Baked Lemon Spaghetti

Last night, I made a yummy recipe - Baked Lemon Spaghetti.

This is not my dish or pic- its from RecipeGirl.com

This dish was easy to make and soooo yummy! I only used about half a box of spaghetti and also added in baked broccoli.

Here's the recipe:

BAKED LEMON SPAGHETTI

1 (14.5 ounce) package spaghetti
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (16 ounce) carton sour cream (light is fine)
1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (zest of 1 lemon)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons)
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

TOP:
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
juice from 1/2 lemon
freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Cook spaghetti + olive oil according to package directions (minus a couple of minutes)- you want it to be al dente. Drain spaghetti and place in a large bowl.

3. Melt butter in a medium skillet. Add garlic and cook until sizzling and lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, lemon zest and 1/3 cup lemon juice. Pour lemon sauce over the spaghetti and stir. Add Italian parsley and 1/2 cup Parmesan and stir some more. Pour lemony spaghetti in a greased 1.5 quart casserole dish.

4. Cover dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Take dish out of the oven and remove foil. Sprinkle 1/2 cup Parmesan on top. Drizzle juice from 1/2 lemon over the top of the pasta. Sprinkle pepper and salt on top. Place dish back into the oven for 7 or 8 minutes, just until cheese is melted and noodles have begun to turn golden in a few places. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Read more: http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/04/18/baked-lemon-spaghetti/#ixzz1K5x5n2sS

Earthquake

We had a little earthquake yesterday. Of course, I did not feel anything. I never do. I only hear other people say Earthquake! and then google it.

Well it was 3.8 and felt like nothing.

Last night was a turkey burgers & Dexter night. We are in Season 2. I hate Dexter's hair - he needs a haircut!

Sunday

Sunday was another busy day but we got a lot done. First, I went to the grocery store at like 10am which was wonderful. I HATE going to the grocery store and on Sundays, its overcrowded and the food is cleaned out of the shelves! So, Evie and I went and I got in and out in no time.

We did the laundry, went to storage, got a manicure, and made dinner. It was a productive day.
Here's Evie riding in the backseat on the way home from storage -



For dinner, I made chicken tortilla soup and cheddar biscuits.

Step one - Get a glass of wine!

The biscuits were super easy to make. I modified the recipe by not adding bacon & they came out great!


The soup was very spicy & delicious. A perfect combo with the biscuit!



YUM!

Saturday

On Saturday, I got up and went to get my hair done. I just got it highlighted and it looks exactly the same as it always does. Haha. It makes me so mad because I sit in that chair for HOURS and come out looking the same. However, when I go for a drastic change, I wish I had just done 'the usual'. I can't win! haha

Saturday was gorgeous until the fog rolled in, making it windy & foggy in SF. Amy & I decided to head north and we went to lunch in Sausalito. We went to Horizons, which is right on the water & sat on the deck. It was sunny & warm in Sausalito!


After lunch, I went home to relax with Erik & Evie. Erik had gone surfing and was watching hockey. Later on, we went to dinner at a restaurant we haven't been to before...Sociale.

Sociale is in the Laurel Heights neighborhood and tucked away in an alley. It was so cute! They had a little garden area with heat lamps and indoor seating. The food was amazzzinnng!

We started with:
WHITE BEAN CROSTINO
Arugula salad, shaved parmigiano-reggiano

and

CRAB TIMBALE
English pea purée, shallots, chives, lemon vinaigrette

Erik had the LIGURIAN FISH STEW
Tilapia, prawns, Dungeness crab, roasted onion, potato, fennel pollen tomato broth

and I had the SEARED PETRALE SOLE
Stuffed with rock shrimp, asparagus, fingerling potatoes, lemon beurre blanc

Everything was delicious. The sole was cooked well and that lemon beurre blanc sauce that accompanied with it was soooo good.

We skipped dessert since we were so full. The other great thing about this restaurant is that there was a ton of parking, right on the street!!

I would definitely recommend this restaurant and hope to come back and sit in the garden!

Friday

Friday ended my first full week at work. It was a great week. On Friday, we had a little celebration with ice cream cake and champagne for someone's birthday!

Sarah picked me up after work and actually drove me home, which was AWESOME!! Once we got home, she came in and met Evie. Evie loved her and was trying to kiss her by the end of the visit. I do not get this dog sometimes!! We also drank some of Erik's home brew, yummy Hefewizen!

Erik and I had homemade pesto pizza for dinner & that was the extent of our Friday evening!

Ch Ch Changes

Last night, we went to the Little Chihuahua for dinner. The street was having an 'Art Walk' with deals and art in the different small businesess. Turns out, we didn't get anything from the specials at Little Chi. haha. The place was PACKED. We had to wait for a seat. Then, when we got the food, it was just OK. I think that my love affair with the Little Chi might be over. I mean, I used to LOVE it. Now, it's just OK.

In other news, Evie's dog walker & her are not going to work out....Evie is just way too nervous when she comes in the house. She shakes, she is visibly uncomfortable, and that is not how Evie should feel when the dog walker comes. She's not happy about going on the walk.

The underlying issue with Evie is that she wasn't socialized properly. As a puppy, she wasn't - for sure. She isn't around a lot of new people all of the time and is scared of them or as Cesar would say - insecure. SO, she gets insecure & nervous and doesn't know how to act around new people. Whereas, if I got her at 4mos old, I would have brought her around new people all of the time so that she got used to it - fast.

I'm considering calling this Trainer that the Walker recommended to us who deals with dog with fear issues....

Anyway, here's to the weekend! It's Friday and gorgeous out!

Evie in the Grass

Speaking of Evie, we went on a nice walk after work the other day. It was sunny & breezy out and she just wanted to sit in the tall grass of Buena Vista park.


Loving the breeze on her face







Here's a funny picture of Evie the next morning. She did NOT want to get up. haha

Office Dogs!

Guess what, our office is dog friendly!! My co-worker brought her adorable 1 yr old Shitzu named Simba in the other day. He just wandered around all day, was super friendly, and fell asleep in the middle of the office!


Now, I would have to think long & hard on if I wanted to bring Evie in one day. Maybe on a Summer Friday during a shortened work day and she wouldn't be allowed to leave the office. Plus, I would have to drive in, in order to bring her. Lots to think about but it could be good for her to get exposure to other people. We'll see.....

Ashbury Hts Walk

On Sunday, Evie and I took a long walk through Ashbury Heights. You basically cross over Haight St and keep walking south. We walked through some pretty neighborhoods with fun, hidden things to see. I love the area! Now that it stays light out until 730 or so, we are also able to take our long walks again. Last year, after work, we would go out for 3 mile walks so I'm hoping to get back to doing that.

Here are some pictures from our walk:


It was such a sunny, clear day. From where we were standing, we could see the top of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Funky, turquoise house with a ton of flowers & plants

This is the quirky garden in front of the house with a lot of knick knacks


Are we in Arizona? Big cactus randomly placed near someones home

Cool staircase leading to someones home

Interesting!

We saw a ton of homes for sales & a lot of Open Houses going on...too bad the homes are $1Mil+

Cool patio in an apartment complex