As mentioned, a couple weeks ago I made my way to Blue Dragon with Rae & Becca. The three of us were sitting there trying to dissect each ingredient in our delicious noodle bowls. I hadn't cooked an Asian meal in a reallllly long time so I decided that I'd give it a whirl the following Friday night. We knew we tasted chives, garlic, definitely some chili oil, vinegar, and ginger. I picked up what I already didn't own and also some pine nuts and a red curry paste. Figured it wouldn't hurt...

I told Rob... "I have no idea how this is going to come out... be warned"... he assured me he was confident (so nice). Anyway, so I chopped up a couple cloves of garlic, the chives, pea pods, and grated ginger.

In a separate pan - I quickly toasted the pine nuts to bring out the flavor. Then, I started sauteing all of the ingredients:

- Couple cloves of garlic
- Chopped chives
- Crushed red pepper
- Tsp of chili paste
- Grated ginger
- Rice vinegar (I just kept adding it and letting it burn off)
- Pea pods
- Walnut oil

Then, I boiled the shrimp separately (next time I'll just toss them right in this pan).

I boiled the pasta in salted water (I used papardelle noodles because I had them in my cabinet - an Asian noodle would make more sense, but, these were delish).

Separately, I made the deviled eggs as snack. You can find my simple recipe for them here.

Finally, I tossed it all together and served it. I must admit that I kind of nailed it. The flavors were so powerful and tasty. I love experimenting in the kitchen and this was one of my most favorite experiments in a long time. A long time ago, I learned that tasting the food while you cook is essential for any meal you put together. I don't think there is much better advice. You don't need recipes... do what works for you!

Question of the day! What have you made recently that surprised you?

Hope you're all having a great week! xo

Yay Friday! I can't believe I only have one week left at C&E. This week seriously flew and was filled with fun activities. Dinner at Arika's on Tuesday night with Becca. Going away party last night with the gal pals from work for Natasha. And finally, March Madness is in full swing and I'm really into it since I have a bracket and picked a lot of upsets which, so far, is a good decision!

Hope you all have an awesome weekend planned - enjoy!

Here's this week's favs.

So, I went for a run on Tuesday night. I went because it LOOKED like SPRING and it's starting to SMELL like SPRING, but, it was 20-something degrees and I was frozen. Such an odd feeling. That being said - I did take this photo from Castle Island. It LOOKS warm, doesn't it?

Later that night... Arika had Rebecca and me over for dinner. It was so lovely! She had just visited her dad in Idaho and brought home Elk steaks which were SO DELISH. She also prepared a delectable little salad and broiled asparagus. We went through a bottle of Prosecco and a bottle of red wine. Perfect little evening. (and her place is adorable!)

This article from Women's Health scared me. It will make you think twice about getting an antibiotic.

Every since my dinner with Rae & Becca last week at Blue Dragon, I've been making Asian Noodle Dishes. Total experiments because I'm not using any recipes, but, I must say... I've kind of nailed them. I'll be posting a couple soon so stay tuned.

Rachael sent me this article last night regarding heart disease & eating fats. Seriously good read and gives even more weight to my favorite saying: Stop eating processed shit. That being said, I'd tread lightly before adding in loads of saturated fats into your diet. Atkins-diet-living is not healthy. Moderation is always key. Just stay away from trans-fat, low-fat, fat-free bullshit. If high cholesterol runs in the family or you're already a victim... bacon and cheeseburgers will NOT help the situation. Just like SUGAR is not a good idea.... which is essentially what this article is about.