Verano

There is a lot of reasons why I love Summer, one of them used to be “the beach” My whole life I lived 35 minutes from the beach, It’s So relaxing to walk by the shore, it’s a great massage for your feet. Getting a natural tan by lying under the sun, playing beach volleyball until night and then singing with my friends around the fire while playing the guitar until midnight! Ohhh those days… how much I miss those days.
Another reason I loved about Summer was that it meant a break from getting up VERY early in the morning to go to class, a break from exams, and books for a while! I’m pretty sure every season has its magic, but summer was and still is my favorite one of all! It seems to me that summer renews me!

My gosh, New York is BEAUTIFUL in summer! It’s greenest as it can be and oh those hills and green mountains and the lakes and all the projects in my mind! :) Clara is 100% an outdoor person, not like her mommy though,( little note: Today I saw the ugliest spider I’ve ever seen in my life, I freaked out! and people keep asking me why I don’t enjoy nature with a passion!) anyway, Clara does! She loves going on the canoe and going hiking with us, and she also loves going fishing with daddy.





My dear friend Haiquis and her husband and little Camila came to visit us for a weekend, they’re moving to Kentucky for her husband’s residency pretty soon, so we decided they needed to come to NY before leaving Ohio. We took them to all the church places and to our favorite places, we had so much fun. Haiquis and I have this thing that when we start talking we cannot stop! We have so many things In common, plus she introduced me to this new web site called “Pinterest” that I had no idea about. It is fun, I don’t know exactly how to use it the correct way but I did found out that I can get new recipes ideas!


So, I’ve been cooking a lot lately! Delicious and fascinating recipes I find everywhere! , I LOVEEEE pastas and breads! Red meat and of course vegetables! In my country we eat Italian, that means Pasta, pasta, Pasta, all kinds of breads you can imagine and meat!, so it’s very funny how people find out you’re from a South American Country and they immediately say “Oh you love Burritos and Tacos, Right?” or the typical “you guys eat rice and beans all day long, Right?” that makes me laugh!
I always think that I got very lucky with Clara, ‘cause she’s a great eater! Her favorite thing to eat is: surprise, surprise … BROCCOLI! So anything I do, I add broccolis to it to make her happy!
Since cooking is something I really enjoy to do, and since I’m thinking about renewing school again next year (after 6 and ½ years) Chris was trying to convince me to merge myself into the culinary world, haha he’s funny! But 2 things I do know,1- I’m not going to go back to the Law (not in this country), and 2- I’m going to do something with my passion in life: Math!

For this week’s menu I’m going to accompany all my meals with salads. I would like to share this recipe that can be used as a salad if you decide to eat it cold, also you can pack it and take it for a picnic! And it’s very healthy and delicious! (And Clara loves it!)

Farfalle with Broccoli

Ingredients

• 1 lb Farfalle pasta
• 2 heads Broccoli trimmed to florets (about 4 cups)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons Butter
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 4 oz. Pancetta (or cooked bacon)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally. After 5 minutes, add the broccoli florets to the pasta and stir and cook for another 4 minutes. Drain pasta and broccoli, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the Garlic, Pancetta, and red pepper flakes and cook for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli, Pasta, salt and pepper and toss. Add some of the reserved pasta water, if necessary, to make a light sauce. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.




I already shared this on facebook but I wanted to share this beautiful experience we had this week, again. On Tuesday Clara said the prayer all by herself for the first time! And she said it perfectly! I can’t express with words what I felt, and the beautiful spirit we felt after that!