Pasta Pomodoro

I'm not sure if "fancy spaghetti" is a thing at everyone's house, but it's a thing at my house. It's basically a rip-off of Olive Garden's Pasta Pomodoro, except that I really have no idea what is in Olive Garden's Pasta Pomodoro other than garlic. As in, ALL OF THE GARLIC. I still really like it, but when I decided we needed to try eating it at home for less than half the cost (for the ENTIRE FAMILY, thank you very much), I dialed down the garlic a few notches.

It's a pretty basic staple around here. It varies from month-to-month because if fresh tomatoes are available, I'm using them. If they aren't, canned it is. Feel free to judge me for using canned tomatoes. I'm already judging me for it and judging parties are more fun when there are a lot of people there.

Anyway, Pasta Pomodoro isn't really anything fancy, but some people seem to think it's fancy. Go with it when it happens.

Pasta Pomodoro

(serves 4)

1 box (1 pound) angel hair spaghetti, cooked according to box directions
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large yellow onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried basil (2 tablespoons chopped if using fresh)
2 cans diced tomatoes (8-10 Roma tomatoes if using fresh) (Fresh is totally worth the effort.)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup white wine
Crushed red pepper flakes
Black pepper
Parmesan cheese

1. Cook the angel hair according to the directions on the box.

2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and garlic. Sauté until clear.

3. Add the basil, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and white wine. Simmer over medium heat until you're happy with the tomatoes. I like them a little soft, so I let them go for about 10 minutes.

4. Add as much or as little crushed red pepper flakes and black pepper as you like.

5. Drain the cooked angel hair and throw it in the skillet with the sauce. Stir things up.

6. Serve with parmesan cheese on top.

Just a Girl and Her Pet Apatosaurus

Back Again, but Sleepier Than Before

Thanks to the cacophony that is two cats discovering that a bird has decided to nest in the dryer vent, it occurred to me that I should check the shrub by the corner of our house for baby birds earlier this year than I have in prior years (and the year before that).

Before I move on to that, though, let me just tell you what Max keeps telling me. THERE IS SOMETHING IN THERE, HUMANS. RIGHT THERE. SOMETHING. AND IT'S CHIRPING. BEHIND THE DRYER. SOMETHING!!!!!

Now that you know how Max has spent every moment of his life for the past week, let me go back to those baby birds. I checked earlier than usual, which meant I caught this right after it happened.

Five little eggs in a tiny little nest in the exact spot they've been the past three years. Considering that I have photo-stalked them every year that the bush has been there, you'd think that the mother bird would have figured out by now that there are about a million better places for her nest. She hasn't, though, which I'm considering permission to stalk. Frequently.

It's not like she doesn't know who she's dealing with.

Every day since I discovered the eggs, I have ventured out to that shrub to check out what's happening. It took nearly two weeks, but finally I found this on Tuesday.

Sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning, one egg disappeared and one bird hatched.

It took until Wednesday for that first baby bird to finally have company in the nest.

That's the second baby bird in the midst of being born and stuff.

Which, awesome.

Later in the day, it was joined by two other birds.

Or at least I assumed they were birds. They could have been hairballs that Max coughed up for all I knew.

By Thursday things were looking decidedly more birdish.

We'll just ignore the fact that the one bird is looking up and being all sorts of cranky because I walked in on it pooping. Seriously. I did. WHOOPS.

Today (Friday), things were a bit more peaceful and devoid of poop.

And now I will continue to stalk them daily because if you keep on building your nest by my house, you are granting me permission to do so.