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 My husband adores his pasta. Sadly to say, we have it once a week and some times, not always, we can finish a pound of pasta between the both of us. Back in April 1991, Gourmet Magazine published a recipe for pasta with spring vegetables and prosciutto. This recipe is loaded with asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, fresh or frozen petits pois (tiny peas), and snow peas. At this late date in the spring, you can still find New Jersey asparagus in the food markets. Although trenette pasta (fettuccine with one ruffled edge) may be difficult to find, Wegmans carries mafaldine (fettuccine with two ruffled edges) pasta for just under $5 for 17.6 ounce package.
 Many years ago, a neighbor or ours, Ann, use to make scarola and beans. I recall her soup being laden with dark leaf greens and white cannellini beans. We would dunk our Italian bread into the broth to sop up the juices.
I purchased one too many heads of escarole when I was making stuffed escarole. I dug out my Naples at Table cookbook, by Arthur Schwartz, to find a recipe for bean and escarole soup. The recipe could use either dried cannellini beans or canned, plus 3-4 plum tomatoes, celery and parsley. No unusual ingredients here, but a bit of time is required.  During Lent, I wanted to try something different for a meatless Friday meal. For whatever reason, I didn't get a chance to stuff escarole. Recently, I had the time and thought this would be something different for supper. In the cookbook, "Lidia's Italy," by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali, there is a Neapolitan recipe for stuffed escarole. I thought of it as an Italian version of stuffed cabbage. For those who are vegetarian, this is a wonderful dish to try as it's very satisfying. Escarole is high in fiber, contains vitamins A and B, which have antioxidant properties, and contains essential B complex groups of vitamins to name a few benefits.
 The other night I was at a loss as to what to make for supper. I wasn't in the mood for chicken or pork, but I did have some frozen shrimp that I purchased from Wegmans that is farm raised in Belize. I found the taste and quality excellent as well as the price, under $20 for two pounds.
In had in my folder a recipe for grilled New Orleans-style shrimp from the July 2003 issue of Gourmet Magazine. There's an easy marinade for the shrimp, which is just olive oil, garlic and salt. However, what makes this dish so incredible is the sauce which has butter, chili powder, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce and some fresh lemon juice. It has kick and is, as they say, finger lickin' good! Make sure you have plenty of crusty bread on hand to soak up the sauce.
As a thank you from our daughter and son-in-law for helping with their wedding last June, they gave us a gift of dinner for two at Del Posto in Manhattan. Del Posto is owned by Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and Lidia Bastianich. Del Posto is located downtown, next to the Highline. It was a beautiful evening, much like tonight.
 It's been a rather cool start to May. A couple of months ago while I was at Wegmans, they had a tasting station for their turkey sage meatloaf. Since my husband and I don't each much red meat, a new recipe for ground turkey is always welcomed at our house. The nice thing about this recipe, it was enough for dinner for two, plus a few lunches for my husband.
 I can't believe that I started writing this blog over a week ago. Working without a consistent schedule doesn't give me the freedom to blog on a consistent basis either. However, I have been cooking some new recipes and showing them on Instagram, @donnawalsifer.
 A few weeks ago, my brother sent me a recipe he found at allrecipes.com for scallops with lemon and basil sauce. Last week, Whole Foods had scallops on sale for $16.99/lb., which was a terrific price for local, dry sea scallops. Prep and cooking for the recipe was only fifteen minutes; you can't beat that. Other than the sea scallops, I had to purchase a lemon and fresh basil.
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