I have a new favorite variety of pasta.

Have you ever had or heard of perciatelli pasta? I hadn’t until I enjoyed it in a wonderful cold pasta salad that my cousin, Michelle, made for a family gathering. The only place I’ve been able to find it is at Fry’s, but it’s possible I haven’t looked hard enough.

Perciatelli, also known as bucatini, are hollow pasta strands that are thicker than spaghetti. Spaghetti, fettucini, or linguini may be substituted in the recipe.

The lump crabmeat I prefer to use is the Phillips brand, which can be found at Costco.

Perciatelli Pasta with Crabmeat and Peas

1 pound perciatelli pasta
Salt
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions, white and light green parts, reserve green tops for garnish
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen peas
1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley, divided

Cook the perciatelli in a large pot of well-salted boiling water until al dente, according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of cooking water, then drain the pasta.

While pasta water comes to a boil, cook spring onions in 1 tablespoon of the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes.

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My dad loves pot roast. Winter, spring, summer and fall – no matter the temperature, he wants me to make pot roast.

The 1971 invention of the slow cooker (also known by its brand name Crock-Pot) made it an even easier meal to make. No heating up the entire kitchen when you use a slow cooker. Still, eating a heavy pot roast when it’s 106 degrees outside doesn’t appeal to most. Not an issue for Dad!

Dave was out-of-town this past weekend, so I indulged my dad by making his precious pot roast for our Sunday supper.  I do my best to change it up each time to try to keep it exciting since I make it so often throughout the year.

This time I reverted to a very classic pot roast recipe … well not so much the recipe … more the technique. Allow me to explain.

In 1963 House & Garden Magazine published a recipe by Elizabeth (Betty) Wason, an American author and broadcast journalist. The classic technique I took from her recipe was the way she floured the meat.

Instead of dredging the beef in seasoned flour, Betty beats the flour into the meat with the side of a plate, which creates a thicker crust and a smoother gravy in the end. It’s rather cathartic, beating in the flour with a dish, similar to that satisfying feeling one gets when kneading bread dough.

If you’re not up to pot roast in June, bookmark this recipe and remember to make it this fall or winter. I am hopeful that the fall or winter is the next time I’ll be called to make it … but it’ll probably be much sooner. Oh well, gotta give the people what they want.

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After not posting a new recipe for over a week – I think the best way to get back into the swing of it – is with a cocktail!

Yes, and not just any cocktail, but a bright refreshing summer-time cocktail. Something you can envision yourself enjoying poolside or with your toes buried on a sandy beach.

Now that’s the way to start a new week. Happy Monday!

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Some of my favorite people in the world came by for a visit today!

I love this Father’s Day photo of Stephen, Tram, Zak, and Zoey!

Tram and her parents, Papa and Mama Mai, were out running errands and stopped by with the adorable Zoey…

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I shall share with you my June Sweet Salvage finds, from what I think is the most charming all the way to my favorite!

A 1953 high school dance card. Look at the adorable little pencil that is still attached!

It reads, “North Phoenix High School, Girls’ League Blue, And Silver Ball, Saturday, November 14, 1953”

There is no indication of the name of the young lady who was holding this card, but it is obvious that Ronnie Spaulding was her beau. They danced together 8 of the 11 dances she danced. She was “too tired” to dance the sixth dance, titled the “Prize Waltz” so she sat that one out. And it looks as though she and Ronnie may have ducked out before the “extra” dances at the bottom of the card. Poor Jack Brown, Bill Carroll, and Barry Baker never had a chance!

A nifty faux bois (from the French for false wood) souvenir mug from Yellowstone Park.

Sweet embroidered tea towels.

I absolutely adore the applique “French maid cookbook” towel too!

Unique dinner and salad plates.  And now for my favorite and most unusual find…

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I found a recipe on the internet that I’m going to recommend you do not make.

On Sunday, Father’s Day, I arrived home from the airport at about 3:45 and immediately began to make dinner for my dad, husband, and son.  Since I’d already been awake for 12 hours, I didn’t want to have to think too hard about what to make.

Since I have a peach tree that was full of ripe peaches, I decided to whip up a peach cobbler for dessert.

I wanted to be able to post the recipe so it needed to be somewhat different from the three peach cobbler/crumble recipes I already have posted here. For that reason, I turned to the web to find one that I could “make my own” and get done easily and quickly.

The recipe I stumbled upon first was the Pioneer Woman’s Peach Cobbler. Her version used frozen peaches and since I was using fresh, I figured that would be a perfect recipe to switch up. I made a few other minor changes, with the addition of spices and such, and popped it into the oven while I made the rest of the meal.

I’ve tried many of the Pioneer Woman’s recipes before and they’ve always been wonderful. I thought that this too would be a “sure thing.”

In fact, I’ve loved a couple of them so much that I reposted them, almost exactly as originally written. This Dip recipe and this Poppers recipe are two of my all-time favorites. So please do not take this as a bashing of the Pioneer Woman and her recipes – but this peach cobbler recipe is one that I can not endorse. No way, no how.

Instead, you should make one of the three peach cobbler/crisp recipes I’ve previously posted – one of the ones I should have made for Father’s Day.

Mason Jar Peach and Berry Cobbler

Peach-Blueberry Cobbler

Blueberry-Nectarine Crumble

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One last post, a pictorial actually, about Kansas and our trip last weekend for my dad’s Otter Family Reunion.

Then tomorrow, I’ll give you info on a recipe to NOT make. I bet you can hardly wait…

Check out the price to ride this awesome vintage kiddie ride mechanical and coin-operated horse. One Cent! Just like it advertises on the base of the ride. One penny. Love It!

Grain silos every which way you look.

Old family photos, a family reunion classic.

Huge bails of hay… my sister is nearly six feet tall, these were big. I have a video of her climbing up on there too, but we’ll keep that in the family.

“Amber waves of grain.” America the Beautiful!

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I realize that tornado warnings are nothing new for many people, but for two girls from Arizona… it made for a very long and eventful night.

As I began to tell you yesterday, late Saturday night, after the family reunion, we received an alert on our cell phones at about 9:30.

Sloane and I were in our hotel room, watching a movie when the alert came through. Neither of us had been anywhere close to a tornado before and we weren’t sure what we were supposed to do or where we were supposed to go to “Take shelter now.”

I called down to the front desk to ask the manager, who we had already become friendly with. He was somewhat amused, especially since he hadn’t heard of any warnings yet. He then advised that if we needed to really find shelter we would hear the sirens. We shouldn’t worry if there was only one siren, that meant there was a fire. Two sirens meant there was a fire in town, but if we heard eight sirens, then that was for a tornado.

Um…OK, eight sirens, and then what? Where do we go if we hear eight sirens?

If there are eight sirens, we are to come down to the lobby and the safest place is by the soda machine. The soda machine?!?

I said, “You’re lying! The soda machine? That can’t be the safest place, the damn thing might fall on you!”

He laughed and said, just come down to the lobby if you hear the sirens.

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When I first wrote about our trip to a family reunion in Kansas, I said, “It is being held in New Almelo, Kansas – population 622.”

I guess that was the population of the town and the surrounding area “back in the day” when there was a church, cemetery, post office, grocery store, gas station, and such. I had found that population number on the web.

Now there is only the church, the cemetery, and about a dozen homes and a population of…

… wait for it…

… a grand total of…

… about 22!

That’s right, between 22 and “maybe 25” permanent residents and approximately 10 more “weekend residents” from Denver, CO.

The reunion was held in the church hall.

Given that my Dad was one of the attendees, we were among the first to arrive at the nearly empty hall at about 9:30 AM on Saturday morning.

By 11:30 or so, the place was hopping! And the food…

There was enough food to feed a small army.

Smoked meats of every type and flavor.

More salads and sides than I could count.

And the desserts, don’t get me started on the tables upon tables of desserts! The food was all delicious and the company was delightful.

Although some of the most exciting moments of the trip occurred AFTER the reunion. Remember, we were in Kansas after all.

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I awoke at 3:30 yesterday. Picked up Sloane at 4:15, then picked up Dad at 4:30. Arrived at airport by 5:00 and took off for Las Vegas at 6:00. Did I mention this was AM, not PM!

We arrived in Wichita at 12:25 in the afternoon and rented a car, then drove for four hours until we reached Norton, KS. We checked into our hotel, then jumped back in the car and drove another 30 minutes to New Almelo.

Not exactly the most exciting day of my life. The best part – is we get to do the reverse tomorrow!

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