Thank you, Paula Deen!

Yes, I am a newbie cook. I really never cooked when I was younger; so, in college, the extent of my "cooking" was Easy Mac and Ramen. Needless to say, after college, when I started living with roommates I had to pull my weight a little bit more. I stopped burning eggs, cooked some chicken and beef, and was able to venture away from boiling water and eating pasta. (Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE pasta and eat a ton of it!)

Now, I am definitely more willing to experiment with different foods. However, I am still a beginner, so I am not always sure what foods to mix with others. As such, I rely heavily on recipes and watching the Food Network. I have to admit that I absolutely LOVE watching Food Network. Some of my favorites are: Paula Deen, The Pioneer Woman, and Giada. These shows have accessible recipes that even a newbie like me can make, and they help me to have the faith in my cooking ability.

Tonight, I did not experiment, but went with a recipe from Paula Deen's show. This was a recipe that her brother, Bubba, came on the show to make... and it.. is.. DELICIOUS! I made the Creamy Spicy Seafood Pasta, which includes linguine, a vodka sauce, red pepper flakes, scallops and shrimp - YUM!



Lessons learned tonight:
-> Do not rest a plastic spatula on a heated stove coil. We lost one tonight! Oops.
-> For some reason my sauce was not as creamy as it was liquidy. Something to think about and review for next time I make it.

This recipe was definitely a keeper and other than some fine tuning, tasted amazing!