Some Backstory and The Flying Noodle

Before I get too much further along in this blog, it probably makes sense to explain a little more about us. We're a family of 3 living in Chicago. Win is my husband and we have a 14-month old daughter we call Lima Bean. (Lima's been her nickname ever since her first sonogram showed her looking like a tiny little Lima Bean) We love Chicago and fortunately for us it's an excellent restaurant town.

I have been thinking about starting a blog for some time because I enjoy reading others' and because I thought some of our culinary pursuits might make for good stories. We've lived in several different cities and have always enjoyed checking out the restaurants and food scene in all our travels. I had very high hopes for how the blog would flow, the elaborate descriptions I'd write of the food we ate, and the gorgeous photos I'd include to underscore each entry. Now that I've given this a try for a few days, I'm seeing that it's harder than I thought to keep up with the blogging and all of the rest that has to be done with a busy toddler in the house. Case in point: I've been trying to write this entry for the past 2 hours, but Lima keeps crying for some reason and wanting to get up. She's usually pretty good about observing a regular bedtime, so this is slightly unusual but not unprecedented. Anyway, I can already tell that my dreams of developing an elaborate food blog (such as my favorites Chocolate and Zucchini and Saute Wednesday) are probably a bit unrealistic. But I'm still up for giving it a try and sharing our food stories. Hope to hear some of yours too.

Tonight we had a great dinner thanks to our subscription to The Flying Noodle. As one of my Christmas presents this year, W got me a 6-month subscription to a pasta of the month club. It's called The Flying Noodle and they send you 2 types of pasta and 2 sauces every month of your subscription, along with recipes. Everything we have received has been excellent so far and each month brings a different assortment. Their recipes are easy, yet they provide just enough added interest and flavor to make the meal seem quite special and well beyond just pasta and jarred sauce. Tonight we had bucatini with vodka sauce, roasted red peppers, and grilled chicken. I love to roast red peppers on our stove and it was fun to incorporate them into the recipe. We've probably had about 4 or 5 Flying Noodle selections at this point and all of them have been delicious. Tonight's was no exception and eating outside on our deck in gorgeous weather made it all the better. If you're looking for a food gift for someone, Flying Noodle might be worth checking out. It's always fun when FedEx drives up with the box each month.

OK, kitchen's clean and Lima is (hopefully?) asleep. Time to go hang with Win.