Pasta alla Tom

The other day, my husband and I went to Ikea to pick up some display cases. I love going to Ikea, because they always have neat stuff in the kitchen and dining department. Every time I walk through their showroom, I wind up wanting to re-decorate every room in the house. Twice. And yes, I’ve indulged in my share of their 50-cent hot dogs and or a nice plate of Swedish meatballs. With all the loading and packing up of those flat boxes, and the subsequent unloading, unpacking, and assembling pieces, I think a few helpings of fast food meat products is justifiable.

It’s awesome being married to someone as into kitchen stuff as I am. In addition to the display cases, he was also on a mission to find a specific kind of pot. A deep dish sort of saucepan-meets-wok that he can use to create a bunch of one-pot meals. We didn’t find one, but we did see a wok. I think it was selling for about 95 cents. (I kid. It was about $7.95, so I wasn’t far off.)

After the obligatory hot dog snack (and a few hazelnut chocolate bars), we headed home with our loot.

I had to get some work done at the computer, so my husband took over the kitchen. I could tell he was excited about using his new toy.
 

Not bad, eh? A Trinidadian man, whipping up a mean Italian dish in his Chinese wok bought from a Swedish store while shopping with his Filipino wife.

Anyone need to borrow us for Diversity Show-and-Tell? Just drop me a line.

Of course, after I snapped the photo, he decided it needed more basil. A LOT more basil. Which is why the final dish looks much greener.
 

Man oh man, did this taste seriously good. Pasta with olives, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, TONS of basil, freshly cracked black pepper, slivers of garlic, Asiago cheese, and bacon.

I may have to start pretending to be busy at the computer more often.