Easy Pasta Recipe

Tonight I tried a new pasta recipe for Pasta Ponza. This is one of Giada De Laurentiis' recipes, and you can find it here. I originally saw it in a recent issue of Reader's Digest (thanks for the subscription Nana and Papa!), in which they were highlighting some Food Network stars. This recipe is very simple to make, light, and flavorful. I think it would be great when entertaining a large crowd too, because you bake the tomato and bread crumb mixture in one dish for about 30 minutes, then just cook the pasta separate, so it is not too much prep work, but it is still a filling and impressive meal. The only changes I made were to use only red cherry tomatoes (couldn't find yellow tonight), greasing the pan with olive oil cooking spray instead of butter, substituting fresh parmigiano reggiano for pecorino romano, and penne for ziti (I already had these and did not think it was necessary to buy something different).

Well, tonight I got back into exercising by playing a game of basketball. I am on a team in a women's league here in town, and tonight was our first game of the spring season. Our team is a mix of women from age 16-40ish. So, I am about in the middle of the age range. Our opponents, however, were primarily players from the varsity basketball team of one of the local high schools. Turns out teenagers can run a lot faster than all of us old ladies-who would have thought?

I played basketball all growing up and through high school, and although I was never a super star, I was a varsity level player, and very familiar with the game. I feel like when I play now my mind tells my body to do things, but my body doesn't always respond the way I am hoping. I made one pass tonight to a girl under the basket, thinking it was going to be really awesome, but my pass hit the backboard, and I am afraid people watching may have thought it was a shot attempt. Yikes.

There is also the problem of being able to breath. Sometimes it's a little difficult to feel like I am capable of breathing when I am running up and down the court trying to keep up with all those 17 year old girls.

I had one shining moment where I made a nice steal then dribbled in for the lay-up. However, that moment was short lived when I missed the lay-up (but there were 2 girls guarding me, so I have an excuse, right?).

Well, I have a feeling I will be very sore these next few days. Despite the imminent soreness, the slowness of my body, and the embarrassment on the court, I did enjoy playing (as I always do), and I plan on playing through the rest of the season. So, you can look forward to many more stories about Chelsea's Adventures on the Court.

Did I mention that the breathing thing made me realize I need to start running again? Not too sure how I feel about that...