Found this recipe in an old issue of Food and Wine magazine. It's great for an autumn party because the flavor of pumpkin and sage are so traditional - yet they take on a quirky spin when I use them in lasagna.

Harvest Lasagne

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 pounds Swiss chard, tough stems removed, leaves washed well and chopped
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh sage or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 cups canned pumpkin puree (one 28-ounce can)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan
1/2 cup milk
9 no-boil lasagne noodles (about 6 ounces)
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to moderately high and add the chard, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon sage, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Cook, stirring, until the chard is wilted and no liquid remains in the pan, 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Heat the oven to 400�. In a medium bowl, mix together 2 cups of the pumpkin, 3/4 cup cream, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and the remaining 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon sage, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

3. Pour the milk into an 8-by-12-inch baking dish. Top the milk with one third of the noodles, then spread half the pumpkin mixture over the noodles. Layer half the Swiss chard over the pumpkin and top with a second layer of noodles. Repeat with another layer of pumpkin, Swiss chard, and noodles. Combine the remaining 1 cup of pumpkin and 3/4 cup of cream. Spread the mixture evenly over the top of the lasagne, sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of Parmesan, and dot with the butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden, about 15 minutes more.

Wine Pairing: This rich and creamy dish will pair well with Smarty Pants Chardonnay.

What rhymes with lasagne?

Rebel Red :|

You've been with us since the beginning!

But the end of the roadtrip is drawing near. And the last leg of this Great American Midwestern Roadtrip is classic.

If you haven't been living under a rock for the last 2 months, I'm sure you've seen the spectacularly confusing yet dope movie Inception. If you haven't seen this film, immediately run to your nearest move theater, purchase tickets, get your popcorn and get ready to be ah-mazed.

Anywayyy, so on opening night in July, Irish Hottie and I were driving back to New York City from Chicago. Instead of driving the 13 hours straight, we decided we were going to stop over somewhere in Pennsylvania. Enter Inception. 

We are both huuuuge movie buffs, I mean HUGE. So naturally we were going to see Inception as soon as humanly possible (while still keeping a tight travel schedule of course). We found a map of Pennsylvania and located a rinky, dinky, teeny, tiny town by the name of Dubois. It had one movie theater and one hotel. By the pure magic of the iPhone, we bought tickets to the 10:00pm showing and made reservations at the hotel for that night!

You'd think this was a fool proof plan right? Like oh what was that Mischief Maker? You want to drive 10 hours across the country just to see a move in a rinky, dinky, teeny, tiny town by the name of Dubois in Pennsylvania? Well... Um... YEAH. But not just any movie, this was Inception!

Genius.

Until we remembered that planet Earth is round and that time zones change. At which point we realized that because of this discovery, we were now running an hour late to the movie. Well, Middle Sisters, I was not happy about these developments so I took over the wheel (Irish Hottie is a known slow-lane user) and hightailed it across this great nation of ours to not only arrive at the theater early to allow ample time for seat selection and snack purchasing, but we also had time to take a few sips of wine before. I'm impressed and you should be to.

Any funny movie adventures you would like to share!?

xoxo - M.M.

OMG it's finally here.

Fashion Week. Aaaahhhh Fashion Week. The long summer days are winding down, the leaves are beginning to show their fall colors and fashion designers all over the world are flocking to New York City to show their collections, mingle with fellow designers, models, fashion editors and celebrities and just be generally pretty fabulous. Not only are there fashion shows during Fashion Week, but there are premier events at the designer's boutiques, after partys at penthouses overlooking the skyline and best of all, there is Fashion's Night Out this Friday!

Last year was the first ever Fashion's Night Out and because of its huge success, VOGUE, Mayor Bloomberg, NYC & Company, and the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) have brought it back in 2010. But Drama Queen, what exactly is Fashion's Night Out? Well my little Pinot drinking Darlings, let me tell you this: It. Is. Magical.

It is the most fashionable party of the year spread out in over 800 retail stores in New York City, surrounding bouroughs and abroad. These participating retailers will have events at their stores after hours for shoppers to indulge in their lastest skirt crush, chat and mingle with the designers themselves, and drink delicious Pinot Grigio into the wee night hours! What else could a girl ask for? Even Anna Wintour herself will grace the thresholds of boutiques across SOHO (the fasion district of NYC), answering questions, signing autographs and being fabulous. And to make the events all the more worthwhile, some of the proceeds will be donated to the NYC AIDS Fund in The New York Community Trust. Fashion and philanthropy? Ah I love it.

Ok Sisters, I must run as I'm attending the kick-off fashion show at LIncoln Center (this year's new location for Fashion Week) which will feature more than 150 models dressed in the latest fall trends, fashion designers wearing their genius-ness on their sleeves (literally) and over 1500 excited spectators. I'll post my recap of the fabulous Fashion Week next week!

Yours truly - Fashionably Forward Drama Queen