Bacon Tomato Cappalini and a Wedding

To start, I mistyped a measurement in the Mac & Cheese. There wasn't enough cheese, but if you made it I'm sure you realized that and fixed it. So....some good news. I'm doing a wedding cake at the end of November. The weekend after Thanksgiving to be precise. I'm actually doing the wedding cake, the grooms cake and an additional 1/2 sheet cake for the family the night before. The bride, a girl named Katie, had a picture of the exact cake she wanted-with a few color changes-so that makes that part really easy. It's really pretty; 3 tiers of red velvet cake with raspberry filling with almond flavored cream cheese icing covered in marshmallow fondant (which isn't as gross as the other kinds) with silver swirled fondant accents and violet and off-white flowers of various sorts. It's going to be loads of fun and I promise to take pictures of the process so you can 'watch' it being made. The grooms' cake is a devils food cake with chocolate icing and a nutella filling. It's to be decorated as a boxing ring for two 'rock-em sock-em's; one dressed as the groom (the loser) and one dressed as the bride (the winner). A little weird, but it will be fun too. Anyway,we had Bacon-Tomato Cappalini for dinner so I'll share that recipe too. I'll post the cake & icing recipes when I do the cakes in November.Recipes.........
Bacon-Tomato Cappalini
1 lb cappalini noodles (spaghetti works fine)
3 T good olive oil
4 slices thick bacon or 10 of the thin stuff, diced
2 garlic cloves
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 bunch green onions (about 6), diced
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 tsp dried basil or 1 tsp fresh basil
1/2 tsp dried rosemary or 1 tsp fresh rosemary
1/2 c parmesan, grated (the stuff in the green can is NOT parmesan)
salt & pepper to taste

*NOTES*
Bacon is easier to 'dice' with a good pair of kitchen sheers if you have them.

If you have trouble peeling garlic try one of these methods. #1: Turn a butcher knife on it's side and smash the garlic clove. The peel just comes right off & then you can dice it. If you want it undamaged try method #2: Cut the top and bottom off and roll it between your palms or in a towel. The peel comes off pretty easy. I use this method when I want to get the garlic extra fine because I need it whole to grate it on my microplane.


Cook your noodles in a large pot & drain in a colander but don't rinse. Pop your noodle pot back onto the heat & turn the heat to medium. Add the olive oil and bacon. Saute that for a minute or two or until the bacon reaches the crispiness level you like. This really differs with the thickness of your bacon too. Add the salt and garlic and saute 30 sec or so. Add your noodles & toss to coat in the oil. Throw in the rest of the ingredients and salt & pepper to taste. Garnish with fresh basil & parmesan. (I didn't have enough parmesan left in the fridge tonight so I used a combo of parm and romano & asiago. Anyway, that's it. Bon apetite!