Gasp! I didn't prep ahead for dinner tonight!

Here's how my dinner prep went tonight (recipe adapted from Bon Appetit)...


Stella de Oro daylilies


5:38pm Get back inside after dividing and transplanting gifted daylilies (Stella de Oro, for those who were interested)
5:39pm Scrub fingernails
5:41pm Draw water for pasta and start it boiling
5:43pm Head upstairs to change out of dirt-covered clothes
5:49pm Return downstairs; water not boiling yet 5:50pm Zest orange, put half of zest into citrus zest freezer bag
5:52pm Slice bologna
5:54pm Realize we have no cream or half-and-half, only milk and sour cream
5:55pm Blend milk and sour cream to make cream stand-in
5:56pm Water is FINALLY boiling; drop penne
5:57pm Wrangle saucepot onto stove; start melting butter
5:58pm Remember cheese is necessary in recipe; stand in front of fridge staring at parm container without seeing it
5:59pm Put bologna in butter to fry
6:00pm Ask hubbie to slice apple for kiddos as appetizer
6:02pm Juice orange into pot, add zest, black pepper and milk/sour cream mixture
6:03pm Pull penne 2 minutes from being done; remember just in time to put some pasta water in saucepot
6:04pm Drain pasta; add to saucepot and bring to boil, stirring for 2 minutes
6:06pm Plate pasta and put on table to cool slightly
6:10pm Eating dinner, thinking about how I should have taken at least ONE picture of this

Not bad considering I needed a wardrobe change in the middle and had NOTHING prepped in advance, though this is prep-ahead and even freezer-kit friendly...just don't combine orange juice and milk ahead of time...Curdle City!  For a freezer kit, label the pasta box, combine zest, juice and pepper in one container, milk and sour cream in another, and butter and bologna in a third.  Or just fling it all together at the last minute, like I did.

Btw, the original Bon Appetit recipe called for prosciutto instead of bologna, but prosciutto is one of the few things I know my kids won't eat.  Maybe in a few years...  In the meantime, fried bologna is pretty darn good and speaks more directly to my ethnic food traditions (my ethnicity being Virginia Redneck ;-) )

Orange Bologna Pasta
Makes 6 servings

1 13-16 oz. box pasta
3 tbsp butter
4 oz. bologna, diced or sliced
juice of 1 orange
zest of 1/2 orange
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup pasta water
black pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese to taste

Boil pasta according to package directions.  Drain about 2 minutes before it's done, saving 1/2 cup of pasta water.

Melt butter over medium-high heat.  Fry bologna until browned, about 3 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients, including pasta water, and drained pasta.  Bring to a boil, stirring, for about 2 minutes, until pasta is cooked through.