It’s my fifth anniversary at bitebymichelle.com. Actually, April 3rd was my anniversary and I missed it. Funny how it goes; when I first started writing here, I celebrated making it through another month. So many mile stones, discoveries, figure outs, bumps and lumps through my journey as a food blogger. What started out as a way to survive my daughters moving away from home has become a coveted quiet time where I collect thought and emotion while I cook. A creative, introspective, wonderful discipline that you grace with your time by reading whatever it is I’m musing about. Thank you.

I ran into a friend of mine last week who wrapped her arms around me and said,”I miss you and your stories.” At first I thought she meant the physical me, but quickly realized she and I rarely spend time together. She misses the stories I tell here.

Several weeks ago, Meaghan said,”Mom can I tell you something without you getting mad?” I know I’m going to be critiqued whenever the girls use that line as their preamble. “Your blog is getting boring. Your pictures are beautiful, the recipes are great, but your stories are, well, missing.”

In the beginning I wrote about the girls, obsessively. Stories of their childhood poured out of me as proof that I existed. I was lost after they moved west. Day by day, at times it felt moment by moment, I figured it out. Or more precisely, I distracted myself with this blog long enough to allow the natural transference of my focus from my daughters to the world around me. From there, I began to write about whatever was going on that day; the minutia of life.

For the last six months or so I’ve been completely consumed with the new restaurant. Spreadsheets, meetings, kitchen design, equipment specifications, recipe development, branding, decor, furniture selection, lighting, flooring and more recipe testing swallows every moment of my life. I didn’t think you’d be interested in how many burners our range will have or what type of wood we’ve chosen for the floor. As exciting as these little details are to me, I think you’d glaze over in less than a millisecond. Apparently, you’re glazing over anyway. In my effort not to bore you, I’ve completely put you to sleep.

I only know one way to write. It’s all or nothing with me. The next few months will be wild as we ramp up to our opening. That will be my life so lets see what happens. Let me know if I go off the rails.

Dragon Noodles are my newest ‘I want them every night for supper’ food find.

When my friend, Linda, posted a plate of them on Facebook I wanted to lick my phone. After telling me how simple and versitile they are to prepare, I did a little snooping on the internet and came up with this recipe. I wake up craving their sweet heat and because they’re so cheap to make and take all of ten minutes from start to mouth-watering finish, I find no reason not to succumb! Hands down this is one of the tastiest dishes I’ve ever shared.

Happy Anniversary my friends – here’s to keeping things lively!

DRAGON NOODLES

• 200 grams ramen noodles – use your favourite width noodle
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sriracha (rooster sauce)
• 2 tablespoons pickled ginger, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
• 3 green onion, sliced
• 1 small sweet bell pepper, thinly sliced