The Recipe (3 days after I said I would post it)

Hi Friends,

Rachel the Vita Bella here to send you this yummy and delicious recipe for you to enjoy. I think the first time I had this was at a restaurant with my two older sisters during a trip to Chicago. Sister #1 was going to school up in the Windy City and Sister #2 and myself decided to go up and visit her for a weekend of sister fun...including getting hit on by about 4 Chicago Bears Football players...swooonn!

Anyways, following my pastalicious experience, on a trip to Italy when I used to work as a Group Tour escort, I  ordered it again but this time it included a few extra ingredients. And well from there I decided to combine the best of both worlds and make this pasta my own. I hope you enjoy it...

Pasta a la Vita Bella

(feeds 2)

 Featuring:

1 cup of Ham- (you can use bacon, proscuitto, pork sausage, whatever, but for this time I used ham)

1 Cup of thinly sliced Red onion (you whatever color onion you have, although I prefer the red in this recipe)

1 cup of sliced mushrooms (if you used cannned be sure to drain them)

1/2 cup of frozen peas ( you can use more-I actually am not a fan of peas, but love them in this recipe)

4 oz (or half a carton) Heavy Whipping cream (you can use milk and a little bit of flour if you don't have HWC)

1/2 bag of Fettucinne (I use brown rice fet. but any will do)

Parmesan Cheese

Salt 

Pepper

Olive Oil

 1. Boil a pot of water for your pasta-and salt the water

2. Heat up your frying pan to medium/high heat. Once it's hot add 2 TBSP of EVOO

 3. Slice up your pig & onion....pretty

 4. Once the oil is heated, add the pig, onion and mushrooms. Give the pan a toss like your on Iron Chef so the ingredients evenly cover the pan--don't forget to wink at the camera too!

5. In the meantime, because they say a watched pot never boils and a picture would only add ages along to that theory... imagine your water is boiling add the pasta and give it a quick stir, so the goods don't stick to the pot

 Once the pig, onion and mushrooms are cooked

6. Add the Cream and Peas. Give it a stir and let it bubble a little.

 7. As soon as it bubbles, turn off the heat and add a sprinkling of Parmesan Cheese.

8. With 30 seconds left, kick your soux chef out of the kitchen and take over! Drain the pasta, put it in pretty bowls, add the sauce and garnish with lovely basil leave.

9. Smile at Alton Brown, claim the title of Iron Chef and enjoy Pasta A La Vita Bella!

the end.

The Southern Sabbath: Garage Sale Edition...

(My vivacious hair gets credit from the Holy Spirit. This is what happens when you open your windows after Mass and BLARE some good Praise & Worship Music and drive home..Seriously...try it.)

Some of my earliest memories with my Grandma are the times we would go garage-sailing. Now let me say this, if there could ever be a professional garage saler, it's my Grandma. Although she is 4'7", this tiny little Mexican woman drives a hard bargain and has taught my sisters and I at a young age to scope the goods in a matter of seconds, bargain for a great deal and never be afraid to walk-away empty handed.

Enter in now my Momma (Grandma's daughter, of course). She's great and has a creative genius beyond no end. Seriously. Her creative juices are always flowing from the stories she tells to the food she makes, the styles she wears to the color she paints her walls, the music she creates or listens to through the vision she sees when she finds a 'good' piece that she restores back to beauty, Momma knows what's up, and I'm thankful for the creativity I grew up with that strikes at my inmost being (sounds heavy? keep reading).

So needless to say, when you put these two together, magic happens folks! For the past month or so, I've been in a funk. And for those of you who know when I'm in a funk...it's just not fun. Last weekend I was blessed to retreat back in the Midwest spiritually guided by a dear friend of mine. Corn fields, wide open spaces, delicious food, beauty, thought provoking conversation and silence. And follow that up by a visit with family and KABOOM...I became human again. Seriously. I think before then I was a glob of sorts, but from my little Midwest revival, I remembered something about me...something that was stirring in my heart from all the beauty I experienced that brought my senses and being back into life...I NEED TO CREATE. It's in my blood. The beauty of creating brings me to life, like DYNOOOMIIIIIITE (please note I am shaking my hips and snappin' my fingers like JJ on Good Times).

So this weekend I decided to venture and scope out some sales in the area and let's say I found some serious loot at a bargain which allowed my creative juices to flow freely...

 <--- 2 mirrors ($5 for both) , 1 top of a black cast iron latern with hideous orange plastic inserts (I should have taken a picture of itself-FREE), 1 ceiling lantern ($3), 1 coffee table ($2), 1 sofa table ($5)

Finished Products.

I still need to paint the frame of the mirror.I also have a feeling the blue on the iron lantern won't last too long, but I just wanted to try and see what it would look like...

 I spray painted the frame on this a flat white and did the glass with chalkboard paint. Now I just need to to get chalk and have fun!

 I cut all the wires and light fixtures out of this, removed the bottom and put a candle underneath it. I'm not done with this, It needs painting, but the creative opportunities for this piece are endless!













So that was my weekend. Well almost...
 I did make this today...

but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the recipe.

So for today, I pray you had a blessed weekend and pray your upcoming week is filled with an abundance of blessings and joy.  Let's say a prayer I can wake up early so I can get back to working-out. Amen. AMEN!!