Updates, happenings, the dirt.

Aloha Amigos!

I've been gone gone gone for a while and now I'm back with a vengeance! I don't really have a good excuse, other than a couple things have happened around these here waters...

* MainSqueeze was in Hawaii, so the only real reason I ever turned my computer on at home was to Skype. Sad but true. Ok I guess there was some Netflix in there too. The winter cold and holidays had me all upside down! 

*MainSqueeze came back to the Mainland and made me the happiest girl in the world.  We're going to be Mr. & Mrs. Sizzle as of June 2015!

So life has been a bit crazy with wedding plans, jobs, moves and excitement. TheSizzle is on the upswing folks!

Just because I've been blog silent doesn't mean we haven't been doing fun stuff! I'll upload some photos here soon and take you on my culinary delight tour! Hawaii, Houston, Austin, Hill Country and my very own kitchen in our very own adorable Montrose home. 

For now, keep following me on instagram and stay tuned for new resto recs and recipes!

The Marinara of Your Dreams...

Buongiorno Sizzlers! What a spike in the weather we've had! I was NOT expecting the Arctic freeze to hit us so soon, but I'm not gonna lie.... I like it. 

Bundling up and wearing one of my many.many.many.many pair of boots makes me happy. So does the promise of Holidays soon to come! Anywho, I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday; so I decided to head to the new Whole Foods on San Felipe and Post Oak. WHAT a lovely new space. I almost spent my entire life savings in there!

I decided to whip up a couple things, and one of those was homemade Marinara sauce. I was inspired by a recent post in Bon Apetit and decided to try it out. I never used to care for red sauce until I went to Italy, but I've now become a red sauce snob. I can't help it. You try going to Italy and eating things so fresh and so utterly delightful and then try and come back and open a jar of Prego...not happening. 

And so it was born: Rigatoni in Homemade Marinara with Shaved Parmesano Reggiano

What you Need:

1 box Rigatoni pasta (I was going to use fresh made pasta but got lazy and couldn't find it in the vast aisle)

1 large can whole peeled tomatoes

1 dash of oregano

1 generous whoosh of good salt. Please don't use table salt. 

1 medium onion

1 piece of hard aged Parm/Reggiano for shaving

Fresh basil (not pictured)

What you DO:

In your pan/pot, use either Olive Oil or butter to sweat out your onion. let it sizzle and sautee until fragrant and clear, add your dash of Oregano to let the flavors come out and blend with the onion

Once the onion/oregano is fragrant and cooked well, add your can of tomatoes. I mashed them a bit with a fork to break the larger pieces down. 

Let this simmer and stir occasionally to let thicken. Meanwhile, heat your well salted pasta water. 

Once your water is at a rolling boil, add the Rigatoni, and cook until al dente. Set aside about 4 generous TB of pasta water to add to the sauce. 

Here's where you can decide what to do. I transferred my Marinara into a food processor and pulsed until it was semi-smooth, and the large chunks were gone. I returned the Marinara to the pot, gave it a taste and added salt/cracked black pepper to taste. 

Add your al dente Rigatoni to the Marinara pot and let them mingle and get to know one another. The pasta will continue to cook and the pasta will be infused by the sauce. 

One the co-mingling has gone until you are satisfied, serve pasta with a few sprigs of fresh basil, and shave your parm on top. Voila. Perfect to take the sting out of the cold and warm your bones. 

I'd really enjoy knowing who has tried one of my recipes! If you have, leave a comment and let me know! Have a lovely warm day, and I will be back with a cookie recipe to knock your woolly socks off! 

Bone Chilling Fun. #MusicMonday

Aloha Sizzlers! I hope your weekend was great, and I hope you're feeling rested, bright eyed and bushy tailed. I was basically a vegetable all day yesterday, but I haven't had a day to do "nothing" in a WHILE, so I think I'm fully re-fueled. 

MainSqueeze and I had a very busy couple of weeks. Lots of dinner, dancing, laughing, catching up with amigos and general pre-holiday hustling. 

So I wanted to tell you about this band that we saw Friday night. 

Every once in a while I'll catch a show that I was expecting to be good, but then I'm totally blown away. MainSqueeze and I were exhausted Friday night, but we were dressed for Halloween and I really didn't want to miss this band. 

We drove to the show bleary eyed from sleep deprivation and hustled into Fitzgerald's to catch the last 30 minutes of the show. We clambered up the stairs to the second floor and were greeted by zombies, slutty princesses and a couple Grinches who were too cool to dress up. 

We meandered into the crowd and found the perfect space. And then I was struck by the sound. Shovels & Rope is a husband/wife duo from South Carolina who have some of the most incredible sound I've seen live. Carey Ann Hearst has a voice that stays in your bones, and her talent goes beyond singing. The two together create a full, beautiful sound that tricks you into thinking there's a full band on stage. I laughed, I clapped, I even got teary eyed. It was such a pleasure to see these two rock it out. I HIGHLY recommend seeing them live. Such a treat. 

And just to start your Monday off right. Here's a pic of my Halloween costume complete with two baby pugs. My good friend and her husband had us over pre-concert to see their precious new babies "Mac & Cheese."

I had the perfect Halloween night, puppies, good friends, and an amazing show. These are the days of our lives, amigos. Stay tuned again for more recipes, #nomcity reviews and a couple Holiday treats!