Birthday fun

We had a fun time celebrating Brooks's birthday. After a breakfast of pancakes and bacon (haven't had that for awhile!) we headed to the blueberry patch to pick blueberries. Brooks had requested a blueberry pie for his birthday dessert.

We took him to lunch at Taco Rico, and his best friend Maggie came with us. Brooks loves Taco Rico, it's his favorite restaurant in town (Ryan and I love it too). We all chowed down on tacos.

After his nap, he played outside in the beach ball sprinkler. He had requested pasta for dinner. Brooks loves bell peppers, so I made Italian sausage and peppers over penne. After dinner we all watched "Cars" and ate blueberry pie. The boys loved the movie. They had seen part of it before, but not the whole thing. They got out their Lightning McQueen and Hudson Hornet and zoomed them along with the movie. Hudson seemed particularly amused that there was a car with his name.

Here's the recipes from the day. I have a heck of a time making pie crust. I finally found the perfect recipe for me! It doesn't even have to be rolled out, you just mix it all in the pie pan. It tasted great and even looked presentable.

No Roll Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. Mix dry ingredients together with a fork in a pie pan.
2. Make a well in the center and add the oil and milk.
3. Mix with a fork til it makes a ball.
4. Flatten and press into the pan in pie crust shape and flute the edge.
5. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until golden.
6. One crust pie, excellent for cream pies and crumb topped baked pies.

I slightly modified the pasta recipe. I only had a half pound of Italian sausage. I used 5 bell peppers and 2 cans of diced tomatoes. We liked it with all the veggies and thought it tasted even better the next day.

Italian Pepper and Sausage Penne

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb Italian sausage, sweet and taken out of the casing (or ask the butcher for the ground sausage meat..it saves time)
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thinly
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2 1/2 cups stewed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons romano cheese
• grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, to sprinkle over finished dish
• top with a few fresh basil leaf
• 1 lb muti-flavored rotini noodles, cooked al dante

Directions

1. In a large,skillet brown the sausage until it is cooked through.
2. Drain the fat and drain the sausage on paper towels.
3. In the same pan heat your olive oil add and sauté the peppers, and onions, until the onion is translucent,then add the garlic and sauté gently but do not brown your garlic.
4. The vegetables should be tender.
5. Stir in the tomatoes, spices, Romano cheese and sausage.
6. Cover the pan and simmer all over a medium-low heat for 8-10 minute.
7. If your mixture seems too thick you can add a little water or red wine.
8. While the meat mixture is cooking, the pasta can be prepared as per directions.
9. The noodles first, then spoon the meat mixture over.
10. Mix slightly.
11. Sprinkle with the Parigiano-Reggiano and place your fresh basil leaves atop.