Baked Spaghetti with fresh Basil and Smoked Mozzarella

I made this super easy meal Saturday night for my sweets and pops. They devoured it, and so I thought I would share it will all of you. It is easy to make and doesn't require any ingredients that you shouldn't already have in your pantry (minus the heavy cream). Let me know your thoughts if any of you make this...

Preheat oven to 350

3/4 pound spaghetti noodles

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

3-4 teaspoons garlic minced

4 roma tomatoes diced

1 can fire-roasted tomatoes

1 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons pepper

20 fresh basil leaves

2 cups mozzarella

1 large squash sliced

1 large zucchini

(most likely in the winter I will add ground turkey instead of the squash and zucchini)

Cook noodles as per directions until almost done (DO NOT COOK THOROUGHLY)

Over medium heat on stove, saute onions until tender. Add garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add veggies (or meat). Combine roma tomatoes and fire-roasted tomatoes in saucepan and until it simmers. Add heavy cream until it simmer. Mix in spices.

Oil 9x9 or 7x11 pan. Put spaghetti noodles on bottom (will cook more in the oven), add the sauce, place fresh basil leaves on top to cover and sprinkle the cheese to cover everything. Place in oven for about 15 minutes(give or take).

-enjoy

CANDY BOWL

This is the candy bowl at my work for all of the employees, clients and business partners to enjoy. They periodically throughout the day come up to the front foyer, pause at my desk, grab a candy and make small talk with me. It is so fun to watch people fight for a conversation relative to the both of us just so they can have a piece of candy.

Are people embarrassed at grabbing a treat?

Do they think I will judge them for wanting a small square of chocolate?

Is their pride hurt for enjoying useless calories?

The employees come over to my desk and just take a piece of candy with a swift grab and leave. It is almost as if they are rushing back to their desk for a very important phone call that I did not send into their office because no one called. They do not talk to me or make eye contact with me. No random questions to justify their actions but instead they hold their head up high with pride as they snack on that candy from the bowl.

Then you have the clients that come in and grab a candy as they ask for whomever they are meeting. Usually, I have them take a seat and wait until they are ready to be seen and without fail, in the meantime, they always sneak back up to my desk and take another piece. The hand motion of getting a chocolate and unwrapping it is almost always followed by statements like:

"Oh I am just SOOOO hungry"

"These are my favorite candies."

(and my personal favorite, whispered with a stooped head holding up the candy to my eye level)

"I am just going to grab another. I am sorry."

Lastly, our business partners strangely make their way down the hall and to my desk, suspiciously looking at me and then the candy bowl and back to me asking me all sorts of questions. Questions I believe they already know the answers to but they just would rather have me fill up the conversation time so they keep their mouth busy eating a delectable piece of sugar and not look so guilty. They stand there for moments at a time pushing the conversation into further awkwardness to alleviate their red-handed pleasure of only wanting candy and not really caring about me but trying to seem polite.

WHY?WHY?WHY?

Trust me, I am not judging them. I don't care what they eat throughout the day. I am not counting their calories or finding them rude if they don't talk to me. Chances are, I have had more candy than they have. They just need to own it! For those of you who know what I am talking about, isn't it great? I just love watching and deciphering their facial expressions as they approach my desk. For those who have no idea, you are missing out! Truly!

SO LONG, FAREWELL, AUFIDERZEIN GOODBYE

It is so sad when summer is over! The vacations with family and friends cease to exist, all the neighbor children are back in school and not selling lemonade on the street corners and the hours for the swimming pool and other amenities change to open later and close earlier!

BUT...

I am so happy when summer is over! The outdoor adventures of hiking, 4-wheeling and whatever else start because the weather is perfect outside, there are no crowds at movies, malls or restaurants due to families staying in for early bedtime, the leaves change to red, orange and gold which brings light jackets and pants with flipflops everyday!!

Here are some random pics of stuff we have been doing over the summer, but that didn't get lucky enough to get their own blog post...

some golf games

jewelry shows and boutiques

nap time outside

T swimming and fetching rocks

evan lysacek at the SV ice show

long days and nights playing guitar hero

babysitting the Bowens'

hiking shoreline and millcreek

Garth + Itzhak

Yes it is correct!

You read it right!

Garth Brooks! Itzhak Perlman! In the flesh! SV Summer Symphony Series!

You ask how we are so lucky?

Well, every year my family heads up to SV for the month of August and attends the SV Summer Symphony Series. (Boy is it amazing.) For the benefit concert this year they brought in none other than the best and most acclaimed Country singer GARTH BROOKS!! For the season opener the next night they brought in ITZHAK PERLMAN, one of the most (if not the most) notorious violin virtuosos' of all time. Both concerts were hands-down the best concerts we have ever been to and seen.

Garth sang many songs, some of which he wrote and some from other artists, he played his guitar, danced across the stage, told hilarious jokes that had all of us rolling in our seats and he even brought his talented wife Trisha out as a surprise to sing a duet!

Through his performance my heart kept racing from pure excitement and I kept thinking "Is this for real? Holy Cow, Holy Cow, Holy Cow!" And in the end, it was a real as real could be. What a fun concert to see!

However, Itzhak was outstanding! There was not a single person in the audience who did not have tears rolling down their face during his performance. He was incredible! You could feel the passion and emotion through his violin as he was playing the concerto.

He surprised us all by playing the Theme from Schindler's List as an encore. WOW! My hands were raw from clapping so hard and for so long as he hobbled off stage. If you are unfamiliar with who Itzhak is, PLEASE look him up and listen to his music. He is of the Greats! And his personal story makes it all the more touching. I truly am so lucky to have witnessed him!