A Killer Frying Pan: Thanks, CSN Stores!

Once upon a time, a lady got married. She was so, so happy with her new Hubsband in their beautiful apartment.


She loved the clean, bright, peaceful atmosphere of the kitchen. It made her want to cook new and delicious dishes with fresh ingredients and exotic flavors.


She was so thrilled to try out new recipes from her lovely bridesmaids, moms, and friends who attended her Bridal Shower and brought handwritten recipe cards to share.


One morning, she discovered the perfect dish: tagliani primavera. A creamy noodle, ham and vegetable dish featuring some of her favorites. Fresh asparagus. Smoked prosciutto. Real whipping cream. Heaven!


She knew she had to make it. But what cookware would she use?


Ah! The perfect frying pan! A beautiful red pan that would fit the ingredients just right. The generously-gifted sample product from CSN Stores! It was meant to be.

She donned her new kitchen apron and set to work.

She cooked. She smiled. She smelled. She tasted! YUM.

A more serious note about the pan, fairytales aside :)


This Trimmer Gourmet Chef 10" x 10" pan is a stellar product. Top-notch, beautifully made, lovely color. Keeps heat even and thorough while you're cooking on the stove, and the coating was in premium condition to keep anything from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Many thanks to CSN Stores for carrying this and hundreds of other awesome products for your home. And for having a wonderful staff of extremely helpful and responsive people!


The size is great for working with large dishes. In fact, I probably could not have made this recipe without it!


Also note: the photos don't accurately capture the gorgeous thunderstorm I could hear in the distance, the quiet fall of rain outside the window, or the awesome Phil Collins songs I was blasting while I paraded around the kitchen.


It was love, pure love. What are you cooking lately?


Here's the recipe for you to try if you like. Thanks to my stepmom for sharing it!


Tagliarini Primavera


1/2 lb asparagus, cut diagonally into 1 inch lengths
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/4 c slivered prosciutto
1/4 butter or margarine
1 med carrot, sliced thin
1 med zucchini, diced
8 oz. thin noodles
3 green onions, sliced
1/2 c frozen peas, thawed
1 teaspoon dry basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of ground nutmeg and of white pepper
1/2 pint (1 cup) whipping cream
1/4 c Parmesan
fresh chopped parsley
*Note: I also added fresh spinach to the mix, about 3/4 cup. Also, I suggest using the rest of the whipping cream to make homemade whipped cream to go on a pie or ice cream. The Hubs and I enjoyed this a few days later and it was amazing!


Melt butter in frying pan, sauté mushrooms, prosciutto, asparagus, carrot and zucchini. Cook 3 minutes.
Boil water for noodles and prepare per package directions. To vegetable mixture, add green onion, peas, basil, salt, nutmeg, pepper and cream. Cook on medium-high until mixture boils and forms shiny bubbles. Pour sauce over noodles, lift and mix gently until coated with sauce. Add Parmesan and mix again. Top with fresh parsley. Yields 4-6 servings.

Eat with a pineapple VitaCoco and you'll be completely re-charged after Bikram class!

Afternoon Thunderstorms and The Untouchables

Photo Via SunSinger's Flickr Photostream.

Last night was a beautiful practice. My body needed the heat, so I hustled over to the studio after work and got there just in time to secure a spot in the second row, set up camp in the humidity, and proceed with some pre-class backbends, hip-joint cracks, and slow neck rolls.

It never ceases to amuse me how we all have different warm-up routines at Bikram. Some of us stretch out like we’re about to run a race, strongly pulling our muscles and staring at the mirror with stern, serious looks on our faces. Some of us settle into a relaxing child’s pose, or simply sit cross-legged with our eyes closed, connecting with our breath and body. Often beginners or newbies can be found glancing around the room, trying to get a sense of what to do and why people aren’t running out of the room.

And then of course, the rest of the room usually unwinds in savasana with their heels together, toes open, palms up like champions of the hot nap.

So there we all are, a mixed bag of yogis sprawled out and sweating, calmed in the heat, preparing for the next ninety minutes. We are the beginning.

Meanwhile, outside, cue torrential downpour! Through the little windows I can see a monsoon of rain, the sweep of forceful winds, and a darkened, charcoal-colored sky. The thunder booms.

The teacher enters the room. “Stand up, please! Alright, this is Bikram. Stay in the room. Hands and feet together at the gray line in the middle of your mat…”

Outside, flashes of lightning flicker and the resounding thunder roars again.

Yes, yes, yes! I’m thinking. I love thunderstorms. And I love yoga. And I love meditations where I can be wrapped up in the moment, safe in my hot room space, concentrating on nothing but my body moving and finding a way to fully occupy stillness.

There’s nothing better than a summer afternoon thunderstorm, and the way the rumbles and bellows rise and grow and explode in the distance like faraway cannons. Like God’s own fireworks.

With every pose, the storm wore on but it could not touch us in our shelter of the hot room, our refuge, our calm harbor.

Outside, the world was ending and the sky was crashing down and the wind was whipping around the streets and sidewalks… but inside the heat was on and we were safe, our Bikram bodies holding us up like warrior statues, the yoga making changes in us.

Outside the world was ending, but inside the hot room we moved as one and could not be touched.

A couple hours after class, the sky erupted in a beautiful expansive rainbow and I stared at it off the porch, so grateful for my practice and such a stunning reminder of the wonder of stillness. This was the end: the calm after the storm.

Thanks to photographers over at The Chicago Tribune for capturing THE exact rainbow I saw yesterday after yoga!