The "Great Bed Exchange"

     As most of you know, my granddaughter, Lexi, is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with her friend Spencer and won’t be back until September or October. Here are a few pix of her adventure.

My daughter Brenda and I thought it was the perfect time to sell the daybed in Lexi's room and install a real bed. My other granddaughter, Emily, is living in Washington D.C. so the double bed she used in college was up for grabs. At the same time I needed to swap out my bed frame for a new one. Time for the “Great Bed Exchange.”
    For a week I had been tidying up Lexi’s room and putting some of her things in plastic storage bins to make room for the new bed.

A good vacuuming and dusting and the room was ready. Then I put an ad on Craigslist for the daybed. Within a few hours I started getting responses. Wow! This was really going to happen.
    Saturday afternoon Brenda and my grandson, Tony showed up and they went right to work, dis-assembling the daybed, carrying it all downstairs, and installing the new double bed frame, box springs and mattress. It fit in Lexi’s room perfectly. Then Tony finished removing the old frame from my bed and installing the new one. Brenda and I helped put the box springs and mattress back on the new frame and make the bed. Just about then I got a text from someone that badly wanted the daybed and would be there in a few minutes to buy it and take it away! Sure enough, within an hour the daybed was gone, the new double bed was in Lexi’s room and I had a new bed frame. Time to relax.

Before (twin size daybed)

After (Double size bed.)

    “Would you like to join Tony and me and some of his friends for dinner tonight?” Brenda asked. I thought about it. I needed a shower and my hair was a hot mess. I was pretty knackered.
    “You know, honey, I think I’ll pass, but thank you so much anyway. And Tony, we couldn’t have done this without you! Thank you both.” With that I fell into a chair. I had planned to try a new recipe that night but I was done for the day. It would have to wait until Sunday.
    I have become addicted to recording and watching Lee Drummond, The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network. I just love her. Both she, her family, and her recipes are very appealing. The one I wanted to try on Saturday was her Pasta Primavera. It would be my Sunday dinner instead. This is a great summer dish if you have a vegetable garden. I live in a townhouse so after a quick trip to Lunardi’s for the veggies and some fresh pasta, it was time to cook.
    Even though this is a meatless dish it is not low fat so if you want to try it, be aware! I only made half the recipe as that's enough for me for two nights. I started by sauteing onions and garlic in butter and olive oil, then removed them from the pan to a plate. Next went in more butter and oil and the carrots and broccoli for a quick saute, just enough to get them tender-crisp.

Out of the pan and onto the plate. Next, more butter and oil for the red peppers, yellow squash and zucchini.

Again, out of the pan onto the plate. Next came the mushrooms and more butter and oil. When they were nice and brown they went the way of all the other veggies, onto the plate.

The pile of cooked veggies was getting higher and higher! Time to make the sauce. Into the empty pan went a little white wine and chicken broth; a stir to loosen any browned bits, and one more tablespoon of butter. I let it bubble until it thickened a little and added the half and half (Ree calls for heavy cream but I just couldn’t) and the parmasan cheese. When it was all nice and bubbly again I poured all those yummy veggies right back into the pan, added the frozen peas and  the drained pasta. A quick toss and it was ready to eat.

A glass of dry white wine (the same wine I used for the sauce,) a couple of slices of good, crusty Italian bread, and I was in heaven.

    Here is the link to Ree’s full recipe for Pasta Primavera. Enjoy! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/08/pioneer_womans_/