Dinner Tonight (and, yes, I'm talking to you)

Here’s what you need: some shrimp, some red chili linguini (although, frankly, any pasta will do), a shallot, as many garlic cloves as your mate will tolerate, a scallion or two, white wine you like, the juice of maybe half a lemon, a nice handful of pine nuts, some fresh basil, olive oil, shredded romano cheese, and the obligatory freshly ground pepper.

Here’s what you do:

1) boil your shrimp erring perhaps on undercooking them a bit. Shouldn’t take more than a minute.
2) chop your shallot and garlic and saute in a bit of olive oil until they become translucent. When they do, add in a nice soaking of the white wine and allow the mixture to reduce. When reduced, add to this mixture some chopped scallion.
3) separately toast the pine nuts either dry or in a bit of olive oil. Be careful not to burn -- use a low heat.
4) cook your pasta. In the case of the chili linguini I used, it took 3 minutes. Drain the pasta.
5) If you haven't done it already, chop your basil leaves.
6) after you’ve shelled the cooked shrimp, add the shrimp to the saute mixture for maybe a minute. No more. Sprinkle liberally with the ground pepper. Add in the pasta and stir.
7) to this shrimp and pasta mix, add in the toasted pine nuts and chopped basil. Squeeze in the lemon juice, and, if you like, drizzle some more olive oil over the mix.
8) top the whole shebang with as much shredded romano cheese as you like. (Yes, yes, I know. Italians would frown and mumble not so subdued expletives at adding cheese to a seafood pasta dish, but folks this isn’t Italy.)

Be prepared to chow down on a multi-textured, tasty melange of flavors.

You got better plans?