Gingerbread House

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. In terms of food, there's definitely been some yummy stuff this month, but it's mostly been quick things I've already posted about before. And today's post isn't a recipe, but gingerbread houses are such a fun food-related holiday tradition, I thought this was the place for a little visual essay of our gingerbread housemaking this afternoon. This was from a kit...maybe next year we'll bake our own gingerbread and make our own icing.

Better than takeout, part I

Tonight my husband made a wonderful, quick dinner: farfalle with mushrooms, served with old-school frozen peas on the side, with a little butter, salt, and pepper. I'm guessing that even with the olive oil, parmesan, and bit of butter on the peas, we consumed fewer calories than if we had ordered pizza, and I know we spent less cash. We happened to have some fresh mushrooms on hand. Everything else is a kitchen staple at our place - veg bouillon paste for making stock, parmesan, pasta, olive oil, garlic. The whole meal was on the table in 20 minutes, and so delicious I'm taking the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.