Shrimp Scampi Linguine

So, I realize this is about 2 weeks after the fact, but here is the recipe that Scott made me for Valentines' Day with some pictures :) It was SO delicious, made lots of leftovers and Scott has decided it's his new "thing" to make it for me. He actually made it last weekend too!

Shrimp Scampi Linguine Pasta

From: Food Network

• 1 pound linguini
• 4 tablespoons butter (Halfed this)
  
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling (We halfed this)
  
• 2 shallots, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Pinch red pepper flakes, optional (NO MORE THAN A PINCH!!)
  
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (We used chicken the second time to be cheap, it was good, but not quite as good as the shrimpies!)
  
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley leaves

Directions

For the pasta, put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. When it has come to the boil, add a couple of tablespoons of salt and the linguini. Stir to make sure the pasta separates; cover. When the water returns to a boil, cook for about 6 to 8 minutes or until the pasta is not quite done. Drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes (if using) until the shallots are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper; add them to the pan and cook until they have turned pink, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan; set aside and keep warm. Add wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil. When the butter has melted, return the shrimp to the pan along with the parsley and cooked pasta. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over a bit more olive oil and serve immediately.

This is the mess he made :) It was quite impressive... of course I helped clean up!

One thing that is cool about this recipe is I think it could easily incorporate other ingredients - if you have extra tomatoes or broccoli or WHATEVER, it could be added to this meal.

Spring Break!! Woohoo!

I was looking for the direct Friends quote there, but incidentally, a google search for "Friends Spring Break Woohoo" doesn't bring up Chandler's quote. And def no relevant IMAGES!

So, wow, it's almost Spring Break - how weird is it that it's still February? Just a mental thing... Spring does not occur in Feb...I guess my semester is over before May starts though, so NC State's calendar is just running a little early this year. So far, it's going well. It's most definitely hard, with 3 classes and working 20 hours a week, oh and the small matter of buying a home and all the hoop-jumping to get a loan. My classes are better this semester - though I'd say harder. I feel like most of my classes are giving me experiences that will better prepare me for a job in the field, a feeling I didn't have as much last semester when I was heavy into theory classes. This makes me feel better about busting my butt, forgoing small pleasures such as reading non-school books and "relaxing."

But next week, oh next week, will be different! No classes! This weekend, I have a mission to read this month's book club book (Crow Lake)! I actually started it this morning and can say that I don't think plowing through it at the rate circumstances demand will be a problem.

And who knows what other stuff I'll find to get into, most likely it'll be some sort of packing/organizing/cleaning. Since I've been fairly slack on all of those, and things are about to pick up majorly.

Dollar Bills

So, in an effort to scrounge every available dollar we can find, I've been listing (and re-listing, and re-re-listing) some stuff we don't need or want on Craig's List. I have such a love/hate relationship with this site... I recently sold my old cellphone (Motorola Razr) for $40! I was SHOCKED it could bring in that kind of money, being nearly 3 years old, but who am I to say no to two crisp 20's? That's the "love" part... it's all roses once you get the cash and don't have to deal w/ the junk anymore.

But, (here's the "hate") it is such a pain, because I received "inquiry" emails from about 10 people before finding the chick who was willing to drive from Hillsborough and meet me to get the Razr. And (not to generalize, but) all of the emails I've received in response to technology related postings have been in this vein: (This is a direct copy/paste)

Do you still have this phone

(no punctuation or salutation) Wow...um... ok? But you know what? I do it, because I like money. :) I also like getting rid of stuff we don't need or like.

It's time consuming, and probably not the most efficient system, but it's what we have now. Hopefully in a few years there will be a much more efficient way of doing this! But for now, we're enjoying having a little extra (just a little) cash.

I'm currently listing the first two Twilight books for $15. I'm curious how that'll go...

Snippet of a conversation Scott and I keep having, and it continually amuses us...(we, like most people, use credit cards for EV.ERY.THING, including the $1.99 cup of coffee.)

J: (takes out a $20 and looks at it quizzically) S, what do you think this is?
S: (furrows brow and ponders) Hmmm, I'm not sure... is it some sort of paper you can write notes on it? What's with all the green ink on it? Is that a picture on it?
J: I'm not sure, I don't see these sorts of papers too often. What are we supposed to do with it?
S: (takes $20 from J and examines it) It seems old.

(and on an on.) I'm so glad we have each other to have nonesense interactions with... I'm not sure that many people would continue to humor me as well as Scott does (and vice versa, of course!)

Ok, now they're all up :)

On Flickr
Feedback on decorating/painting/remodeling is truly welcome! :)

Full set of house pics!

So yesterday we had our home inspection! It was nice to spend some quality time in the new house, and "get to know" it :) I took a buttload of pictures, and I uploaded a few before the flickr uploader crapped out on me this morning. I intend to do the rest tonight.

So, interweb, take a look at these pics. They have captions and I'd love feedback on any type of suggestions you might have. Other than "Your house looks like a barn"... that's just not productive. :)

Picture Time (Check back this weekend for the full 113 picture set - right now it's just landscaping.)

And also...
Scott and I are also having an back and forth that goes like this:

J: "I think we should use mulch on the landscaping"
S: "OMG, you're so dumb. We should use pinestraw."
J: "OMG, YOU'RE the dumb one. Pinestraw is for losers."
(ETC... on and on into infinity.)

Thoughts are welcome on this topic too. Likely we'll just agree to disagree and let the yard fall into disarray. And then the 'hood will petition for our removal. (Sigh.)

"Hey Jame, is this a skillet?"

At the moment, Scott is concocting something delicious for me in honor of Valentine's Day. I'm not allowed to know what it is until some point at the future, though hopefully he won't do one of those "now wear this blindfold and give it a try" scenarios. I'm excited, though I do feel it's worth including that before I moved myself & all my homework upstairs, he asked me "Hey Jame, is this a skillet?" I laughed and nodded, and he said "Shut up, it's gonna be good. " I hope he's right. :) At least we're clear on the skillet issue.

I'll post a recipe! You know, since I haven't posted one in months.

We'll probably watch Mad Men on DVD - we have that from Netflix right now and I highly recommend it. I especially think my parents & grandparents might enjoy it since it takes place in the 1950's. It's a largely neglected time frame for television. Sad. A lot of good things came out of the 50's!

...Our New HOME!

We'll be living in a house with a hat! We got a fabulous deal, and we feel really good about our new home. It grew on us the more we saw it, and hopefully that continues when we live there. We have tons to do in between now and then, including NEVER BUYING ANYTHING EVER AGAIN. :) Which could actually be a challenge since it's 2890 sf. Good deal... if anyone is giving away any furniture, holler at us.

Now, before you look at these, realize that everything will be painted (ahem Master Bath ahem).



We noticed that they DID take down this wallpaper border at some point in between the MLS pics and today. HOT wallpaper. Seriously... this will be painted .2 seconds after closing.

The GLORIOUS yard. I love it...
Some other features we liked were: intercom (yeah! 1967!), a kitty door for Smarty's litter box, screened in porch, totally awesome wooden swingset, downstairs guest bedroom, the biggest bonus room ever! We just really fell in love with it over time... it did not happen immediately. I think most definitely the kitchen is our first project.

To celebrate today, we had Kraft Mac & Cheese for dinner and a can of Miller Lite. Cause we're high rollers now that we're homeowners. :)

Vague and Shady

Yet again, I've broken my promise to not neglect the blog. Let me explain what's been going on:

We put in an offer on a house today. Our life is consumed with lingo and %'s and all kinds of unfathomably large numbers. And I don't really want to blog about specifics, and since we've been super busy anyway, I've just taken a break on blogging. But we're really excited, and we put the offer in today, so cross your fingers for us!!

More info to come. And pictures if they accept the offer.

This vague and shady post has been brought to you by...Jamie!