Spinach & Gorgonzola Cavatappi

Anesthesia is crazy.

I'm happy to be talking to you from the other side of my wisdom tooth extraction.  Though I hardly remember much of the procedure, or the two hours after it.  I'm thankful to have had an excellent oral surgeon.  After the initial jab of the needle and the anesthesia washing over me, I have felt very little pain.  It's been a generally good experience!  I'm now down four useless teeth and happy that I won't have to do it again.

The only problem I had with the extraction is the timing, which is totally my fault.  The dentist told me no spicy foods until I'm all healed up.  This would normally be fine, but I planned the surgery just before a visit to my parents in Buffalo.  I couldn't have a single hot wing the entire time I was home!  I was so disappointed and now I'm back in New Jersey with a healed mouth and no chicken wings!  I'll have to make some wing sauce this week.

Before my extraction I made this amazing pasta dish.  I have an all new love affair with panko breadcrumbs.  And deep frying them.  Then devouring them.  This dish was super easy too and ready in less than 30 minutes.  It also uses my favorite pasta shape - cavatappi!  If you can't find the fun little corkscrews, feel free to use any pasta with ridges.

Wilde Week #21

 1. I got to spend the second half of this week in my hometown of Buffalo, hanging out with my family!  I have a large extended family and was so happy to see people I haven't seen in many years.  It helps that all my aunts and uncles are retiring now and have plenty of time to hang out with me.

2. If you remember from my last update, I got my wisdom teeth out last Tuesday.  Which made my trip home a little less fun.  Why?  Because Buffalo means hot sauce and chicken wings and my dentist told me no spicy foods until I'm all healed up.  NoooooOoo!  I was also looking all hilarious with a really puffy, square jaw.  Later in the week some serious bruises appeared on my jaw.  So pretty, but overall feeling good.  No Vicodin necessary!

3. Visiting home means hitting up Nina's ice cream for a bowl of Perry's!  If you are in the Western NY/PA area, stop by an ice cream stand and try their newest flavor - Movie Time.  It's the strangest combination of salted popcorn flavor, caramel swirls and chocolate pieces.  It's so crazy, but it works!

 4. My mom has quite the green thumb.  Her garden is full of berries and tomatoes, cucumbers and green peppers.  I'm a little jealous, but I don't have the patience (or outdoor space) to manage a garden!  Go mom!

5. I am home now, but only for a few days.  BF is in Phoenix in for a conference and I'm meeting him out there on Tuesday!  We have plans to hike the Grand Canyon, swim in Havasu falls and take pictures in the Painted Desert.  It's going to be well over 100 in Phoenix, but it's a dry heat, so I'll be just fine.  I plan on working on my tan at the pool while BF learns all about frozen vegetables.

6. I totally wanted to take home my parents hot tub.  Unfortunately it wouldn't fit in my carry on luggage.

7. Since BF headed off to Phoenix as I was returning from Buffalo (we met at the train station and traded keys and a kiss!), I decided to have frozen yogurt for dinner.  It was topped with berries, so it's totally okay.  Right?

Nutella Thumbprints

I'm starving!  Seriously.  I'm only a few hours from my wisdom tooth extraction and I'm not allowed to have anything to eat within six hours of the surgery.  Since my appointment is at 1:00, that means I either had to wake up at 5:00am and have breakfast, or I hold out until after I regain sanity tonight.  I opted to sleep in until 7:00, so I'm going to be no fun to be around today.

These cookies are sitting on the counter in my kitchen, taunting me with their delicious combination of crumbly cookie and crunchy nut coating.  Why didn't I eat more of these yesterday?

See you all on Thursday, when I will be four teeth shorter!