mother-in-law's tongue pasta

i bought the prettiest pasta at world market a loooong time ago, before they went out of business here in cincinnati. it's called mother-in-law's tongue, and i don't know why but maybe because it's colorful and curly? no clue. after i bought it, i never actually did anything with it, because i wasn't sure what to cook it with. i thought it would be good with vegetables like zucchini, squash, tomatoes and whatnot, but to be honest i don't really have the patience to peel and fry all of those. and really, i was just intimidated by the prettiness of the pasta. don't believe me? look at it:

still have doubts? behold the beauty of this single strand.

amiright or what???

so anyway...the cool/pretty factor, along with the fact that i don't know if i'll be able to find this pasta again (at least here in cincinnati, because world market is out of business. PAY ATTENTION!)...and you get why it sat unopened for months on end (and if you don't, then you probably don't have problems with ocd.)

but today i was inspired to finally open the package, cook it, and make something fabulous. because nothing beats the depressing sunday blues like some good grub. so i took the big leap and boiled the pasta. it lost its vibrance, and had i anticipated that, there would have been the slightest chance i would've cooked it sooner. anyway, i threw some garlic, scallions, rosemary, lemon juice, shrimp, thyme, saffron (just a little), and olive oil in a pan, mixed it all together, and stared at my pretty little dish. shortly thereafter, ario and i attacked it.

YUM.

another view, up close and personal:


and in case there was any doubt about my awesomeness, i also made banana nut muffins with walnuts...i know!!!