Simple Table Runner

My Ma's mother-in-law is more than 90 years old, and she still lives by herself (with some assistance). When I got married, she gave me a stack of these awesome trivet hot-pads that she crocheted. Being that I don't have that skill, and that I love bright colors, I adored them.



But I wanted to make them "shine" just a bit more than setting them under a pot now and then, or using them as washcloths. So I set them on a diagonal, and stitched them together by hand with embroidery floss. Now they are a very pretty table runner, or a nice feature on my buffet when guests come over with hot food.

Super Yum

I made a dinner a few nights ago that was lovely enough that I thought I'd share the recipe here.

The pasta dish started with roasted garlic pasta that we bought fresh at the farmer's market. I have no idea if that makes any difference in the taste, but the pasta was definitely more flavorful than your average package of Barilla Linguine. So for what it's worth, that's what we used.

1 lb. Roasted Garlic Pasta
1 1/2 lbs. fresh asparagus, cut diagonally (we skimped because our grocery store doesn't have scales in the produce section, and I'm bad at guessing what 1 1/2 lbs. of asparagus looks like.)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
2 oz. prosciutto, chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese

Boil the asparagus for 5 minutes. Remove from water, throw in a little salt, then add the pasta. Cook pasta for 8-10 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the water, then drain the pasta.

In a large skillet, heat oil & add onion & garlic - cook 3 minutes. Add prosciutto and vinegar, cook 1 minute. Add asparagus, pasta, 1/2 cup reserved pasta water, red pepper flakes and salt. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.