Snow, food, fire, scrabble and brackets

Monday morning again, just where does the weekend go? It was a busy one on Kline so before I start my day and week it is time for the weekend wrap. Buckle up.

Casey at the House

Friday night Katie’s mom arrived at the house just after 9:30pm to stay with us for the weekend. She was in town to teach at a Yoga retreat kind of deal so it was perfect that she got to stop in for a few days.

Katie and her mom caught up while I watched the horror movie called Raps/Nuggets. It was one of those movies that you know how it will end so I did not finish watching it. Snow was expected for Saturday so it looked like it would be a inside the house kind of weekend. Everyone went to bed to get a good night’s rest.

Snowy Saturday

The weather peeps were predicting a big snow dump and they were right. It started just before noon and kept up the entire day. The end result was a few trips out to shovel and a day inside with a roaring fire and college basketball.

Before that Katie and I hit the grocery store to prepare for dinner. Casey was done teaching later in the afternoon and then it was all about relaxing and eating and having a good time.

Bosco was pretty much hyper and happy since I set up the guest room on Friday afternoon. He knew someone was coming.

Not a lot went on between getting home from the grocery store and when Casey arrived back at the house other than watching the snow come down.

Once it was social time on Kline, there was wine and warming up by the fire and looking forward to a dinner that Katie was going to make.

The recipe she chose was one of those Rachel Ray recipes and it was called a BLT Pasta Bake: Bacon, Leeks, and Tomatoes.

The recipe

Ingredients

- Coarse salt
- 1 pound of elbow macaroni
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 slices of bacon, coarsely chopped
- 2 large leeks, trimmed of roots and dark green tops
- Coarse black pepper
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup chicken stock or broth
- 3 ½ cups grated Gruyere cheese
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
- ¾ cup plain bread crumbs

Directions

• Place a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. When the water reaches a boil, add some salt and the pasta, and cook until al dente.

• While the pasta cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and chopped bacon and cook until crisp.

• While bacon is cooking, split the trimmed leeks in half lengthwise, lay the leeks cut side down and thinly slice into half-moons. Fill a large bowl with water and mix the leeks into the water. Allow the water to settle and the dirt and the grit to settle to the bottle of the bowl. Using your hands, draw the leeks from the water, taking care not to unsettle the dirt. Drain the cleaned leeks on a kitchen towel, pat dry, and then add to the pan with the bacon. Season the leeks with salt and pepper. Cook until leeks are tender, about 3 to 4 minutes.

• To start the cheese sauce, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add the butter and melt, then add the flour, cayenne, and paprika and whisk together over the heat until the roux bubbles; cook for 1 minute more.

• Whisk in the milk and stock and raise the heat a little. Bring the sauce to a quick boil and simmer to thicken, about 5 minutes.

• Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in 3 cups of the grated cheese and the mustard. Set aside.

• Add the cherry tomatoes to the leeks and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.

• Preheat the broiler.

• Drain the pasta and add it back to the pasta pot.

• Combine the reserved leek mixture and the cheese sauce with the pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

• Transfer the pasta to a baking dish.

• Combine the remaining ½ cup of grated cheese with the bread crumbs. Top the pasta with the mixture.

• Place the dish under the broiler until the cheese melts and the bread crumbs are brown.

The end result was a dinner that we all enjoyed and thought it was something just as tasty as you would get if we went out for dinner. There was a salad and wine to go with it and it was the perfect meal for a warm and cozy night on Kline. Casey and I had a few helpings just to make sure it was as good as we thought.

Here are the pictures of dinner time on Kline.

Scrabble Time

With dinner out of the way and the fire keeping our toes warm it was time to bust out the scrabble board. We were on bottle two of wine so that could of influenced our spelling skills in a bad way. It did not and we had a very close contest that Casey ended up winning thanks to a helpful suggestion from me. I secretly wanted a rematch but it was getting late and the blueberry pie and ice cream we had after the game really finished us off.

End of Another fun day

Bosco and Casey went off to bed while Katie and I stayed up for a bit and I really, really tried to stay up until 12:30 to watch SNL but I was ready to quit after the first segment. By the way it was still snowing.

Sunday!

Casey had to go back to Toronto but the flight was not until late in the afternoon so that meant a fun day ahead. We all slowly got ready, Casey packed up and got ready for later and headed out for brunch. Bosco wanted to get packed to go as well but we know he won’t fit in most bags.

We went to Saege Bistro on Spring Garden and it was a great meal. The place is very trendy and cool looking but the prices are pretty decent. I had a typical eggs and sausage breakfast that included a few pieces of banana bread and this water with cucumber and fruit in it to give it a great flavour.

After we all were finished and ready to walk off a filling meal we headed back to the car. The snow had stopped and it was sunny and melting everywhere. Great day to walk around.

I got dropped off at home while the girls went back downtown to walk around, shop and so Casey could see where Katie works.

I settled in on the couch for an afternoon of hoops.

Time to go

For the last hour of the visit we all hung out in the living room chatting and relaxing. Bosco could tell that Casey was leaving and he was staying very close and being his ususal in your face kind of dog.

They packed up the car and headed for the airport while I stayed home and made sure the basketball games went on without a hitch.

Great seeing Casey and had a fun time. I only wish the weather was better and it was a longer trip. Next time.

Brackets time!

Of course Sunday night was all about the Brackets! The field is set and let the madness begin.

We had some more pie and were pretty lazy and tired on a Sunday night.

Start of a new week

Wow I am tired already from this post. Better get my day going.

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