Good morning! Hope you all in the Boston area brought your umbrella today! I'll take rain during the week as long as my weekends are sunny and rain-free! This weekend is one of my favorites of the year --- NEWPORT POLO MATCH! Sunshine, tailgating, lawn games, beverages, hors d'oeuvres, dresses, hats, oh and polo, of course. Ah! Can't wait! (on and it's the start of my vacation - YAY!)

Here's some BITES:

I think I've talked about how obsessed I am with Asian noodle bowls. Rob is too, so I whipped these up for dinner the night before his bday.

I make these a different way every time. There is no real method to my madness so I encourage you to play around with the ingredients. Also, I'm not sure why it photographed so ugly, it was actually quite colorful. And, it's way easier than it sounds... seriously. Anyway, here's what I did:

- First, Chop up all of the above veggies (onion, 3 cloves of garlic, julienne half of a red pepper, swiss chard (from my garden - cut out the stalks (6-7) and chop in 2" pieces and then chop the leaves separately), chopped italian flat leaf parsley, and 3-4 chives.

- Also, peel and de-vein the shrimp

- Throw the walnut oil in the pan with the garlic and onions - let them soften

- Add the stalks of the swiss chard for a couple more minutes

- Start adding some chopped cashews, the spicy oil, rice vinegar, a tbs or so of tahini, sesame oil and a little soy sauce

- Add the peppers and chives

- For the noodles - bring a pot to a boil and cook them as directed on the package (usually 8-10 mins)

- Let the veggies continue to get cooked down, adding more flavors as needed (I definitely kept adding vinegar, I also added some more tahini)

- When the noodles are almost ready - add the leaves of the swiss chard (they soften and melt down fast!)

- Then add the shrimp - it only needs to be in for a couple minutes because when you add the pasta - it will continue to the pasta

- Rinse and drain the pasta and add to the mixture - adding any sauces that you think are necessary - maybe some more vinegar, soy sauce, pepper oil

- Top with red pepper flakes & serve

OMGYUM

Next....

My basil is growing like a forest!!!! So, I've been making pesto using it and freezing it. (basil, parm, garlic, lemon juice, evoo, pine nuts, crushed red pepper.

Pesto shrimp with buttery green beans/pecans, and tomato/pesto/feta salad.

Delish smoothie (recipe on my instagram)

Monday's lunch from Whole Foods. Veggie/shrimp spring rolls, watermelon, and a turmeric elixir drink. (I needed a bit of detox)

This salad is so delish and refreshing. Watermelon, basil, mint, feta, drizzled with balsamic.

And now some BITS:

1. We are racing for a cure for Stacy! An update on how she's doing and also information on the race can be found here. All are welcome to join us! We hope to see you there!

2. For all the auditors out there who think people aren't donating to ALS. Can you please just be quiet? It's so annoying. First of all, 2.5 million dollars has been raised since 7/29 compared to $22,000 during the same time period last year. Plus, it makes Pete Frates, Pat Quinn, and all those who have ALS, their family members, and friends HAPPY. So just shhhhhush for crying out loud. Here's a good article.

3. Finally, I found this article on how long wine lasts after it's been re-corked SUPER HELPFUL.

Have a GREAT rest of the week! xo