Table For 12

So we had some of our closest friends over for dinner last night, and with all of the kids there were 12 of us! It's a good thing that two of them are too small for real food because our table really only seats 10. We get together with these friends once a month alternating between three houses and I love it when it is my month to host! This time I made two giant dishes of pasta and focaccia bread. It was delicious! All the kids were wearing full-bodied-bibs because pasta gets everywhere, which also makes it more fun.

Red and White Tortellini

Ingredients

• Tomato Sauce
• 1 tbsp butter
• ¼ cup onion chopped
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• 1 can tomato sauce, 14 oz
• 
  
• Mushroom Sauce
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• ¼ cup green onions sliced
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 cups milk
• ⅔ cup parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 
  
• 1 ½ cups mozzarella, grated
• parmesan cheese
• 1 pkg tortellini

Method

To Make Tomato Sauce:
Melt butter and saute onions with garlic. Add can of sauce.

MEANWHILE cook tortellini.

To Make Mushroom Sauce:
Melt butter and saute mushrooms and green onion. Sprinkle with flour and slowly stir in milk. Heat and stir until thickened. Add parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

Mix mushroom sauce with tortellini.

To Serve:
Spread tomato sauce in bottom of large casserole dish. Spoon tortellini in mushroom sauce on top. Sprinkle with mozza and parmesan. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Live Life One Cupcake At A Time

It's almost my birthday and the first card I got had this line written on the front.
I think it suits me.

Blogging 'Bout Brownies

Obviously I have decided to start a blog. And since I spend at least half of my waking hours in my kitchen, my blog shall be based there. I will probably even make most of my posts from the kitchen!
So why the name? If you haven't seen my kitchen or have forgotten... it is blue. Barely blue walls and ceiling, blue countertops, blue backsplash, blue door, and even a blue high chair.
My plan is to let you in on some of my adventures that take place in the kitchen. We eat, cook, and play in there so I should have lots of good stories. For instance, this week I tried a new recipe: Zucchini Brownies! Jeff and Jacob have been thoroughly enjoying my "cake" but I haven't mentioned that there are vegetables in them! Trying to eat healthy when you have a sweet tooth is kind of hard, but I cut back the sugar and the chocolate chips in the icing by half and it still tastes really great!  I found it strange that there were no eggs in the recipe, so I wasn't expecting it to turn out. I sort of assumed I had copied it down wrong. Jeff got this recipe from a parishioner and I don't know who it was. But if you have some zucchini lying around and don't like it (which I don't), try this recipe.

Zucchini Brownies Ingredients 2 cups zucchini, grated 2 cups flour 1 ½ cups sugar 1 tsp salt ½ cup oil 1 ½ tsp baking soda ⅓ cup cocoa powder 2 tsp vanilla Icing 4 tbsp butter 4 tbsp milk 1 cup sugar 2 cups chocolate chips, white or reg Method Mix all ingredients and bake at 350 in greased 9x13 pan for 30 minutes. When done, make icing. Bring milk, butter, and sugar to a boil. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Pour over warm brownies.