Sister, Why are You Here? Pasta

**Update!** I forgot the most important part! How can a recipe survive without a soundtrack, right? The beauty of almost any pasta dish is that noodles and sauce cook remarkably well with jazz vocalists in the air. This recipe turns out beautifully with a Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan mix. So go forth, and procure the vocalists.

Work has been incredibly slow lately, and the boyfriend has worked every night until 10 for I don't know how long, so I've been going a bit stir-crazy being by myself all the time. So yesterday, I called my Mom and Dad, made sure they didn't have dinner plans, and told them I was going to cook dinner for them. The title comes from what my brother says to me every time I'm home. Ah, sibling love.

I pulled this recipe from my new favorite website, ThePioneerWoman.com, and it was a decided smash. It has a lot of steps, but it's super easy. Le promis.

You will need (for 6-8 servings):

• a box of penne or similarly small noodle (whole wheat, of course)
• a pound of jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (and dethawed, as I would learn)
• EVOO and/or butter
• small onion, diced
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream (if heavy cream is too full of delicious, delicious calories for your liking, you could probably be all health-conscious and diet-smart and substitute half of the cream with half-and-half. You know, if you wanted to go there.)
• 5-6 basil leaves, parsley, salt, pepper, and basically any other spice you want
• veggies, optional. I added a zucchini to the mix and it was delicious

Connect the Numbers:

1. Put on a pot of water to boil for your noodles. It will begin boiling at just the right time.
2. In a saucepan (big enough for your sauce and noodles), heat olive oil. While your EVOO is heating up (but not too hot!), run cold water over the shrimp. Add the shrimp to the oil, and let them cook through until just pink. You want to avoid overcooking as they'll go back on the heat later. Remove shrimp prom pan and allow to cool on chopping board.
3. Add the onion and garlic to saucepan, cook until a pretty gold color.
4. While the onion and garlic is cooking, chop the cooled shrimp into tiny pieces.
5. Pour a glass of white wine into the onion and garlic (after savoring a sip or two or three for yourself, of course). If you don't like wine, 1/2 cup lo-sodium chicken broth will do fine, although wine is delicious. Really, really delicious.
6. Add 8 ounces tomato sauce, stir together.
7. Add 8 ounces heavy whipping cream, stir together.
8. Now add your spices. I used dried. Fresh herbs are tastier and prettier, but dried are lazier and from a bottle.
9. Add the chopped shrimp to the mix and let it heat through again.
10. By this time, your penne should be cooked al dente. Drain the pasta, and add to the saucepan, stirring it all around to coat each and every single last noodle with delicious sauce-y goodness. It's as simple as that!!