Although I sometimes forget to post about my scrapbooks I’ve definitely been moving along. The trip ones from last July are nearly done with only a little journaling left to do so last night I needed a new project to bring to the crop and quick. Having been focused on Olympic knitting I didn’t have time to figure out where I was in the family albums so I grabbed this little flower project I’ve been meaning to do.
One of the things I miss most about living in Louisiana is my greenhouse.  Not only was it great for getting an early start on veggie gardening but I also had it stuffed full of 300+ orchids. As soon as I saw the flower album I knew it was perfect for all my flower photos and last night I got started on that. It’s a discontinued size so I can’t get extra pages and that meant I had to do some creative cropping to fit in all the orchid photos.

Usually I work on a two page spread and complete that before moving on. Since I wanted to make sure things fit I started by cropping and arranging photos and then I went back and began matting. I’ll finish the matting at the next crop and then start affixing things to the pages and adding journaling or any decoration. It’s a quick little project but it’ll tide me over and keep me busy until I can sort out what larger project to do next.

This week I’ve been cooking from "Jacques Pepin’s Table".  I don’t have a food mill so this recipe required some modification. The peppers are meant to be simmered and then put through a food mill to create a sauce. I haven’t got a food mill so mine are just chopped and left whole. He also calls for walnuts but I didn’t have any so I used pine nuts instead. I think this would be lovely with a bit of white wine reduction to give it a bit of zing.

Sausage and pepper pasta

1 package chicken Italian sausage, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small sweet onion, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
olive oil
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound linguine, cooked as desired

Saute the onion in olive oil until it begins to turn translucent. Add the sausage and bell pepper and cook 5 or 6 minutes or until heated through. Stir in the parsley and pine nuts. Pour sausage mixture over the pasta and toss to mix. Top with cheese and serve with a green salad.