Falling for Fall

This is just about that time of year when the hustle bustle begins. It seems like there isn't enough time in the day to do everything on my checklist. On top of that, transitions and travel will be making it hard to blog consistently. So I'm taking a mini-blog hiatus to just be present in my life rather than looking at it with my retrospective blogging goggles. I promise I'll be back though with renewed energy and tasty recipes.

In the meantime, I leave you with thoughts and images of fall. Notice the braided theme?

1. A display at World Market which required all self-discipline not to jump head-first into. 2. A mustardy yellow sweater I am coveting. 3. Challah (image from here), which has been on my "to-make" list since Fall started. 

Thanks for reading and hope you have a great few weeks!

Dining In: Durham, NC - Alfredo's Pizza Villa

Growing up in NJ, we had no shortage of great Italian pizzerias and restaurants. It's New Jersey after all. And given that pizza is one of my favorite food categories, I'm always on the search for pizza that reminds me of "home." The Husband and I have this thing where we try new pizzerias and rate the quality of the pizza on several dimensions as we gobble down the slices. (Yes mom, we talk with our mouths full.)

I think different people focus on different elements of pizza, whereas for me the Sauce and Crust are huge. In my mind, if the crust and sauce are made right, I should be able to eat it with no toppings at all and still derive the same amount of pleasure as a full-topping-ed version. For The Husband, italian sausage, mushroom, and black olives are a must-have, but the crust must be crisp - in fact - almost crunchy. You can probably imagine the discussions we've had about all the pizza joints that we've frequented. This is no small issue for us.

We recently went to Alfredo's Pizza Villa in the Hope Valley area of Durham. An unassuming location inside a massive shopping complex. We honestly would not have gone there unless a friend recommended it. We ordered a (massive) 16 inch pie (yes, I call them pies!) with red sauce, cheese, italian sausage, mushroom, and black olives.

The crust was pretty reminiscent of pizzas I remember eating in Jersey. Chewy and yet crisp enough that you can hear the crunch in your head as you bite down on the slice. The sauce is slightly sweet (a requirement for me) and not overwhelming the pizza or making it soggy. The pictures really don't do this pizza justice.

We left saying to each other, "Maybe we've just found our local pizza joint." Just maybe... since our search for the perfect pizza is likely to be a lifelong process.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Langostino Pasta with Golden Cherry Tomatoes

Someone once asked if I could put together some recipes for "(lazy) single men." When I think of single men, I initially think of guys who order pizza and drink soda every night. But, I am quickly learning that some single men have quite a taste and eye for good food. This recipe was thrown together only because I had an entire carton of these golden orange cherry tomatoes that needed to be eaten before we left on a trip.

Langostino is kind of like good ol' southern crawfish, but always seems a little fancier to me because of it's fancier name. You can buy these frozen at Whole Foods and it takes all but 5 minutes soaked in lukewarm water to defrost. Again... super easy for the casual single guy. What is great about these tomatoes is that they are super sweet and since I like my pasta sauce a little on the sweeter side, I don't need to add anything to reduce the acidity.

Langostino Pasta with Golden Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup langostino tails or shrimp
1.5 cups orange cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup white wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Pasta of your choice

Directions
1. Heat salted water for pasta.

2. Sautee garlic in olive oil. Add tomatoes and let simmer for a few minutes. At high heat, add white wine.

3. Once white wine has cooked off (it no longer tastes or smells acidic), add langostino and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Toss over warm pasta with parmesan cheese.

Voila! Perfecto in about 15 minutes. Talk about the easiest "fancy" pasta dish in the world.

Sorry for the lack of posts! Travel always throws things off. However, The Husband and I are off for our East Coast Tour in a few weeks where I'll be sure to document our food finds!

Have a patient Thursday!