let the boy do his thing: roasted asparagus

Anyone who knows me knows that I like to plan things. In high school I planned our senior trip to my beach house (and held weekly meetings on my parents back patio to "organize" the crew). In college I planned Spring Break in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (and re-planned a detour to Key West when we realized our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale was disgusting). Nowadays I plan dinners and drinks and picnics and house-parties to get the girls together (and have a nicely color-coordinated Google-calendar to prove it).

So it should have come as no surprise last week when I got anxious with the bf who was "whisking me away" for a surprise weekend "somewhere." I thought and thought about where we could be going, outlined every destination within a 4-hour driving radius, and hemmed and hawed over what to pack. Did I need cute jeans and heels or a summer dress and flip flops? Did I need a hair dryer or a flat iron? How was my planner-type personality going to let this surprise weekend happen without biting all of my nails down to the quick?

Well friends, from now on I'm keeping my mouth SHUT and letting the boy do his thing. I just got home from the best weekend of the year so far and I had no control over any of it. Actually it was a good lesson in self control and patience - and it absolutely paid off. Bf wins. BIGTIME.

Knowing me so well, he booked us a fabulous condo in Amagansett, Long Island -- complete with a full kitchen! Some people might want to escape cooking for themselves on vacation... but not me. We grilled out (grilled! On a charcoal GRILL!) both nights and ate and sipped wine with the sound of the ocean crashing nearby. We slept in, read our books, laid out, and swam the Butterfly in the lovely heated pool on the property. I even limited my Blackberry-ing to a minimum. And then we ate some more.

It was the most refreshing weekend I've had in a really long time and I got back to the city this afternoon feeling completely rejuvenated. Sometimes you just need to be forced off the grid for a while, ya know?

The recipe I'm sharing is one we didn't quite get to this weekend, though we got close. With all intentions of re-creating this delicious prosciutto-wrapped asparagus that I had thrown together last week for an impromptu dinner party, we ended up simply roasting the asparagus on the grill and letting the charcoal do the work.

Both options work wonders, but here's the simple (yet delicious) recipe to try in the future. I took Giada's directions a bit further and after wrapping the asparagus in prosciutto, seared it in a pan with a little olive oil over medium-high heat for a crispier flavor. I also served it warm as I prefer that over room temperature. Asparagus is one of my favorite greens and both of these methods (roasted or grilled) made a delicious summer side dish.

Roasted Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto

Giada De Laurentiis (via the Food Network)

1 pound asparagus (about 19 stalks), trimmed

1 tbsp. olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6-8 paper-thin slices prosciutto, halved lengthwise

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Snap the dry stem ends off of each asparagus and place on a heavy baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss. Roast until the asparagus is tender, about 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Wrap each asparagus with 1 piece of prosciutto, exposing tips. Arrange on a platter and serve at room temperature.

comfort food: eggplant pasta

Sometimes I wish life was just "real simple," don't you? We have so many decisions to make each moment (grande or venti, burger or salad, heels or flats, red or white) let alone each time a mini life-crisis rears its head (this job or that job, follow my passion or follow my heart, rent or buy, peace out or stay put) and sometimes I just wish I had my own personal coach to curate my life and figure it all out for me. Do you ever feel that way (read: crazy)?

Until I find this personal assistant/savior/magician (who want's the job??), I'm relying on others to figure out the details... well, at least what's for dinner.

I was in the mood to cook the other night and logged on to RealSimple.com for a "quick 15-minute dinner" recipe for inspiration. This eggplant pasta salad popped up and having never cooked with eggplant I jotted down the ingredients and ran to the store.

Friends, this is deeelish! I prefer it warm vs. cold as the recipe instructs but the flavor is big and the capers are a must! Perfect (comforting) weeknight meal for the mini life-crisis around the corner ;)

Eggplant Pasta Salad

Real Simple

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 celery stalks, sliced

1 eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/4 cup white wine

kosher salt and pepper

1 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. capers

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (optional)

1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley (chopped)

1 pound dried penne

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the celery and cook, 3 minutes. Stir in the eggplant and tomatoes.

In a small bowl, combine the tomato paste, vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 2 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, and the sugar. Stir into the eggplant.

Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is tender, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the capers, pine nuts (if using) and parsley.

Meanwhile, cook the penne according to the package directions. Toss with the remaining oil, let cool, and cover. Combine the eggplant with the pasta before serving.

summer lovin: strawberry rhubarb pie

It's been feeling summery around here (read: steamy and suffocating with rain at any moment), so Izzy and I took an extraordinarily cheap flight from Cheaptickets.com home ($140 round-trip!) for a long weekend of relaxing with Mom and Dad in Western PA.

It's been 6 months since I was last home (at Christmas! Can you believe it?!) and I can't let another 6 pass before I'm back. We had burgers on the grill. We had fudge ripple ice cream from down the road. We had lightening bugs and cool evenings. I slept in and took naps. I went to the mall and shopped at Macy's without wanting to tear my hair out or elbowing an old woman for a deal in the shoe section. And we droooove! We rolled down the windows and drove around town and I couldn't have been happier sitting in the passenger seat with the wind blowing in my hair.

I love home!

To kick off the summer months, I picked up fresh strawberries and two stalks of rhubarb (and some shortening - c'mon, it makes the best crusts!) and got to making a summery sweet pie for dessert on Saturday night.

Deb delivered a lovely Lattice-topped Strawberry Rhubarb pie recipe and I went for it. OH MY GAH. It's crazytown delicious!!! The crust alone was to die for, and the pie itself was the perfect mixture of sweet and tart. I LOVED it. And I ate it for dessert on Saturday. And lunch Sunday before I left. Couldn't. Get. Enough.

Rhubarb is a funny thing and you don't see it a lot - so take the opportunity while it's in season and give it a shot if you haven't! This is the perfect entry into the wonderful world of rhubarb, I promise!

Lattice-topped Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Bon Appetit (with SmittenKitchen's adaptations)

For crust:

3 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

10 tbsp. (about) ice water)

For filling:

3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 lbs untrimmed)

1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 large egg yolk, beaten to blend with 1 tsp water (for glaze)

Make crust:

Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into a ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Make filling:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Assemble Pie:

Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. Transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about another 25 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

bring it on: oreo crunch brownies

June 6? What?? We're head first into summer and so much has already happened:

Last weekend I had the best summer opener ever with a Memorial Day trip to the Jersey Shore. You heard right. We had sun, miles of beach, 20 people in a 3-bedroom house, and a Beer Olympics to rival the very best college weekend (with no Snooki or JWoww in sight). One word: AMAZINGSPICE.

This weekend found us at the Belmont Stakes, sweating it out in the grandstands in style while we took in a full day at the races, complete with loaded hot dogs and Carvel soft serve (yum!).

And tonight I started my week off right, glass of wine in hand, sitting with the girls at an outdoor cafe. I knew there was something I loved about this town ;)

We're off to a good start - so bring it on, summer! After a few steamy days the temperature is back to pleasant and I thought I'd share a recipe that marries two of my favorite summer treats: Oreo's and brownies.

I couldn't picture how this recipe would be until after I made it and HOLY YUM. These are decadent and perfect warmed under a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. I mean, it's Ina so I knew it would be fantastic! Give these a try for a fun twist on the classic brownie - they're delicious!

Note: I halved the recipe and made an 8x8 pan of brownies - I used two eggs and it worked just perfectly!

Outrageous Oreo Crunch Brownies

Ina Garten via Eat Me, Delicious

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

1/2 lb semisweet chocolate chips

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

3 eggs

1 1/2 tbsp. instant coffee granules

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. flour

1/2 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups chopped oreo cookies (25 cookies)

Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9 x 13" baking pan.

In a heatproof medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, heat butter, chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate until melted and smooth. Allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, coffee, vanilla and sugar. Blend chocolate mixture into egg mixture; cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1/2 cup flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture. In a small bowl, stir Oreo's and remaining 2 tbsp. flour. Add to chocolate mixture. Pour batter into baking pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula.

Bake 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean; do not overbake. Allow to cool. Refrigerate, tightly wrapped, until cold. Cut into squares.