….in no particular order.
It’s a long weekend my friends and I implore you to live it up! I will be hanging with my bestie in Tahoe and doing a bit of this:
But to get you revved up, here are two recipes I promised earlier in the week…
It may be almost July but who says Pumpkin Pie Spice Muffins aren’t totally acceptable (and delicious)?
Ingredients You Will Need:
1 box Spice cake mix (any brand)
1 package JELLO pumpkin pie pudding mix
4 large eggs
¾ cup water
½ cup vegetable oil
Pepitas for topping
Combine the dry ingredients above, and then add in the wet one by one. Pour the batter into lined muffin tins, and bake at 350 deg . About 10 12 minutes into baking sprinkle pepitas atop each muffin and finish baking until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean (takes about 23 minutes total).
They smell divine and are even better served warm 
Up next is one of the best pasta recipes I’ve made in awhile: Lemon Spaghetti. And it’s perfect for Summer! I nabbed this one off of Yumsugar.com, who nabbed it from Rachel Ray – the recipe is below (with my changes in Italics):
Ingredients
Salt
1 pound spaghetti (I accidentally grabbed linguini)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I probably used closer to 5 or even 6)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (Bring on the heat by >doubling this)
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream (I used evaporated milk (lower fat option))
1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano (I used an 8oz block of Romano)
Handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup (10 or 12 leaves) fresh basil, very thinly sliced (I used >3/4 cup)
Directions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and drop the spaghetti into the pot.
- Heat a large deep skillet over low heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.
- When the pasta has been cooking about 5 minutes, add lemon juice, a ladle of the cooking water from the pasta and the cream to the garlic and oil. Raise heat a bit to bring sauce to a bubble.
- Drain pasta when it still has a good bite to it, al dente.
- Add lemon zest and half of the cheese to the cream sauce. Season the sauce with salt, to taste. Add pasta to pan and turn off heat.
-
Toss the pasta with sauce a minute or 2, allowing it time to soak up the sauce.
- Top the plates of pasta or platter with remaining cheese, parsley and basil.
Serves 4 (closer to 6 servings?)
This dish was so unexpectedly delicious. I just loved it. I even had it for leftovers twice this week and while it doesn’t look pretty (cheese gets a little congealed), it heats up like new and tastes scrumptious. Maybe try making for the 4th?
So there ya go, recipes for the weekend.
Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July!
Tell me what you’re doing for the 4th?
What will you be making to eat?
