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January.
Time to tidy up the house and the life. (Who? Me???)
I have a few bloggy-things to catch up on. To start, Pat, of Pat's food blog, tagged me for the Happy Meme.
My first thought was: Me? Happy? What on earth is THAT? (It had been a bad day…)
Then I decided that maybe this little mental exercise was just what I needed.
I'm supposed to think of eight things that make me happy. Hmmmm.
Then I'm supposed to list them here for the world to see. Well, that narrows it down a bit right from the start, now, doesn't it? In no particular order other than my disordered brain:
1. Walking in the mountains on a warm, sunny day in May with mon mari and the girl-dogs, in the high passes, seeing the wild crocuses and daffodils coming into bloom, and higher up, the last of the snow drops.
2. That brief moment in time when I have finally finished all of the gardening chores for the month and before I realize that the new month is almost on me and I have to start all over.
3. That brief moment in time when I have all of the menus and recipes done for my website (menu planning service) for the week and before I realize that the new week is almost on me and I have to start all over.
4. Sitting in Business Class (a rare occurrence and thank you, Frequent Flyer Miles) on a Trans-Atlantic Flight with a stack of Discover (science, not food) magazines and a glass of champagne, knowing that I have 8 hours of both to look forward to without being disturbed – except to accept more champagne.
5. Walking on the beach with mon mari and the girl dogs on the rare sunny, warm day in January.
6. Perfectly seared Foie Gras with a glass of Sauternes; a dark chocolate truffle from a good chocolatier; a plate of paper-thin, Jamón Ibérico de Bellota (de Jabugo) with a glass of Vega Sicilia Unico; locally smoked Irish salmon with a pint of Guinness; still slightly warm pan au chocolat and a cafe creme; I could go on….
7. Sitting on a hillside terrace overlooking the sea (dogs beneath the table) at an outdoor cafe in early summer with a big bowl of moules, a plate of frite, a bottle of rose and mon mari beside me singing in the wilderness…
8. Sitting up late, gossiping with my sister, until 'Mother yells at us to go to bed' ….
Well, I have to say, 'That worked a treat!'. I feel much better now. I really should do that more often.
Rather than passing it on to only 8 others, I challenge you all to come up with your own list of 8 things that make you happy…. It makes one rather happy just to do it!
Of course, another thing that always makes me happy is pasta!
Presto Pasta Nights, created and lovingly nurtured by Ruth of Once Upon A Feast, keeps me happy with a wonderful collection of pasta each week.
Check her blog on Friday for the recap of pasta from around the world.!
I love the idea of an orzo crust — sounds delicious! Very innovative, too.
Katie, very creative, using the orzo crust. This method reminds me of sushi pizza where the Japanese use the left over rice to make a crust for the sushi.
Reading about your happy moments makes me happy too.
This orzo pizza is so creative! Will have to give it ago and surprise mon mari with something new.
Wow — pasta pizza! Sounds like every kid’s dream dinner.
I have leftover orzo in the fridge. Until moments ago, it had no real purpose in life… my how things change. 🙂
Looks lovely!
Orzo pizza – inspired!
Love your happy meme, Pat tagged me too but still haven’t got to it. Note to self – stop being such a Slack Alice!
Also loved the link to Iberico de Bellota, which is actually what we currently have in the house and what I’ll be told off about when/if the in-laws read my post about it as I referred to it as merely Jamon Serrano. May just go and quickly tidy that one up…..
Oh wow, Katie! Orzo pizza. That sounds really incredibly good. I love orzo!
I like your 8 happy things. It sounds like a wonderful life! Many happy returns for this new year!
Happy thoughts really do have the power to lift you up…Peter Pan had it all down from the start! 🙂 I think of at least one happy thought at the end of my day 🙂
What an ingenius way with pizza! I just made a regular one…my first time with crust from scratch! 🙂
Oh my girl, you are one after my heart.
Your happies all make me happy! and the orzo crust is genius!
Now I should think your happy doubles as you’ve brought all of us the happies!
Genie, see the lengths I go to do avoid baking bread?
Peter, now I’m hungry for sushi…
Nora, always good to surprise ton mari – keeps’em guessing!
Lydia, and mine – I never did grow up!
Michelle, glad to be of help. Leftover orzo will work even better then the fresh!
Amanda, oh dear – you refered to de Bellota as Serrano? Oh dear, oh dear…. But you have a whole ham? Where do you live? I’m soooooooooo jealous!
Joey, I like to do things the easy way – and me and Peter Pan – yeah, we’re buddies!
Tanna, thank you sweetie…no if I could only figure out how to get to all of my happy places…. Once again, lost in thought…
This pizza is making me hungry.
I’ve used regular rice for quiche crusts, but this orzo pizza looks reaaly great.
I like your happy things list 🙂
Very nice list of happy thoughts…Stuart Smalley (the SNL character) would be proud.
I like #7 though it’s a bit…oh…Sound of Music -esque. No, wait that was mountains…and there weren’t dogs. Ok, scratch that.
That sounds really tasty! I like the orzo crust idea and will have to give that a try…
I would love to be in all of those places you mentioned Katie…if I close my eyes for a second it can happen. I DO remember spaghetti pie as well. Such a quick and easy mid week supper!!!!
It’s a great idea to make a list of the things that make us happy, it helps us to know that we are soooooo lucky compared with other people living in not such nice places as us do… This way we appreciate more what we have!
I looked up orzo in the dictionary but couldn’t find it. What is it, Katie?
I’ve been sending more comments that don’t show… did I say something wrong?
Yum! This recipe makes me think maybe I can use a grain for a pizza crust… you’ve given me new hope for my pizza lust! (Maybe I can eat pizza without cheating.)
Thank you. Thank you.
I vote for number 6 and 7! Ah!
I make pasta pie every once in awhile and now you have inspired me with a new way to create it! I was just telling Valli how much I loved recipes with tomatoes. Yours looks WONDERFUL!
Yum – pasta pizza! We’ll try this one soon.
You’re a genius! What a great pizza. I like all your happy places. It makes me happy just thinking about them.
We’re in South East,England. The in-laws live in Catalunya, nearest big town St Feliu de Guixols?? A bit too far for you to drive over for a slice or two either way. If it would keep I’d gladly post you some. Obviously feeling generous! Possibly because I’ve just eaten far too much of it.
This looks so delicious.I am looking forward more posts from you!
Meredith, I like to use brown rice, usually – I never make actual ‘crust’, but this worked really well.
Cooking Ninja, than my work is done!
Colleen, well, that whole happy-thing can get Sound of Music-esque. I do snarky better – but I try to play nice.
Mike, orzo crust is particularly good if you have a pie-crust phobia.
Bellini Valli, spaghetti pie…and lemon wine.. don’t ask!
Nuria, You’re right. I should do it more often. Orzo is rice-shaped pasta… and you’re fixed!
Mrs. W. I know you could use brown rice, but I bet you could use quinoa, too!
Deb, life would cease to exist for me without tomatoes!
Magpie, pasta pizza it is…how decadent is that!
Lynn, glad to make you happy! Now if we could just get to them….
Amanda, I’ve been to St. Feliu. Andorra is almost part of Catalonia. The official language is Catalan. We lived there for 7 years. It would almost be worth the drive – but you’re probably closer.
Thanks, Sorina, and thanks for visiting!
Great recipe and what a great meme. I used to make my older daughter give me 10 good things before I let her in the house after school. She was going through a very negative phase – Now 25 years later, she says it was the best thing as a parent I ever did.
Thanks for reminding me and for the fun pizza for Presto Pasta Nights.
What a great story, Ruth!
Great pasta recipe you have this week 🙂
Thanks, scientist!