Mediterranean Shrimp and Pasta Toss

So this post isn’t just about this delicious pasta I made last night…

…it’s also to let you know that today Aggie’s Kitchen is celebrating it’s 1-year blogiversary! Wow, really? One year? Hard to believe that a year ago I was sitting on my laptop, still a little unsure what a blog actually was and writing this…

Snoop Bloggy Blog

…is what Larry is calling me now that I have decided to join this so called modern world of “blogging”. I am still not 100% grasping what blogging is about but I am embracing it and going to make it my own….so here goes…

I love food. I love to entertain. I’ve learned this about myself in the last few years. I also love to share what I cook (both by feeding and talking about it)….and I love to hear about what others are cooking too.

I sometimes think I am borderline obsessive about food. So this will be a creative outlet for me. If you know me, you know that I can talk about food all day, so I finally have a place to talk to my heart’s content. =)

I am also going to use this blog as a way to organize myself. I have a bazillion recipes laying around my kitchen in manilla folders, and I have a nice collection of wonderful cookbooks too. I need a place to keep my thoughts on each recipe that I try or even one that I create from scratch. I find it very hard to follow a recipe to a tee, I am always tempted to change something, like add an extra spice or vegetable so this will be a perfect place for me to keep notes on the changes I make.

So here’s to my new place to be myself and talk talk talk …. so excited!!

Aggie’s Kitchen has become my new “hangout”… I come here each day to visit with my blogging buddies and to get inspired by what all of you are cooking in your own kitchens. I enjoy reading all the comments you leave me and am ever so thankful to you for continuing to visit and read what I have to say. This blog has been a blessing for me…and I’m so appreciative of every single person who reads it. And the friendships I’ve made along the way are a bonus.

So to thank you all, I am giving away a couple of cookbooks from 2 of my many favorite Food Network celebrities. The first one is Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book. I started watching RR’s show when my little boy was an infant…hearing the music when the show is starting always brings me back to those very early days of motherhood…good memories. I learned the basics from her…I think she’s so creative in the kitchen and admire her for working so hard for what she has.

The other cookbook I am giving away is Tyler Florence’s Dinner At My Place. I just love Tyler Florence…he seems like a nice guy and I wouldn’t mind him stopping by my kitchen to teach me a thing or two. His recipes are always full of flavor and I love the photography in this cookbook.

It’s pretty easy to enter the giveaway…all you have to do is a leave a comment on this post by Friday June 5 at midnight. You can get an extra entry if you post about this giveaway on your own blog…just leave an additional comment stating that you did so. If you don’t have a blog, please leave an email address so I can contact you if you win!

Now on to last night’s easy dinner…

I had no idea what I wanted for dinner last night. I’ve been feeling like that a lot lately, it’s been really hot and humid here in FL so I didn’t feel like cooking heavy…I looked in my pantry and freezer and pulled out all the ingredients that caught my eye. Capers, olives, and frozen shrimp were the stars of the show. The pretty tomatoes and basil came from the backyard. Dinner was ready in no time.