Friday, February 13, 2009

Presto Pasta Night Hits 100!

All I can say is....WOW!!! What an awesome week. And first I must apologize for using words like awesome, delicious, gorgeous, glorious, spectacular over and over...even the thesaurus couldn't help me. Same goes for "shares", "brings", "makes"...but I hope you overlook my vocabulary weaknesses and just enjoy the treats.

Kuchenlatein said "wouldn't it be great if you got 100 entries for Presto Pasta Night?" and while we did fall a bit short- 49, this is the most EVER! It was wonderful to find out that for quite a few people , Presto Pasta Nights was their first food blogging event and they still love it. And it was very moving to see so many long time friends here right beside almost as many newbies. I certainly never expected it to take off... and stay up in the air, I might add...the way that it did. So a very special thanks to all of you.

Because you all came for the pasta and not for me doing a Sally Fields..."You like me! You really like me!"...here are the real stars of Presto Pasta Night #100.

Kitchenetta of Got No Milk, a long time supporter of Presto Pasta Night had her entry in before #99 was more than five minutes old. I always love her dishes and, even more...her followup posts announcing the week's roundup to all her readers. This week, she shares a very tasty looking Roasted Butternut Squash & Bacon Pasta.


Abby of Eat the Right Stuff, is another PPN Lifer. Her posts with delicious dishes have helped make this weekly event such a success. Just look at her Pancetta, Radicchio & Lemon Linguine.


Juliette of A Little Foodie is a food blogging newbie and I'm proud to say that this post for Roasted Squash, Leeks & Onions with Goat Cheese is actually her third post PERIOD! So welcome and I do hope that joining the fun here becomes a habit.


Norene Gilletz, one of my favorite Canadian cookbook authors, and a great lady, shared her Penne Al Pesto Jardiniere with us. So easy, so quick to put together, so healthy...what's not to try.

Giz of Equal Opportunity Kitchen "threw" this Leftover Pasta together to clean out her fridge before her vacation. Looks like she has a perfect fridge for foraging! Have a great vacation!


Aqua of Served With Love, made a great Pasta for One. Unfortunately her hubby is not a pasta fan...hard to believe, I know.


Liz of Sauced whipped up a spectacular dish of Spicy Duck Ragu - serious celebrations in practically no time!


Ulrike of Kuchenlatein and great PPNer over the years shares this fantastic, gorgeous AND easy Pasta with Leeks, Peas & Pesto.


Mikky of My Finds is a relative PPN newbie, and hopefully will show up for some of the next 100 roundups. Check out this fantastic Baked Creamy Penne with Shrimp & Spinach.


Joelen and her Culinary Adventures brings a lovely, healthy Whole Wheat Ricotta Gnocchi to our party...excellent!!!


Pam at Sidewalk Shoes is back with a very fancy party dish. Don't you think Pasta with Anchovies, Currants and Fennel sounds festive and look at how gorgeous.


CY at Eat First Diet Later doesn't think this is "real" pasta...but who's she kidding. Her version of Pad Thai sounds and looks amazing.


Gilli of So So Simple is simply awesome. She actually took time out of her vacation to share a perfect party Orzo & Beetroot Salad with us. Now I think all of us should catch up with them and join in the fun.


Ivy of Kopiaste made a very intriguing dish of Fettuccine with Chicken in Chocolaty Mastic Gum Sauce. It looks excellent and now I'm so curious I have to hunt down mastic gum. I wonder where I might find some.


Becke, the Columbus Foodie has come to many a Presto Pasta Night and this time around she shares a droolingly delicious looking Chicken Pasta Skillet.


Bellini Valli of More Than Burnt Toast another great regular over the last 100 roundups. This dish- Pasta With Chicken & Spinach in Red Wine is perfect.


It is lovely to see so many regulars, here. Gay, the Scientist in the Kitchen is finally in her own place and her first meal...Pasta with Crazy Cut Tuna Sauce...just for us. How lucky is that!


Newbie blogger Sarah of Taste My Plate joined in the PPN fun with her first (of many more to come, I hope) Mediterranean Pasta Bake. It will certainly transport me away from our cold and crazy winter.


Wiffy of Noob Cook - and next week's host, made a wonderful looking Fried Bee Hoon with Stewed Pork with stepped out photo instructions to make a simple dish even simpler to prepare.


Marija of Palachinka is back with a fantastic looking casserole - Acini di Pepe with Saffron Bechamel...very party food!


Katie of Thyme for Cooking always starts my day with a smile and ends it by serving up a very delicious meal. Check out this comforting and glorious looking Risotto Style Orzo and Prosciutto.


Joanne of Eats Well With Others made a heart-stopping, breath-taking, very grown up Caramelized Sweet Potato Mac 'n Cheese. See for yourself.


Avra of I've Got Food on My Brain has been sending in pastas since her first roundup...always tasty. This week it's delicious looking Greek Pastitio.


Laurie of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska made these fantastic looking Oxtail Ravioli in Mushroom Broth from scratch. They look amazing and apparently not that hard to make, either...my kind of dish.


Kevin, my favorite Closet Cook, shared a heavenly dish of Wild Mushrooms & Double Smoked Bacon Pasta for the big bash. His pastas always make my mouth water.


Melissa of Alosha's Kitchen has shared many a tasty dish with Presto Pasta Nights and this one looks awesome...a heaping portion of Skillet Ziti with Chicken & Broccoli anyone?


Dharm, Dad, Baker & Chef comes to PPN parties often. This one...whether you call it Fried Mee Hoon or Chow Mein looks terrific.


Sara of I Like to Cook and a very long time food blogging friend, cooked up this Fettuccine with Lemon, Feta & Basil that made me think of Mediterranean mac 'n cheese. Can't wait to try some.


Marye of Baking Delights (another long-time blogging friend) shares a very tempting Cajun Black Bean Fettucine with us. All that's missing is some Cajun music and perhaps a table in the French Quarter of New Orleans!


Glenna of A Fridge Full of Food always brings something fun and healthy. This week she shares a dish I haven't had in years...Alphabet Soup with vegetables. Definitely one to make when my little grandson comes over. He's two and already knows his letters. Now let's see if he'll eat them too!


Holler, of Tinned Tomatoes is back with a timely, tasty (I'm drooling right now) dish of Herbful Pasta with Mushrooms to help us think of Spring...and when is that coming, exactly?


KC of Kit's Chow said her first food blogging event ever was Presto Pasta Nights and I'm glad she's shared a number of great dishes since then. I particularly love how her leftovers become a delicious Baked Tortiglioni.


Maria, of Kali Orexi a fairly new PPNer made a great dish of Chicken Baked with Orzo. She shares my view that there can never be enough variations on any given dish.


Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe is my kind of girl...making easy to prepare, colorful, healthy and of course tasty pastas. So glad she brought her Painless Pasta. Check out the cute little sprouts.
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Sylvie of Rappahannock Cook & Kitchen Gardener made this very Presto Garden Buckwheat Noodle dish that looks just right for a quick meal.


Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything , yet another long time foodie friend and she often makes gorgeous and tasty treats for us. Her Orzo Paella looks awesome!


NOE over at The Dog Eats The Crumbs (and after seeing some of the recipes, I understand why) made this mouth-watering Penne with Vodka Cream Sauce. I just bought some fresh porcini mushroom stuffed tortelloni and this is the sauce I'll be making! Hope I didn't drink all the vodka.


Colleen of FoodieTots is back with a wonderful Hearty Baked Ziti. It reminded me that I learned the art of camouflage when my own girls were little. They still love my green chicken soup - made so lovely by the spinach they normally thought was poison.


Daphne Su of More Than Words made a very festive pasta dish for the big party...Honey Roasted Pumpkin RAvioli. It sounds as wonderful as it looks.


Anna of Morsels & Musings made this stunning and exotic (at least here in Halifax) dish of Lemongrass Scallops with Kaffir Vermicelli. The hunt begins for kaffir leaves...


Sailaja of Kidzone made this very kid friendly (make that kids of all ages) Cheesy Vegetarian Lasagna.


Katie over at One Little Corner of the World is back with a terrific weekend of cooking. Her Beef & Noodles is for Presto Pasta Nights...but I will be doing the grilled shrimps soon too. Works fine over garlicky pasta don't you think?

I feel terrible. Ben of that fabulous blog What's Cooking created an absolutely perfect celebration dish for the big 100 and it got lost in the ethernet. Fortunately he left a comment so here is his fantastic Spicy Tilapia over Champagne Pasta.


Michelle of Big Black Dog made a dish I can never resist...I'm really slobbering here...Shrimp in Garlic Cream Sauce.


And finally, the five I made this week (and that's not counting the one I did last night, surrounded by cute little boys who needed my attention- Pasta with Sweet Fennel Sausages & Mushrooms). I could make it in my sleep. Six pastas, crazy, but true...some days I even made two pasta dishes!
First was the leftover Tortellini Fritatta

Then there was my own Mediterranean inspired Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower & Preserved Lemons, etc...so good.

Probably my favorite...Farfalle with Garlic Butter Shrimp & Pancetta.

Up next lunch of Yemenite Red Lentil Soup with Spaghetti

and supper of Persian Saffron Spiced Yellow Split peas and Ground Lamb - truly - meatsauce like you've never tasted.

A very special thank you to all of you for taking part this week. A giant round of applause for each of you.

Don't forget to think of something wonderful to share for next week's Presto Pasta Night. Fabulous Wiffy of Noob Cook will be hosting and you can send your entries directly to her at ppn (at) noobcook (dot) com so that she'll be sure to capture them all. Please cc me: ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot)com as well.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy 100 th! Wow it just gets better and better, doesn't it?

Sara said...

holy cow what a fantastic turn out! so many great dishes. congrats again on the 100th ppn! maybe we can have 200 contributions for the 200th! :)

Ruth Daniels said...

Thanks ladies, and Sara...I need a nap just posting the 49! Will you settle for 100 :-)

Melissa said...

Wonderful job, Ruth, and warmest congratulations on such a successful milestone.

Ivy said...

Just keep the PPN rolling and we'll show up. The roundup was amazing with so many delicious recipes.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Congrats! What a fabulous roundup! I would have loved to participate, but I had no time to cook lately...

Cheers,

Rosa

Anonymous said...

Talk about a virtual feast! Congratulations!

I definitely want to join in for the second 100, so much delicious fun.

Anonymous said...

Happy 100th PPN, Ruth! I'm devstated that I didn't get it together to submit an entry for this one. . . quite a milestone! Congrats. All the entries look amazing (fantastic, delicious, etc--see, thesaurus no help to me, either!)--and these could keep me going for the next 50 weeks! But I'll do my best to get in on the fun for at least a few of the posts between 100 and 200. :)

FOODalogue said...

It just proves the old adage (mine)..."one can never have enough pasta".

Congratulations!

giz said...

Great roundup Ruth - and congrats on this wonderful milestone.
Re: mastic gum, aka mastika - I was curious too and found some at a Greek grocery store in Toronto.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! That means it will be 2 years old in 4 weeks! As I'm sure you know, tons of us LOVE this blog event so thanks again for creating it! Yummy pasta dishes :)

Johanna GGG said...

congratulations on 100 weeks ruth - what an achievement - and the event still producing pasta dishes to tempt and inspire - I hope to participate in many more PPNs!

Noob Cook said...

Great round up & congratulations! =)

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

Congratulations on the 100th PPN!

Ack, can't believe we missed the 100th.

suvi said...

lovely round up ruth, there are so many here that I know i will try, even if it is just for me :)

daphne said...

Amazing turn out!!

Congrats Ruth! Here is to a great event and many more to come!

Unknown said...

great job, great round-up, and best of all, great host... cheers to you and looking forward to the next hundred... :)

Unknown said...

oh, and btw, HAPPY VALENTINES'S DAY!!! :)

Anna (Morsels and Musings) said...

congrats on PPN turning 100!!!

CY said...

Hey Ruth

Great job with all the posting, PPN's a great blogging event and I'm definitely inspired by all the entries to try new recipes in the coming weeks!

Cheers!

CY

PG said...

Excellent Job Ruth! With 49 posts, I'm sure this took up most of your week. Not to mention all of the pasta dishes you made yourself. Congratulations for all of the PPN success. I look forward to it continuing!

Anonymous said...

Ruth, congratulations on the big 100, and wishing you continued success with all of your endeavors.

This is my favorite food celebration on the internet.

Glenna said...

WOW! What an incredible round-up! Congrats on your 100th event!

pam said...

What a fabulous roundup!

Heidi Leon Monges said...

Hi Ruth, I've just find out about PPN through Palachinka's blog. Congratulation,wonderful idea. Hope I join you guys in the future.

Dharm said...

Great roundup Ruth! Happy 100th and wishing you many more!

test it comm said...

So many great looking pasta dishes!

Argus Lou said...

The roundup to top all roundups! Congratulations on the 100th PPN, Ruth. Would've loved to join in this round but am all tied up in bits of black fur. :) Am there in spirit certainly.

Joanne said...

I'm still dreaming about this roundup! Thanks so much for hosting and for creating the event to begin with.

Katie Zeller said...

Wow, indeed!
Congrats on a huge milestone!

Anonymous said...

brilliant round up ruth!