20 Minute Asparagus Tortellini Marinara
This 20 minute Asparagus Tortellini Marinara shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PickedAtPeak #CollectiveBias #ad
We had a bumper crop of tomatoes last year ~ I’m talking tomatogeddon, so store-bought sauce wasn’t on my radar. The tomato season here in the Midwest doesn’t last long though; usually 4-6 weeks at best, so we harvest, share, freeze, share and freeze some more until there’s no more room in the freezer. I chopped, roasted, sautéed and simmered my way to a freezer full of marinara (among other tomato dishes). But by early spring the only sign left of tomatogeddon and my homemade marinara was the faint aroma of garlic that refused to leave my fingertips. Actually, I kind of like that aroma, but that’s for another post. I used to make 20 Minute Asparagus Tortellini Marinara during ‘tomato season’, but a homemade marinara turned this 20 minute dish into 60. I was intrigued by the NEW Prego® Farmers’ Market sauces now available in Walmart stores. When I read the label ~ the same farm-fresh ingredients picked at just the right time that I use in my own homemade garden-fresh marinara ~ I jumped.
TAZO® Chai Latte K-Cup® Pods
This post was sponsored by Starbucks as part of an Influencer Activation. I received compensation and complimentary products to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.
It’s rare when the lake is as flat as it is today ~ I’m talking hardly a ripple. It’s a great day to be out on the boat and today we’re going fishing, which, for me is actually code for paging through a good book or one of the junk magazines the grocery stores stock near the checkout. They get me every time. My husband could fish every day he likes it so much but for me, it’s more about relaxing and enjoying the view or the spray of lake water on my face when we’re cruising. Even though the calendar says May, temps in our area are fickle, early mornings and evenings are still chilly. So when I knew we were heading out early, I wanted a beverage to keep me warm and thought about a thermos of coffee but then I remembered the NEW TAZO® Chai Latte K-Cup® Pods that came in the mail. I wish I had taken a picture of the box they came in ~ beautifully wrapped with a big orange bow but in my excitement, I ripped it open, Christmas-morning style and the remnants were not pretty. Anyway. . .back to “fishing” ~ even though the boat is docked behind our house so there’s no travel time involved, when the captain says the boat is leaving the dock at 8 a.m. ~ the boat is leaving the dock at 8 a.m., so if making this Chai Latte was time consuming, well . . .
Lake Perch, a time honored family tradition
Tradition. Tevye, the bearded patriarch in Fiddler on the Roof sang about it. While most of us have traditions, we don’t generally sing their praises as he did, but you have to admire his enthusiasm. When my children were young one tradition was eating dinner together as a family each night. It didn’t matter if my daughters brought friends home from school with them as they frequently did. The family unit just got a bit bigger and the volume a little lot louder. When my husband travelled for business, dinner was sometimes served as appetizers (same dinner just cut up with toothpicks inserted into the bite-size pieces) picnic style on a blanket in the family room, but the tradition of eating dinner together remained. It was the time to share not only a meal, but stories about our day. Now in case you’re picturing a Norman Rockwell setting — allow me to pull you back to our reality. It was noisy, chaotic, voices talking over other voices and often involved beverages being spilled, but it was our tradition and my daughter and son-in-law have continued this tradition of eating dinner together with my grandson as well.
Gold Cash Gold
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Gold Cash Gold, a former a pawn shop on Michigan Avenue, amid the heart and soul of a now thriving Corktown was the perfect stop for — what else? #ladieswhobrunch! There’s so much history in this place, including a connection to Hardcore Pawn owner, Les Gold. This fascinating story is worth a look: http://corktownhistory.blogspot.com/2014/10/sams-loan-office-aka-gold-cash-gold.html
Now onto why we came. We kicked off brunch with the ’72 Fiat Coupe (beverages are named after items that had been in the pawn shop) — a fresh grapefruit concoction with a kick we paired with the Daily Baked Good, Natalie’s Whim Win, a delicious, moist tangerine coffee cake (very generous portion and easily splitable) with tangy bites of tangerine in it and topped with a vanilla streusel that we promptly devourrrrred.
We followed the tangerine coffee cake with a variety of other brunch items: the Ham & Cheese, Pig’s Head Pierogi and the Chorizo Frittata and sampled from each other’s plates — I mean how else can we call ourselves foodies in the truest sense of the word ♥ ? My own selection, the Chorizo Frittata was the perfect mix of fingerling potatoes, peppers & onions, pickled anaheims and medium-spice level chorizo sausage. The fresh herbs lovingly folded in were deliciously apparent in each bite. A few scattered jalapenos and red onions on top, along with a drizzle of crème fraiche took this dish from mmmm to mmm-mazing!
The latest buzz words, ‘farm-to-table’ are, in my opinion, used pretty casually these days but this place is the real deal. #goodgoldjustgo
