)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used less because I don't love this kind of heat. I prefer the heat to come from garlic)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 ounces tagliatelle or fettuccine
• 3/4 cup coarsely torn fresh basil leaves, divided

Here are the directions:
Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown, stirring often. All pasta sauce recipes should start with bacon. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet. Add corn, garlic, 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt, red pepper flakes, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to drippings in skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat until corn is just tender but not brown, about 4 minutes.
Transfer 1 1/2 cups corn kernels to small bowl and reserve. Scrape remaining corn mixture into processor. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pine nuts. With machine running, add olive oil through feed tube and blend until pesto is almost smooth. I have a very small food processor so I did this in two batches and it was fine. Set pesto aside.
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking liquid. Don't be like me and forget this part and pour out all the water. You can't get it back. I still used water to thin a little but the pasta water would have been better. Return pasta to pot. Add corn pesto, reserved corn kernels, and 1/2 cup basil leaves. Toss pasta mixture over medium heat until warmed through, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper.
Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves and reserved bacon. Serve pasta, passing additional grated Parmesan alongside.

I will be eating this a few more times this week. Heat it up at work and watch people become jealous of your lunch as they smell the bacon and garlic. As with regular pesto, I think that it would be great to make a batch (or a double batch) of this sauce while corn is in season and then freeze it for later. Then I can use smaller portions of it at a time if I don't want tons of left overs.

Opinions Requested

I need your opinions please. I feel like it's time to change up my bedding. Since my bed is in my living room, I have to look at it a lot and it's time for a change. I love what I have now. It's a dark brown with a cream paisley pattern. I love a paisley pattern! But, it's kind of dark and I'd like to lighten things up. I was looking at the Pottery Barn catalog the other day and, of course, I found some things that I like. I may not get these exact ones but I need help narrowing down what I'm looking for. A couple of things to keep in mind about my apartment. The two walls that my bed is next two are a darker gray-blue and I'm not re-painting. I have some other pillows on my bed that are in golds and reds and blues. I could change those up but it took me about two years to finally get around to them so I'm not eager to get rid of them. I have an awesome pink chair that I really like.

Ok, here's what I'm thinking:

1. A classic stripe in white and sandalwood. It's classic. It's neutral. 

2. This pretty blue pattern. It's lighter. The blue is different enough that it wouldn't clash with my walls.

3. Basic white or ivory with a little texture. This is originally what I was thinking when I wanted a change. Goes with everything. A good investment.

4. Then there is this fun pattern in Marigold. Blue and yellow is a good combo. It's bright and cheery. Wouldn't go with my existing throw pillows but might be worth it.

Thoughts?

Maybe I'll start a diary

I left church early today so that I could get home before the Pride parade and hide out for the rest of the afternoon. Flipping through the channels, I found Bridget Jones' Diary on tv and since it was between that and a Miley Cyrus movie, I opted for the Diary. When the movie first came out I remember not liking it at all. I don't for Renee Zellweger as an actress at all (her eyes are never open and she mumbles) and I hadn't yet learned to appreciate Colin Firth. After that, I never really gave it a shot again.
This afternoon, I found it entertaining. I think that this time, I relate to it more. I know, it's silly. But, kind of true. I've had the feeling that I'm going to end up a spinster. I've had the urge to just stay at home drinking tequila and dancing to oldies (don't worry, I haven't done that). I regularly make a fool of myself around guys I think are cute. Thankfully, there are some differences. I can cook (I've never made blue soup) and I've never slept with my boss. Unfortunately, I don't have two men fighting over me. I don't even have one man chasing after me.
So, maybe I'll start a diary and start working out more. And then I should probably pay more attention to that online dating profile I've been ignoring.

Hiding on a Saturday night

This weekend is Pride weekend in Chicago. I live in an area call Boystown. That means that my neighborhood is nuts this weekend. Tomorrow is the big parade. Tonight everyone just gets drunk. So, I have now gone into hiding. I will emerge tomorrow for church and then quickly return home for the rest of the day.
This evening, I will find a movie on TV, eat my BBQ chicken pizza and drink some sangria. Not a bad night at all.
If you want to make some really yummy BBQ pulled chicken, I'll tell you how. Put a stick of butter, a little BBQ sauce and some chicken in a crock pot and put it on low for 2-4 hours, depending on how much chicken is in there. If it's looking a little dry, add some water as well. The chicken should totally fall apart when you try to take it out.
Today I made this to bring dinner to some friends that had a baby recently. They can heat up the chicken and put it on some fresh pretzel rolls and you have a great sandwich. I used the rest of it on a pizza for myself tonight. Simple and yummy (although not very photogenic so there are no photos).

It's all about the defense

I don't know about you but I was not blessed with long skinny legs. I was blessed with short, let's call them muscular, legs. When I walk, my legs touch. In the winter when I wear pants or tights all the time, it's not really such a big deal other than a little extra wear in the area where they touch. In the summer though, I like to wear dresses without tights or nylons. This means that my skin can get just a little raw at the end of a long day of walking around.
Then someone told me about this:

Simply put, this is a life changer! I knew about things like this that are primarily used by athletes and I had tried one kind a long time ago. But, I found that it really wasn't much help for me. Oddly enough, those knids all pretty much sweated away and were useless after a couple of hours. Then someone told me that Gold Bond had come out with a new product and I saw it in the drug store one day and decided to give it a shot. It was under $8 and it looks and works just like a deoderant. You glide it on your skin where needed and go about your day. It forms this protective barrier that reduces friction when your skin rubs together. You can also use it on areas where your skin rubs against fabric and gets irritated.
This stuff really does work all day! I used it the day of Operation Cupcake when I was walking around all day in a dress and I had no irritation all day long.
I would guess I'll have to buy one more stick of this about half way through this summer if I continue to use it on a regular basis. But, $16 for a summer free of irritation (at least of this kind) is totally worth it!

Some updates

I think I keep telling you all that I'll keep you posted but I haven't really been doing that. So, here's a bit of a random update from some semi-recent posts.
1. I've tried several of my new products from my first Birchbox. They have been ok. I'm glad I got to try them but so far none of them would be worth paying full price for except maybe the cheek stain. Maybe. Hey, now I know not to waste my money on those things.
2. I didn't end up speaking last Sunday in church. There was a slight mix up. Not to worry, I'll be speaking this Sunday instead. One would think I would have worked more on what I was going to say now that I had more time but I haven't. I still have no idea what to say.
3. I'm very glad that so many of you think that cereal is an acceptable dinner and that I'm not the only one with strange eating habits. I had chips and salsa for dinner tonight.
4. Online dating has been a bust so far. It's probably due to the fact that I've hardly been on to look at things and haven't had the energy to really care. I'll have to devote some time to it this weekend. For some reason, every guy on the site hasn't been overjoyed that I'm there yet and contacted me.
5. The only good thing about 'Operation Cupcake' was the chance to eat a lot of yummy mini cupcakes. Otherwise it was just a lot of walking around in the heat trying to find people who didn't know that we were trying to find them.

Question of the day

Today, during Operation Cupcake, while my co-worker and I were wandering around trying to locate people at the far ends of the earth, we had a lot of time for random conversations. At one point we were chatting about how miserable it can be to cook during the summer because it just heats up the entire house. I made a comment about a favorite summer dinner of mine being a bowl of cereal. It's quick, it doesn't heat up my house, it has a little bit of nutrition and I'm usually not all that hungry anyway at the end of a hot day. As soon as I mentioned cereal for dinner, he emphatically yelled 'No! That is NOT an acceptable dinner.' Apparently, he and his wife have this conversation frequently.

So, here is my question: Is cereal acceptable for dinner?