Glass Noodles--What a pane!

Glass Noodles.

Mung Bean Noodles.

Cellophane Noodles.

Whatever you decide to call them, they are yummy, fun to look at, and unfortunately were a pain in my a** to find in this town.

Over the past weekend, I took my little family of 2 plus a friend of mine down to the Annual Sukiyaki Dinner Fundraiser at the Wapato Buddhist Hall. They served up a dish of something incredible that had beef, celery, cabbage, and these clear noodles that the baby just gobbled right on up. She smacked her lips so loudly, people at the far end of the table were looking over at us and smiled.

"That must really be tasty, eh, little Sweetie?" said the old lady next to me, giving Baby Willow a squeeze on her cheeks.

Willow rolled her eyes, gave the lady a glassy-eyed stare (pun intended), and kept on slurping noodles. ("Slurping Noodles" is so gonna be the name of my next rock band.)
Later, the baby knocked over the cup of complimentary vinegar-soaked cucumber slices. We left a whollup of a mess of beef, rice, and celery all over the floor under us, but thankfully, the gracious teenage hostesses didn't mind cleaning it up at all. I learned two lessons that day. 1) The baby hates cucumbers. 2) The baby can give a wicked evil eye. She didn't inherit that from me.

Pictured: Willow, playing with toys before the Wapato Buddhist Hall Dinner.

All the Single Ladies (Put Some Meat on it)

I'm willing to wager that Beyonce hasn't eaten Hamburger Helper. Like, ever.

Nevertheless, she was fist-bumping the Hamburger Hand & a food bank a couple of years ago in order to help fight hunger. So that inspired me last night as I was channelling my inner "Sasha Fierce" to fight the hunger in MY house.

Love Potion No. 9

I know that Valentine's Day has passed us by and as a single person, I will freely admit that I couldn't be more happier!

Fortunately, I work with mostly men, so I didn't have to be tortured by office deliveries of gorgeous bouquets and chocolates from husbands, boyfriends, and lovers, to make me green with envy at some chick in the next cubicle. (We also fortunately have no cubicles!)

In a non-related story, last night I felt like a mad professor because I discovered a love elixir! It will be foisted upon my next victim, er, I mean, boyfriend.

I had a bottle of Shiraz sitting in the kitchen, beckoning me to hurry up and open it.

While I am not a big red wine fan, I do like syrah/shiraz and cab franc. I usually avoid drinking reds because it usually ends up with me dancing on tables. To take the edge off the alcoholic effects of red wine, I improvised and threw in some Apricot juice from a can of Kerns.

 += YUM!!