Lunch kept me stuffed all afternoon. Must have been pretty calorie dense after all 🙂 Matt wanted to make dinner around 6:30 and I had to agree – he had to get in bed by 8:30!
On the menu – an old faithful, Bruschetta Pasta.
I brought home some delicious basil from Kelsey’s garden!
And used cherry tomatoes from our garden! (The only vegetable that we grew successfully this year – Matt was a bit lazy.)
We cooked whole wheat rotini and tossed that in Williams Sonoma balsamic vinegar along with slightly sautéed tomatoes and zucchini, basil and parmesan cheese. This would have been way better with goat cheese but we didn’t have any! And a touch of olive oil and we’re out of that too!
I ended up only eating about 3/4 and gave the rest to Matt. I could have mindlessly eaten it all, but I was full and it had lost it’s zest. Plus I was more interested in my wine!
Karen stopped by and put us in the mood for vino 
So we opened a bottle and each had a small glass and a half. Wine makes dinnertime so festive and formal!
My spouse was sporting the Boston shirt Tina sent us Summit planners!!!! Thanks Tina! It was a tad bit too big for me and he snagged it up. It fits him perfectly. CAN’T WAIT for Boston!!! Summit Countdown: 2 days!
Arachnophobs beware…………. don’t look any further!!!
……………….WE FOUND A BLACK WIDOW ON OUR GRILL COVER!!!
And made it try the South Beach Diet before it insisted on being released at the very edge of our property. SCARY!!!
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Those of you who are seeing the jumbled text – rumor has it that it goes away with time! Might just be your servers updating.
Also, those of you who still can’t see the new blog. My parents were still seeing the old one and called their internet provider (ClearWire) and they were able to tweak/update something and now it’s all fixed. So it might be worth a call.
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Google Chrome is the best browser!! I love it. And I just found out about this new middle click tab feature through the Google Chrome Blog!
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I’m debating between writing some blog posts for my freelance jobs and lounging on the couch again….what a decision!
alexis says
eek – that spider is awful!
michelle says
I’m confused about the spider – did you just let it go? I think I would (have had someone else) kill it!
Shannon (The Daily Balance) says
I cannot believe you had a black widow! — and that you let it live! CRAZY! Beautiful looking pasta dish — delish!
Allie Katie says
AHHHHH I am not feeling so great about Chartown now that you’ve shown me the spider. Oh, dear.
Lizzy says
AHHHHH i can’t believe you found that! yikes
Susan says
Ohmygosh, I typically don’t get creeped out by bugs, but that spider has me feeling all kinds of iffy!! Eeek! Sometimes I’m happy I live in Canada where our worst bug is the mosquito…
Julie says
HOLY.CRAP. That is the scariest insect I’ve ever seen. GROSSSSSS!!
Erin says
Wow, ok so I think it’s cool! Great pic Kath. And I am so proud of you for letting that bugger go. He can’t kill you or even make you sick. His bite would hurt and you’d have red swelling and stuff, and some pain. But that’s it. That’s why this ecologist is very happy you let ’em go. Good girl.
Leianna says
OMG that spider = scary, that’s why I could never live in the south, I give you props for getting that close to it!
Love your pasta dish and being creative with some home grown foods!
mikey says
aahhhhhh!!! i knew i shouldn’t look but i did anyways 🙂 scary.
Laura M. says
Eek! A Black Widow spider? Are those really common in the South? I would have totally kept it in the jar until it died :-/
Dinner looks yummy, though!
Alexandra says
That spider is scary!
Question (probably a stupid one): How do I know which blog I’m seeing??!
Mom says
Yep, I’m glad you let her? go too.
KatieTX says
I did a report on Black Widows in 4th grade and have been terrified of them ever since!! I would have flipped out!
Heather says
I have never seen a black widow before – and can safely say I never want to see one again!
Your dinner looks amazing – I love veggies, cheese and pasta – how can you go wrong?!?
Cait (Cait's Plate) says
AAAAAAH! I would have FREAKED OUT if I saw that spider!!! You’re brave for even photographing it!
Also – I HAVE THAT SAME BOSTON SHIRT! Tell Matt I LOVE it and wear it all the time 🙂
lynn (The Actors Diet) says
so funny – i was thinking over what to make for dinner tonight and i was thinking bruschetta pasta – i didn’t even know there was a name for it! sorry bout the spiders. eeeek!
theskinnyplate says
Black widow!! Ahhh…. so dangerous. I would have fainted.
FitFoodie says
The pasta looks delish 🙂
The spider is scary! I’ve never seen a Black Widow in person…I hope I never have to.
Suzanne says
(1) If you look up ‘arachnophobia’ in the dictionary, you will see a picture of me with my mouth in mid-scream, my eyes clamped shut, with tears streaming down my face. I. HATE. SPIDERS. So I don’t know WHAT possessed me to scroll down despite your warnings! That was disgusting! My hands are still sweating.
Just curious, why did you let it go? Aren’t you afraid it is going to be make it’s way back to your house?
(2) THANK YOU for that google tab mouse tip! That’s awesome! 🙂
Stephanie says
Eww, that spider is disgusting! It almost looks fake, we do not have those around my area, thank god! I would have freaked out if I saw that in real life.
Runeatrepeat says
Darn, you warned me about looking and I still did! Now I’m going to have nightmares about that spider!
Victoria says
That spider is utterly terrifying. I hate that I’m such a wuss about spiders and bugs but I would have run crying into the house if I had seen that.
MQ says
Random comment unrelated to this post: I tried your oatmeal recipe (the one with the 1/3s) and added some all-natural PB and I have to say that I never thought oatmeal could be THIS good!! I love oatmeal anyway, and I never would’ve imagined it to be even more delicious. So fluffy and yummy and thick! Thank you so much for re-converting me to oatmeal!
Quick question, though: I think I used 1/3 cup oatmeal and when it was done, it looked like a lot more than usual! Is it because of the whipping while cooking? (I didn’t add any banana…) or did I just eyeball the amount and got more?
angieinatlanta says
Lovin’ the way that cheese looks on your pasta!
But hatin’ on that spider! Yikes!
-angieinatlanta
Jessica says
Wow that spider is CREEEEEPPPPY!!!!
-muffy
Erica says
Dinner looks soooooo good! I am a huge fan of fresh basil- tastes amazing with both tomatoes and moz! That spider is majorly freaking me out!
Jocelyn says
oh…
my…
GOODNESSSS
that thing is HUGEEEEEEEEEE..we have nothing like it here!! I would have freaked. lol.
Nicole says
Your pasta dish looks great! The spider on your grill cover – not so great! I would have ran screaming! BTW, Matt looks so cute in your Boston tee. Can’t wait for the Summit! See you soon!
emmy - eatventures says
ewwwwww! Are Black Widows common in North/South Carolina? I was surprised to see one in your area.
Jolene (www.everydayfoodie.ca) says
I would ABSOLUTELY DIE if I found a spider like that!!! Yikes!!!!!
Jenn (eating bender) says
Ok, everything was going just fine until your disclaimer. Even though I’m a huge arachnophobic (think crying and general squirming), I had to look…and now I’m scarred!!! 🙂
Dinner looked good though 😉 And yay Boston!
Lisa says
Aiieee! Black widows are so scary. We found one hanging around the porch and my mother valiantly dispatched it. We live in Ohio, so it’s not just the south that gets them. They can be found in woody areas all around the country. Kudos to you for letting it go – I probably would have squished it myself.
Jenn Eats Nutritiously Now says
Wow! That spider looks so scary! Not sure if I could have let it live…
kay (eating machine) says
Dinner = yummy. Nothing better than fresh tomato and basil
Spider= scary. You’re a brave woman to catch it instead of squishing it.
thepinkpeppercorn says
YIKES! Maybe you should have had more wine to make everything better – crazy spider!!! Looks like a very yummy dinner though!
klm says
WHY did you let that spider live???!!!!!!!!!!
Jenn (www.j3nn.net) says
Pasta looks great!
Wow, that spider looks fake! lol If spiders aren’t bothered us, I like to keep them around to take care of the bugs. 😀
Jenn
David says
That food looks really tasty. I’ve had a few run ins with black widows in northern california, but not bitten. Once we had this _huge_ black widow that would sneak out of the garage onto the top of the fireplace and taunt us while we were drinking. It was pretty funny. I ended up going into the garage and throwing down a huge wooden panel on top of the nest and killing them all. It had to be done, there were hundreds of them!
Christie @ Quit Your Diet says
Yum! That pasta looks delicious!
Crazy spider!
Lauren says
I am a complete arachnophobe, so of course the black widow picture/story has left me feeling like spiders are crawling all over me! I should have heeded your warning ;).
Dinner looks delicious, and Matt looks so cute in the Boston tee. Yay for representing our wonderful city!
Can’t wait to meet you in a few days :).
Madelin @ What is for breakfast? says
Thanks for the google chrome tip!
Eve says
omg – i would have freaked out if i saw that spider!!! i’m so scared of them.
JENNA says
omg i would have killed it!!!!!!!!!! so scary!! I hope you didn’t find it again!!
Barbara says
I’m surprised you gave him a “get outta jail free pass”. Wow, those are one type of spider you don’t want to mess with!
Hopefully your house is now blissfully spider free!!!
B
Paige says
Holy crap at that spider! I would have been scafred sh*tless!!
Love the Boston Tee, though!
Dave Fannin says
guh- that spider is huge. bleh
Ally says
Okay, normally I try the catch and release program for bugs, but seriously black widows are poisonous. Yeah, realistically an adult probably wouldn’t die from a bite, but a small child or elderly person with a weakened immune system can easily die from asphyxiation if they are bitten. I really think you should have killed it. It’s just too dangerous to have them lurking around.
Brittany says
Beautiful dinner, and spider. I know spiders are eww, plus widows are dangerous but they are very appealing. I was at work going over some things when a co-worker screamed, mind you this was a very large grown man, he found a black widow and I took care of it. I caught and called are local zoo, I have always been able to capture and handle the unusual. However show me anything creepy and wormy I’m outa the door faster then the spped of light. I have an awsome capresse salad salsa that I made for our friday wine event.
tatiana says
I had the same exact dinner last night!! It was awesome!!
jess says
That spider would have freaked me out so much! I HAAAATTTEE spiders in real life!
Suzanne says
When I was in high school the ice cream shop I worked at had a drive through where black widows tended to inhabit… customers loved them…
AnnQ says
Those tomatoes look awesome! And cool-looking spider!
Heather @ Health, Happiness, and Hope says
That pasta looks lovely! Loving all those veggies and colors.
YIKES to that spider. You sure to have a lot of nature experiences. 😉
Erin says
I am SO glad you let the spider go 🙂
Dinner looks great too!
brandi says
ah! glad you got that black widow out of there! that fresh pasta looks really good. I love fresh tomatoes, and our garden ones have been amazing this summer.
Lindsay says
That pasta looks delish!
Yikes to the spider! I would not have reacted well to finding that!
Sarah says
Yummy dinner! Thanks for the warning, that was definitely for me and I scrolled super fast as to not see the dreaded pictures. Eek!
Heather says
Hey Kath, I love your blog! I have such a random question- I LOVE your dining room- do you have any idea what color paint the green is? I’ve been trying to paint mine and keep ending up with such an ugly color. Thanks!!
Krissy (Single Serving) says
EEEK! Spiders!
That pasta looks absolutely delicious. I must try it!
Jen C. says
That is the biggest, scariest, grossest spider I’ve ever seen. I cannot believe those EXIST and that you had to be NEAR IT! AHHHHH!!!!
Hope says
EEK! KILL KILL KILL!!
Kristi says
I shouldn’t have scrolled down…I know better. I swear I felt something crawling on me when I saw that picture!!!
Andee (Runtolive) says
omg that spider looks huge! glad you were able to catch it!
Kath says
Re. Spider,
We let it go because I don’t like to kill creatures outside. If they come in my house, they don’t get to live, but she was outside minding her business – just too close to us! We put her WAAAAAY back in the creek where she probably has lots of friends. I doubt she’ll make the trip back up. If we didn’t have a wildlife preserve (not literally, sarcastically) behind us, we probably would have killed her for safety.
Alexandra ,
If you’re seeing this it’s the new one!!
MQ ,
Glad you liked the oats!! I’m not sure about the volumne, but rolled oats whipped on the stove top always give me the most volume.
Heather ,
It’s La Fonda Olive from Lowes.
Kath
Amy says
Holy Moly… I have seen some serious creatures on your blog this summer!! Yikes!
lauren (foodshoesbooze) says
AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SPIDERS! Yikes!!
I love love your blog and hope you have lots of fun in Boston (p.s. love the cottage cheese b*fast combo, can’t wait to try it!)
britt says
i have all of those ingredients in my fridge (and a squash and zucchini that desperately need to be used). i may just have this exact thing tonight for dinner 🙂
Kristilyn says
Gross! I would have been on the other side of the property if I saw that. Yikes.
If that was in my BBQ cover, I think I would jar it, run it 5 miles down the road and THEN release it! LOL!
K
Erin says
Best trick I have for cutting corn off of the cob- Put the end that has withered kernels in the center of a bundt pan, hold the stalk end and slice down the cob with a knife. This is the only use I’ve found for my bundt pan.