Happy Memorial Day

This post actually has nothing to do with Memorial Day. I'm in bed feeling sorry for my throat, so I'm not exactly doing something special to celebrate. :) But I did want to post (belatedly, as usual) about another holiday: Mother's Day.

For Mother's Day (which was May 11th here in the States), I made dinner for my mom. I'll give you one guess where the recipe is from! [Honestly, I do cook things that aren't in that book. I really do].

I made Linguine with Lemon, Garlic, and Thyme Mushrooms, only I made a few changes. I'll write down the original recipe for you, and then tell you what I did differently:

* 8 oz/4 cups finely sliced cremini mushrooms

* 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

* 1 tablespoon kosher salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt

* small garlic clove, minced

* zest and juice of a lemon

* 4 sprigs fresh thyme, stripped to give 1 teaspoon leaves

* 1 lb linguine

* 1 bunch parsley, chopped to give 1/2 cup

* 2-3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste

* freshly ground pepper

1. Slice the mushrooms finely, and put them into a large bowl with the oil, salt, minced garlic, lemon juice and zest, and gorgeously scented thyme leaves.

2. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions and drain loosely, retaining some water. Quickly put the pasta in the bowl with the mushroom mixture.

3. Toss everything together well, and then add the parsley, cheese, and pepper before tossing again, and eat with joy in your heart.

Nothing in the recipe calls for cooking the mushrooms, but I like them cooked, so what I do is put the slices of mushrooms in a pan with the oil, salt, and garlic, and I sauté them. Then I do pretty much everything else the same, adding in the lemon and thyme at the same time as the parsley, etc.

Sorry it's not the best photo, but I forgot to take a close-up of the dish, so I just snapped a picture really fast before we tucked in. :)

On a completely different note, I just wanted to mention that my pay-it-forward swap is now closed. I'm hoping to get a start on those projects sometime soon, but won't be able to share them with you until they make it to their new homes...