Hi again! It’s been a busy week. I’m in charge of dinner on Friday nights, so here is a relatively simple Shrimp Lo Mein recipe to try out after a long work week. This recipe comes from The Cozy Cook. Check out her blog. She has a ton of fantastic recipes to fit every occasion at https://thecozycook.com. You can find the recipe here. I tested this out last night and figured it would be a bit of a challenge for me and a fun recipe to attempt. My local grocery store came through for me and had all the ingredients needed. If you’re not into spice, I would opt out on the crushed red pepper flakes and cut back or cut out the sriracha in the sauce. The noodles were a hair overcooked when it was ready to serve. Cook to just under al dente for good texture. The flavor was pretty great and had lots of veggies included. I put a pound of shrimp in. I would do a pound and a half next time I make this recipe and potentially cut back on the amount of noodles. The prep work is a lot of chopping that would probably take 20 minutes realistically. Account for peeling the shrimp too before cooking it. Makes it way easier. The cooking took about 15 minutes overall. Super quick and easy and a big hit for a family on a weekend. Essentially throw everything in a pot and let it do its thing. Just as an aside, a huge asset is a well stocked kitchen. This recipe could be expensive to make depending on what types of ingredients you typically like to cook with. I fully recommend though if you like testing out new recipes and going on cooking adventures like I do. Challenging myself to try a new technique or something I’m not familiar with is half the fun for me. Let me know if you try it out and what you thought in the comments below!

Espresso Martini

Apparently, espresso martinis are all the rage at the moment or something like that. Ask your local bartender and I’m sure they’ll roll their eyes to Pluto (still a planet I don’t care) and back. They’re pretty tasty all the same though and my current go to. This isn’t meant to be a food and cocktail pairing, by the way. Don’t have this with the shrimp lo mein. That would be gross. This is for sitting on your porch and judging your neighbors. Let’s get into it.

Espresso Martini Ingredients

• 2 oz. vodka, I prefer Ketel One or Absolut
• 2 oz. coffee liqueur, Mr. Black is fantastic for this, but any brand will do
• 1 oz. Kahlua
• 2 oz. cold brew. Medium or dark roast preferred.

Put this all in a cocktail shaker full of ice and shake it up well. It’s going to make one big boy martini. Filled to the brim. You can top it with coffee beans or an orange peel. Sounds a bit odd, but the orange flavor pairs really well. I rim the glass with the peel before putting it in the martini.

Life Updates

I finished up my pottery on the wheel class today. It was seven weeks long and a lot of fun. I made friends and have a couple pieces I ended up being proud of over the course of almost two months. I’ll make a separate post about that class with more details and some fun pictures of the pieces I made! I ended up becoming a member and will continue to make more pieces. I think my next attempt will be at a patterned vase. I have a large and in charge cactus that needs a new home in the spring. Slowly tackling my vision board in my bullet journal as well. I was quite busy this past week and didn’t have as much time as normal for my hobbies, but I’ll have a post up next week on making a vision board and my process with some tips and tricks. Let me know what types of things you’d like to see in the comments below! Come back soon for more recipes, hobby updates, advice, and general yapping. 🙂

P.S. below is a picture of my fiancé John and I over the summer.