Aisle Twelve

Sometimes my favorite dishes are the ones I make up myself.  Yesterday, for example, I only had to cook for myself.  I was tempted to pour a bowl of cereal and call it good, but I had some inspiration on this beautiful spring day.  Problem was, I didn't have much in the house.  I always have spaghetti and while I had no fresh vegetables, I did have frozen peas.  Hmmm...what to make??  I channeled my inner Giada and made a pea pesto.  This recipe is so simple, so decadent, so fresh and springy, I will be making this again and again.  It is cheap to make, I almost always have these things in my pantry and it's fast.  What more could you ask for in a delicious and healthy dinner? Lemon Spaghetti with Pea Pesto  (Serves one - multiply accordingly) 1/2 cup frozen peas - slightly thawed 1 small garlic clove - smashed and rough chopped 3 tablespoons walnuts - rough chopped 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese - chunked 1/2 lemon olive oi...

Barcelona Tuesday, March 9 After a short plane ride from Rome to Barcelona, we land in Barcelona in time to check into our awesome boutique hotel. We cleaned up and walked around to get ourselves familiar with the area. The first thing that became apparent was that we needed to get to a store to buy ourselves warmer clothes. It was FREEZING in Barcelona. Of course the day before we got there they had the first blizzard they had in many, many years. I bought a sweater to wear under my coat and wore it pretty much everyday.  We walked around the neighborhood to familarize ourselves with the area and decided on dinner.  Had to be tapas.  We went to a highly rated tapas bar and boy did we feast!  Among the many dishes we ordered, we had a small bowl of olives, patatas bravas (potato croquettes), and chicken skewers with a garlicy aioli.  It was delicious and I have to say...quite like San Chez at home.  Although this place did not have sangria,...