Dinner

Just a regular ol' Saturday night at home. Seemingly always in a rush, I don't often stray from  chicken or fish, salad or cooked veggies, bread or pasta.    But last weekend, I decided on a more creative variation of each, as I prepare myself for a holiday season full of cooking and 

Food Network-inspired afternoons. 

Here's what I made...

Fresh lemons and dried rosemary (in addition to salt and pepper) were the seasoning for the talapia. 

I let the flavors soak in for about an hour and a half. 

Allowing myself to indulge in pasta this weekend, I prepared a simple side dish of whole wheat macaroni pasta seasoned with garlic sea salt, pepper, olive oil and parmesan cheese. (This side tastes great with almost anything.)

I sprinkle in a generous portion of parmesan cheese 

after the noodles are cooked...

and even throw in some Italian seasoning to taste. 

My balcony herb garden doesn't quite compare to Max's, 

but I do always have fresh basil on hand. 

I chopped this up, along with a couple of garlic cloves, and added salt & pepper (of course) all to a frying pan...looking back, 

I should have thrown in a few pieces of onion. 

If I'm being lazy, I'll simply stir in a can of stewed tomatoes (which actually don't taste half bad) but this meal was all about freshness. I had just purchased these beautiful tomatoes on the vine at the store, so I chopped them all and let them simmer with the rest of the herbs and spices. 

(In the background you'll see how I entertain myself while cooking: Frasier on Netflix.  Sometimes I'll listen to NPR or watch a movie, 

but more times than not, I find myself going back to  the comfort show 

that has, of late, replaced Friends)

I think the tomatoes remained in this state for about 12-15 minutes...

on medium-low heat. 

The house smelled so good!

Part 1+Part2+Part 3...Ta-da! 

This dish in particular tastes fantastic with red wine. 

On this occasion, I chose Malbec. 

 Fun. Soothing. Successful.

Delicious.