Dear Ina,

Dear Ina,

You know I adore you.  Why else would I take on this insane project and preach the Contessa gospel to everyone I know?  Sure, there have been a few bumpy stretches along the path, but I’ve reconciled those bumps with the fact that you have an irrational fear of slow cookers.  But why on earth would I take the time to wash, peel, and shred beautiful organic carrots, only to add them to a mayonaisse-y, gloppy, salad (Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics)?  Even my husband, who loves all things mayonnaise, would refuse to eat that.  It has RAISINS in it, for crying out loud.  I have to draw the line somewhere, and I’m drawing it right in front of this atrocity.  Plus, it was my birthday.  If I’m going to make my own birthday cake, it damn well better be perfect.

In its stead, I made this lovely carrot cake, with no raisins, thank you.  It was perfection.  So there.

Still yours,

The Curessa

Caesar Salad with Pancetta

Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of this decadent salad (Barefoot Contessa Parties!) on the night I made it, so this is a photo of the leftovers.  The dressing was just lemon-y and garlic-y enough, and I’d definitely make it again, but I only used about half of it on the salad.  The dressing recipe allowed for a substitution of mayo for egg yolks, which I used, being a little nervous about raw eggs.  I also only used about half of the recommended amount of pancetta, and that was plenty.  I roasted the tomatoes per the directions, but I could have easily skipped that step.  I’m already looking forward to making this when the romaine starts showing up in our CSA boxes this summer!