Monday, August 11, 2025

Savor Summer

From Sloane Taylor

Pasta Primavera is a perfect warm weather dinner, especially with a glass of cool, crisp white wine. 

The word primavera means springlike in Italian, but don’t be fooled that this dish originated in Italy. Nope! Both Canada and the US claim the honor of creating Pasta Primavera. No one knows for sure which country invented this delicious dish, but the fact is that it didn’t come to be until the 1970s. 

This recipe is for 2. If you are serving more simply increase the ingredients accordingly. Don’t prepare extra for another meal because the veggies get mushy when reheated. 


Pasta Primavera
9 – 10 oz. cheese tortellini
2 tbsp. olive oil
5 baby carrots
⅓ red onion
½ red or yellow pepper
4 asparagus
⅓ seedless cucumber or small zucchini
3 tbsp. butter
8 or 10 sliced mushrooms
1½ tsp. garlic powder
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp. lemon juice
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese plus more for serving
2 tbsp. parsley, optional 

Cook pasta per package directions al dente, no longer. Drain into a strainer, retaining ⅔ cup of water for the sauce. Cover tortellini to keep warm. 

Slice carrots in thirds lengthwise. You do this because carrots take so much longer to cook. Slice red onion into thin rings, but not too thin, then cut in half. 

Remove seeds from pepper then cut into strips lengthwise. Set aside. Freeze the extra for another recipe. 

Cut asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Add to pepper bowl. Slice cucumber/zucchini about ¼ inch thick then add to pepper mix. 

Pour oil into a Dutch oven set on medium-high heat. You need this size pan to properly blend the veggies. Stir in carrots and onion, sauté until crisp tender, 6 – 8 minutes. Stir often and adjust heat to prevent burning. 

Lower heat to medium. Add butter, asparagus, pepper slices, and mushrooms. Season with garlic, black pepper, and lemon juice. 

Gently blend in pasta and cheese. Add small amounts of reserved water to thin sauce to your liking.

Heat through. Sprinkle on parsley then serve.

May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!


Sloane

Monday, August 04, 2025

You might be addicted to books if…

from C.D. Hersh 

We came across the following quote that made us pause and reflect. Let’s see if you have the same reaction.

 

An ordinary man can…surround himself with two thousand books… and thenceforward have at least one place in the world in which it is possible to be happy. Augustine Birrell


We don’t know about you, but the thought of surrounding ourselves with two thousand books makes us very happy. We love to read, we love books, and we love to surround ourselves with books of all kinds. If you could see into our offices, we definitely have two thousand books and that not including the library of paper backs in the basement that we’ve mentioned before. This obsessiveness is probably from even if we haven’t read a book, we can rarely bear to part with it. This was especially hard when we closed up Donald’s parents’ things and their various books. Dad’s were texts on music and electronics with mom’s being about music and cooking. The cookbooks were kept but the other’s that were texts got passed on to Goodwill. 

What about you? Does your passion for books border on the obsessive?

You might be addicted to books if…
    • You never sign off your Kindle/Nook without downloading a book. 
     • You never leave a bookstore without buying a book. 
    • You read multiple books at any given time. 
    • There’s a book—or more—in every bathroom, by every easy chair, and on your nightstand or you carry your Kindle/Nook from place to place. 
    • Perhaps you have a reading app on your phone to fill in time while you wait in line for that special cup of coffee. 
    • There’s no such thing as taking out only ONE book at a time from the library. 
    • The librarian knows you by name. 
    • Your paperbacks are stacked two deep on your shelves. 
    • You had to buy a Kindle AND a Nook because you’ve run out of shelf and floor space in your office. 
    • Your friends think you are their personal lending library. 
    • You get so lost in a book that you don’t hear your name being called. 
    • Engrossed in the book you don’t hear the oven timer and burn a meal. 
    • You read while walking down the street. 
    • You’ve actually created furniture using your books. 
     • You have every book your favorite authors have ever written and eagerly await their next releases.
We have done all these things at one time or another, and must admit …. we’re addicted to books. How about you? 

Now kick back, relax and pick up a good book to read. 

Putting words and stories on paper is second nature to co-authors C.D. Hersh. They've written separately since they were teenagers and discovered their unique, collaborative abilities in the mid-90s. As high school sweethearts and husband and wife, Catherine and Donald believe in true love and happily ever after, and that’s why they write romance.

In addition to writing Catherine and Donald love antiquing, traveling, singing, and going to the theatre. Catherine is also an avid gardener and has drawn Donald into her garden as a day laborer. They figure the couple who plays together and works together, stays together—and that's just what they aim to do.

Second Editions Coming Soon:

Ghosts and Gardenias

The Promised One The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 1
Blood Brothers The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 2
Son of the Moonless Night The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 3
The Mercenary and the Shifters The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 4

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