Happy Weekend!

I've (almost) made it through my first week home with Emma or 'retirement' as my husband calls it. It has been both tiring but most importantly fun, with trips to the park, lots of playing, and numerous on demand readings of the book, Opposites. This weekend I'm looking forward to going out to get our Christmas tree, (which reminds me, does anyone have any advice for keeping a 16 month old from ripping ornaments off?!) We'll also be decking our house in what might be an obnoxious amount of decorations. We're expecting rain tomorrow, with temperatures in the 50's through the early part of next week, so we'll be hanging out in front of the fire with a cocktail and filling our bellies with something warm and delicious, (yet to be decided, but I'll be sure to share next week!) Until then, something to think about:

"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."    - Nelson Mandela

*Image by Erica George Dines for Atlanta Home and Lifestyle

Pasta: Butternut Squash, Bacon and Sage

I'm going to be honest, when I first made this it just wasn't doing it for me... it was very 'one note.' It was missing something, something to mellow out the sweetness of the butternut squash, the answer? Why, the answer to almost all of life's quandaries of course, bacon! The bacon not only balances the sweet with salt, it also gives it some crunchy texture. Another confession, until this, I had never cooked with sage, but after crisping it in the rendered fat from the aforementioned bacon... I will never-not cook with sage again!