Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia con Granchio

My cousin recently received a promotion and could not turn down a great opportunity to live in Las Vegas.  I am saddened by him leaving San Francisco because I have such great memories hanging out with him and he was definitely one of the reasons I ultimately fell in love with the city. While I will be losing family up here in the Bay area, I wish him and his family all the best. I can't wait to visit Las Vegas and see how they're doing in the future.

Since my cousin's moving date is fast approaching, he gave me some squid ink pasta (from my aunt's trip to Italy) and some crab meat to use. I researched a couple of recipes online and decided that I would put two of my favorite ones (incorporating ingredients that I liked) into one. The result was delicious and I will definitely have to make more crab pasta again since it was pretty simple, fast, and easy to create.

Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia con Granchio

Yields about 4 servings

Ingredients

½ pound squid ink pasta

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup jarred sweet pickled / smoked  peppers (Trader Joe's has a good one)

1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

Garlic cloves to preference, very thinly sliced (I use a lot because I love garlic)

⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 cup white wine

2 tablespoons tomato paste

8 ounces fresh lump crab-meat
¼ cup basil leaves, shredded
1 1/2 cup of cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 lemon juiced
Lemon zest for garnish

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until al dente.
2. While the pasta cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic begins to become fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt, and cook until the tomatoes begin to break down and release their juices, about 5 minutes. Add the sweetened/smoked peppers and cook until peppers are softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the white wine, lemon juice, and tomato paste, increase the heat to medium-high and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Lower the flame and add in the cream, stirring to combine until the tomato paste is well mixed with the cream. Keep warm over low heat. Season as needed.
3. When the pasta is done, drain it, reserving a few tablespoons of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss to coat with the sauce, moistening it with the reserved pasta water as desired.
4. Just before serving, add the crabmeat and basil to the sauce and toss gently. Divide the pasta evenly among 4 plates, garnish with lemon zest, and serve immediately.

Salute!

Lobster Bash

After a long, tiring, and lonely week (Z was away at an academic conference in Michigan), the weekend was a nice needed break. I picked up Z from the airport on Saturday and we headed straight for the Santa Cruz harbor to meet up with his family for an annual Lobster Bash. What is a Lobster Bash and is it really just as violent as it sounds? Well, it is a group of friends coming together and cooking food, eating lobster, drinking, gossiping...nothing much to it. All I know is that there is just so much butter flowing that Paula Deen would be there in a second if she could. This year, the weather in Santa Cruz was amazing! It reached the 70's and there was no cloud lingering in the sky at all.  I forgot to take pictures of my outfit or actually just anything else at all because I was too excited for the beautiful ocean/beach background and the yummy lobster feast. 

Outfit Details:

White & Black Strip Cropped T-shirt // F21

Black High Waisted Jeans // UO

Red Punch hole sandals // Madewell

Brown Leather Backpack // Thrifted

Down below is the huge lobster tail I received along with a nice Caesar salad, garlic bread, clams (not pictured), roasted potatoes, and endless butter. The surrounding harbor was so picturesque with sail boats, kayaks, and little motor boats zipping by while we sat on the beach. This was not my first time participating in the lobster bash. Z and I went a couple years ago. You can see some of the photos I took here.

After the Lobster Bash, Z and I headed back home to San Francisco. Z was pretty tired from going straight from the airport to the Lobster Bash so we had a nice lazy Sunday back in the city. For dinner, perhaps in honor of the last episode of Break Bad, we decided to eat at El Pollo Supremo located in the Outer Mission. It was delicious and cheap--which means that Z and I will definitely be back for future meals. After picking up dinner, we came home to a lazy pug lounging about on the couch. He woke up briefly to play with his new favorite toy (a plush soccer ball) and to eat, but that was the extent of his activity for the day. Oh man...what a life!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! What did you guys do? I'm hoping this work week will go by quickly! Pugs and Kisses, Sam. 

Bella Vista

Z's parents gave us a groupon for nice French restaurant in Woodside called Bella Vista that we decided to use for our 5 year anniversary dinner. The drive there from the city was a bit scary since we had to drive up a tiny two lane road through forested area. I couldn't help but have flashbacks of all the scary movies I used to watch as a child about the crazy serial killer coming through the woods out to get me while menacingly waving a machete or chainsaw. After driving  the small winding road for what seemed like an eternity, we finally came upon the little cabin-like restaurant. The entrance area had a lovely fireplace going while we waiting for our table to be ready. The tables of the restaurant are facing wall to wall windows where diners can view the city lights amidst the redwood trees. The view was as the restaurant's namesake mentioned--beautiful.

The sitting area in the ladies restroom had the most lovely wood paneling and floral paintings hanging up. I felt completely ridiculous snapping all these photos, but it is not everyday that Z and I go to a nice classy restaurant. For appetizer, Z and I shared a bell pepper soup and some mussels. Immediately following this, the waiter served us a lime champagne sorbet. At this point, I thought it was so cool. (I had already drank 2 glasses of wine since we brought our own bottle to share.) After the sorbet, we had our entrees. I had the special of the night--lamb in wine reduction sauce, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Z had  Veau au Poivre--Sauted Veal with Green Peppercorns in a light Dijon Mustard Sauce with the same sides. We both tried a bit of each other's dishes and everything was delicious. For dessert, we shared a Grand Mariner souffle which was definitely more grand mariner than actual souffle...which was fine for 4 wine glass me.

I decided to wear my velvet dress from Vanessa of The Velvet Bird's holiday collection. All her dresses fit me like a dream and this velvet number is my new favorite dress. I added a cardigan clip of gold roses that I found on Etsy to add a little extra special something to my fancy collar.  If I could, I would probably wear this dress every single day! When we arrived back to the apartment, there was an anxious little pug waiting for us. His eyes were so sad and pleading that I just had to take a photo. Don't worry Finnegan...I only have pug eyes for you.

Outfit Details:
Velvet Collar Dress // The Velvet Bird
Gold Rose Cardigan Clip // Etsy
Black Mary Janes // Ebay
Brown Coat // H&M

Pumpkin Pies & Turkey Thighs

I just finished my finals last week so now I am free to blog again! Thanksgiving was wonderful and there were fifty billion different types of pumpkin desserts, which was not exactly a bad thing. My sister is a master chef and was in charge of the main dish for the evening--the turkey! Z and I contributed some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and raspberries. Since I live so far away from my family now, I really cherish these times that we can get together. We played a rousing game of LIFE (which I really don't remember being so long and complicated when I was younger) and talked about when the next time would be that we could all get together and eat more food! 

I am wearing a dress from Nadinoo that came right in time for Thanksgiving and is the perfect holiday dress because it hides my holiday tummy. When I received the dress I was blown away by how lovely and well made it was. It was even more beautiful in person than I could have ever imagined...and it fit like a dream! I am so glad I was able to purchase a dress of her's. I have been lusting after them for so long! How was your Thanksgiving? What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

I can't wait to see my family again this Christmas!

Outfit Details:
Lula Under the Mistletoe // Nadinoo
Grey Sheer Tights // Target

Instagram Diary // Solvang & Ostrich Land Edition

Last weekend I went home to drop off Pig dog at my family's home so that he could stay with them while Z and I go to the east coast for summer vacation.  I spent some good quality time with my sister: took ridiculous photos, laughed about stupid things, and shopped.  On Sunday, we decided to visit Solvang, a small danish tourist trap outside of Buelton, CA.  My sister and I have been to Solvang many times before when we were younger because we grew up on the Airforce base near-by. We always thought it was completely random that such a place existed in Central California, but now I am so happy that it does. We enjoyed bratwurst, sauerkraut, and other danish delights in the area.  After rekindling our love affair with Solvang, we decided to visit Ostrich Land. For $5, visitors gain admittance and are able to feed ostriches and emu's. Here are some photos that my sister and I took over the weekend:

 

 

Sorry the photos are completely out of order! Follow me on instagram here (username: samantha__louise)