Well it’s been quite a whirlwind in the Crabtree family the past couple of months.  We decided that we would put our house, located in Prince’s Lakes, up for sale. It has been such a great place for us and tucked quietly in the woods. 

My parents live on a small farm and have a cornfield that is 4.5 acres, that was available for us to buy and to build on. We knew we couldn’t act on anything until we sold our house. So we spent a couple of weeks painting a few things and then met with our realtor and put it on the market. We sold it in 11 days and were asked to fix nothing in the inspection. We also got close to 8 weeks before we would have to close. 

We are now less then a week from our closing date. It is very bittersweet boxing things up and moving a lot of things to a storage unit. Sophia has been here with us for a year and a half and we’ve made so many memories. We are going to be moving in with my parents until our new house is built. It’s also very exciting to plan out your needs and wants in a house. It is going to be our “dream house” and we plan on being there indefinitely. I am going to be blogging the whole process so check back often for updates. We have the Septic flags out now and know what kind of a system we need. Here are a few pictures of the ground, which will be changing a lot in the next couple of months.

                                            Taken from the road, front of property

                                           Back, middle of property looking at the road

                                          Back of property looking toward my parents

Spaghetti Aglio, Olio, e Peperoncino

This is the kind of meal that makes you stop and think that the simplest foods are often the most wonderful. With only a few ingredients that are staples in most pantries, you can create a beautiful, flavorful meal from scratch. Spaghetti aglio, olio, e peperoncino is a traditional Italian pasta dish. It's well loved by many because it's so easy and inexpensive to make. This is a perfect solution whenever you're in a bind. We thought this was really good and I think it would also be good as a cold salad.

Ingredients

7 ounces of spaghetti


2 large or 3 small garlic cloves, minced


1 1/2 teaspoons of chili pepper flakes


1/4 to 1/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil


3/4 teaspoon of salt


1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook spaghetti according to the directions on the package, until it is al dente.

Strain spaghetti and place in a large serving dish.

Add minced garlic, chili pepper flakes, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and mix together well.

Serve warm or at room temperature.