Butter Me Up.

Sorry folks. The Life and Times of Liz and Adam in the NW is not as exciting as in past months. We go into hibernation for the winter. Which also means that to prepare for this so-called hibernation, we must feed incessantly. I guess you're supposed to do that before hibernation, but we do it throughout.

Our feeding tonight consisted of homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli. And when I say homemade, I mean homemade noodles and everything! Yes, sometimes we go overboard. But we will go to great measures in the name of food. Plus, I had to try out the pasta dough setting on my new BREAD MACHINE! Check it out:

I'm not going to write down the recipe, because I doubt most people will be willing to take the time out for pasta dough, but I'll go through the steps.

1. First, we made the dough in the machine.

2. Next, we roasted the B-squash in the oven with onions and blended the mixture in a food processor

3. Then, we rolled the dough out.

4. Next, drop little spoonfuls of mixture onto dough.

5. Place first dough sheet on top of second dough sheet (remember to brush water around the mixture on the dough to make the top layer stick).

6. Cut raviolis out.

7. Boil in water for 2-3 minutes.

8. In a saucepan, make a delicious sauce of your choice. We went with a favorite balsamic butter sauce with toasted pine nuts.

9. Toss pasta with sauce, garnish with parmesean cheese and arugula.

10. FEAST!

I know it sounds rich, but we need our carbohydrates, as we are now in our "Pre-training Training" for the marathon we have almost officially decided to do.

Stay posted for updates on how the marathon training will go. It is at the end of May in Newport, OR (on the coast).

I'm reading "Marathon" by Jeff Galloway to help myself stay motivated and focused. So far, pre-training training is going well. We make sure we go on a scenic long trail run one day of the weekend. This weekend, this is what we got to look at while we took a leisurely 6 mile jog:

Mount St. Helen's

The Unpopular Vegetable

Okay, so the rains have come and we aren't galavanting about the mountains as much. Instead, we are doing a lot of cooking and reading. Going along with both of those is the new publication we discovered called Edible Portland. I've given you the link to the national Edible Communities, as there is one for most states or major cities. You can search out your own state on this site and check out the online version or subscribe if you're so inclined. It is an amazing publication with interesting articles, recipes and ideas regarding fresh, local produce. We have picked up several issues at the Laughing Planet restaurant down the street from us and fell in love. What we wanted to share about this one was one of the recipes we tried. Its called Potato-Leek Soup with Celeriac. What in the world is celeriac, you ask? Well, here's what it looks like:

The article in Edible Portland referred to it as the awkward, dorky high schooler, who nobody appreciated, but really had a lot to offer once you got to know it. I think that's the perfect description. It looks like a cross between a brain and what I would visualize a mandrake to look like. It has the texture of a potato or parsnip, smells like celery and tastes somewhat like celery, only milder.


Here's the link to the recipe: Potato-Leek Soup with Celeriac


It's very yummy. You can also slice up potatoes and celeriac into disks, mix with cream, parmesean, breadcrumbs and various herbs to make a kind of gratin. That is quite decadent.

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween. We had a few trick-or-treaters (Like 20), which seems like a million compared to our two from the old Jacksonville apartment. I'll post our jack-o-lantern pics once I bring my camera cord home. He turned out great. Much Love!

**so I just realized my links aren't working. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll email it to you!**