Ok, tonight I made this recipe from Ina Garten:

OMG it is SOO delish!!! I seriously had a foodgasm while eating dinner tonight.

Of course, as always, I never do everything exactly like the recipe…I didn’t have pancetta so I used bacon instead, and instead of 6c of chicken stock i replaced 2c wtih some butternut squash soup I had open in the fridge.  I also pureed the squash after roasting it and mixed it in w/ the stock/soup and added it to the rice gradually rather than just adding the squash pieces at the end.  But it was so good!!!!

Oh and this was the first time I’d ever cooked with saffron.  We bought a bunch super cheap while on our honeymoon in Ptown, so of course I had to taste a couple of threads, I love the aromatic delicate taste…so wonderful!  I didn’t use quite as much saffron as Ina called for cause an entire teaspoon of saffron, probably a little more than half of that….cause well…it’s expensive.  But I did use some as garnish.

And if you noticed tonight I ate dinner on my Ballet Ribbon china…well I figure it should be enjoyed, and it’s very pretty china for taking pictures of food