Dripping with Joy,
Oozing Happiness,
Splashing Jubilation,
Expressing Elation,
Painting with pure Pleasure.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Happy Thanksgiving
So very much to be thankful for…
Warm fires.
Full bellies.
Joyful laughter.
Tight hugs.
Soft candlelight.
Growing family.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Thankful – Grateful – Blessed
Thankful thoughts,
Grateful glow,
Blessed beyond belief.
Happy Thanksgiving Week!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
*Thanks Stacey Ailes of Studio Designers for hosting the StampinUp card-making class where I made this Thanksgiving card. It was so fun to create this and a few other fun projects a couple of weeks ago with friends and my daughter-in-law. And hopefully this card made it to its intended recipients today in time to show my thankfulness, gratitude, and blessings.
And I think to myself…
Sunset Walk with Charlie, Mars, PA 11/21/2016
The bright blessed day,
the dark sacred night.
And I think to myself…
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Pappardelle with Beef Ragu
We had our first snow of the season here in Mars yesterday.
Not only did it snow, but it snowed ALL day!
After a 73 degree F day on Friday, it was quite a shock, but also such a glorious treat for a lazy Sunday to build a fire in the morning and burn it all day long while cooking and watching football and reading and resting.
After a very busy and exciting week, it was nice. It was also the first day I didn’t see my new granddaughter since she was born, so I am thankful for text messages and IM pictures and so proud of her Mom and Dad for the amazing job they are doing. They are naturals, and my heart is so very full.
My belly is full too….. after making and feasting on this amazing recipe I tweaked a bit from Jamie Oliver’s recipe.
What a perfect dish to cook for hours on a cold day teasing our noses with the amazing aroma and warming the house with the oven on for hours. Jamie Oliver does his in a pressure cooker. You could also do this in the crockpot. But we were home all day, and I was perfectly content to have the oven on.
I swear I am a “wannabe” Italian! I adore Italian food. In Italian cuisine, ragu is a meat-based sauce that is commonly served with pasta. Pappardelle are large, broad, flat pasta noodles that originate from the Tuscany region and are similar to wide fettuccine. The name derives from the verb “pappare,” which means to gobble up.
Isn’t Papparedelle so much more fun to say than wide noodles? And doesn’t it sound so much more delicious?!
Hubby said I could definitely make this for company! It is so full of flavor! I could just lick the sauce from a spoon! And then…… when you top it with a tiny bit of finely grated orange zest and rosemary…. the flavors just BURST with freshness too. The balance between tender slow cooking with deep, layered flavors and fresh, bright citrus – even though just a tiny bit – is simply amazing!
Here is the recipe as I slightly tweaked from Jamie Oliver’s recipe shared in The New York Times. Hope you will give it a try.
Pappardelle with Beef Ragu
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 2-inch cubes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 Tbsp finely chopped leaves for garnish
- 2 sprigs fresh sage
- 1 medium sweet onion, peeled and cut into chunks
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
- 3-4 celery stalks, thickly sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced sweet red and yellow peppers (optional)
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 pound pappardelle
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp finely grated orange zest
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in dutch oven on stove top over medium-high heat. Add beef cubes, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir until beef is well browned on all sides, about 5 mins. Add rosemary and sage sprigs, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and sweet peppers. Continue cooking until vegetables are softened, about 5 more mins.
Add wine and continue to simmer until liquid has reduced by approximately half, about 15 minutes. Add tomatoes. Secure lid and place in oven for 3 1/2 hours.
Cook pappardelle in boiling salted water for 6-7 minutes until al dente. Drain and rinse in cold water. Return pasta to pot. Add butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Mix gently, cover with lid, and let butter melt.
Remove beef ragu from oven. Discard herb stems and coarsely shred beef with two forks.
To serve, place pappardelle in shallow bowl, top with beef ragu, sprinkle with orange zest, finely minced rosemary and some more freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Simple yet Complex
North Park Lake, Wexford, PA – November 18, 2016
Life can be so simple
yet so complex.
Much like nature.
And either way…
it is a beautiful thing!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Except Another Grandmother
Mother Nature must’ve known
my joy of becoming a Grandma this week
Gifting our sweet baby girl with
a 73 degree mid-November day to come home to
For no one else
in the entire universe
Could understand the immense love
and immeasurable joy
Except perhaps…
another
Grandmother ❤
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
There are truly not enough letters in the alphabet
or words in the dictionary
to describe how I’m feeling!!
A Painting for a Proud Grandpa
Wayne’s Pride & Joy – 10×12 Watercolor
A sweet friend of mine is a very proud Grandpa.
He shared one of his favorite photos on his iPhone with me last week.
These are two of his grandchildren.
I believe this was at Halloween
when they were dressed as a fire fighter and a police officer
leaning on a fire hydrant
watching the community parade.
I hope he enjoys this sweet surprise and it brings him joy,
because it would be hard to image a greater joy than that of being a grandparent.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
P.S. Here is the iPhone photo Wayne shared.
The Clock Ticks
sunset on cranberry twp, pa 11-14-16
The sun sets
The moon rises
The earth turns.
The heart beats
The eyes see
The ears hear.
The clock ticks
The calendar flips
Time flies.
The hands touch
The nose smells
The mouth tastes.
The wind blows
The trees sway
The birds sing.
The soul feels
The brain thinks
The human being loves.
Experience every second
Appreciate every minute
Cherish every moment.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Super Moon over Mars (PA)
Super Moon over Mars (PA) November 13, 2016
Oh the mysteries of the moon and earth
You never realize how quickly our earth is actually rotating
until you try to pause long enough to capture a photo of the moon.
From afar, I always see a face…
the “man on the moon” I called it as a child.
As I look at this photo I took late Sunday evening,
it almost appears as if the moon is a large mirror
reflecting back the earth it sees.
The beauty of nature
It makes you feel small and insignificant
and large and important
all at once.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 