Tobi Fairley

I LOVE to cook! I have been cooking on my own since about age 10 and started as my mom’s apprentice probably at age 4-5. Just like my daughter does now, I loved pouring in all the ingredients, cracking the eggs, and licking the left-over batters from the bowl.

Many of my specialities are very Southern-inspired including Chicken and Dumplins, Chicken Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes and Black-eyed peas.

But I am also a fan of Italian Dishes like Homemade Lasagna and Spagetti Carbonara.

I have several signature Salads that I am known for like my Mandarin Orange Salad with Pinenuts and Poppyseed Dressing.

I’ve been known to do my fair share of baking too. Some of my signature baked goods include Sweet Potato Cake with White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Icing, 4-Layer Coconut Cake, and my old-fashioned Iced Sugar Cookies.

 

When I began blogging and shortly after learned of twitter, I quickly realized these were excellent venues to share recipes and cooking tips. My blogger friends ABC Dragoo and Ronda Carman share my love of cooking and we began tweeting recipe ideas several weeks back.

It was these cooking tweets that got the attention of a blog called Camille Maurice and resulted in a fabulous feature on me today in her series called “Creatives Cook”. Be sure to also check out her previous post on my lovely friend ABC Dragoo from the blog ABCD Designs. In today’s post Camille Maurice shares my love of the Sweet Potato Cake I make each Thanksgiving. I began this new tradition with my family about 10 years ago and I hope it is one that will be passed down for generations. I hope you love it too!

But so as not to disappoint ABC Drago who has been begging for my Carbonara Recipe since this whole thing began, I decided to share it here on my post today. Be ready to run a few miles to work off these calories if you take on my Carbonara. Those Italians are not much into low fat!

Tobi’s Spaghetti Carbonara:

1 pound Fresh or Dried Spaghetti (I love to make mine fresh with my TAKKA Pasta Machine)

1 pound bacon cooked and crumbled

2 cups fresh mushrooms

1/2 medium onion finely chopped

1/4 to 1/2 stick of butter

6 eggs

1 cup Heavy Cream

1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Fresh Basil, Oregano or Parsley for Garnish.

Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil. While this is heating, cook bacon, crumble, and set aside. Saute Mushrooms and onion in butter in a medium skillet. Once water boils, cook pasta in salted boiling water 8 minutes until al dente, drain and put back in pot but remove from heat. Crack eggs in a small mixing bowl, add heavy cream and whisk together. Add back bacon, mushrooms, and onion to spaghetti and return to medium heat. Pour egg and cream mixture over pasta and cook over medium heat until pasta is coated well (2-3 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Pour into large pasta bowl, garnish with herbs and remainder of cheese and serve.

Being a cook and Interior Designer is a fun combination. It make sense that some of my favorite rooms to design are kitchens.

There is definitely a different approach to kitchens and butler’s pantries when you are a cook and an entertainer as opposed to when these spaces are just for looks and rarely get used.

I Love light and open kitchens with great appliances and lots of counterspace. Here are a few of my favorites that would be GREAT for cooking…

And be sure and check out this fabulous post on one of my favorite blogs Cote de Texas. It is a gorgeous collection of some of the world’s most beautiful kitchens.

Day # 30 of Things I LOVE…Cooking. And cooking in a gorgeous kitchen makes it all the more fun. Stay tuned for a New Series coming this fall that involves my Love of cooking!! It’s gonna be Fabulous!!