At this point, I could probably whip up this pasta salad in my sleep. It’s always in heavy rotation at my house during warmer months because it is hands down my husband’s favorite dish I make. Can’t say I blame him though- what’s not to love about creamy pasta with bacon? Personally, I love that this recipe allows me to get my pasta fix without actually eating that much pasta (the whole recipe only contains 1/2 box of pasta, which you’d never guess if you didn’t look at the recipe).
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When you hear pimento cheese, I’m sure the South comes to your mind, and for good reason- it’s a Southern staple. But a little known fact is that pimento cheese was invented north of the Mason-Dixon Line, specifically in my home state of New York.
According to Serious Eats, back in the 1870s, New York farmers started making a soft, unripened cheese that eventually evolved into cream cheese. Around the same time, Spain started sending canned red peppers or “pimiento” over to the United States. The two ingredients were eventually brought together in 1908, in a Good Housekeeping recipe that called for cream cheese, mustard, chives, and minced pimentos. The combination of cream cheese and pimento was such a hit, it started to be mass produced and sold in many regions across the Country.
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This is my favorite salad of all time. That may not be a powerful statement to those who know me well since I don’t actually like most salads (I’m a sautéed vegetable kind of girl). However, you’ll have to trust me and try this salad. Somehow, simple ingredients like crisp cucumber, creamy avocado, and a simple balsamic dressing come together to make something wonderful.
The restaurants here in New York serve some of the best food in the world. With the vast number of restaurants I knew that I could not do the City’s food scene justice in one blog post so for this entry I am going to focus exclusively on those in my neighborhood, the Upper East Side. This is by no means an exhaustive list but these are the spots that Gregg and I find ourselves going back to again and again because the food is so incredibly good. So, here is my quintessential dining guide, but I’d love to hear about your Upper East Side favorites in the comments to discover a few new ones, so share away!
life after five 