First meal, first post and culinary honesty being the focal point, what does one do on a Saturday night with a half empty refrigerator, a bottle of wine and a hungry girlfriend? The answer is simple, you start drinking and you start thinking.

As I rummage through the refrigerator, I notice a couple of tasty products that might just work as a cohesive and hopefully edible meal. As we refill our glasses, here is the list of products that are being assembled on the countertop:

• 2lb bag of 31/40 frozen raw shrimp
• rice (obviously the 10 minute boil-in-bag kind)
• 16oz bag of frozen Goya mixed vegetables
• left over pesto sauce (cilantro, basil, pine nuts, olive oil, salt and pepper)
• craft cheese singles
• unsalted butter
• salt and fresh ground pepper
• fresh jalapeno peppers
• grape seed oil

If some of you are not on first name basis with grape seed oil, no worries, a post dedicated entirely to its cause is soon to follow. As our second glass of wine is getting lighter by the second, I am ready to put this meal together. I begin with a 10 minute preparation of rice and frozen vegetables. I finish the rice with some butter, salt and pepper. Once that’s complete, I mixed the rice with the vegetables, pesto sauce and one jalapeno pepper. The jalapeno pepper was roasted over an open flame and with the suggestion of my right hand girl; the seeds were included in the mix. If any of you are unfamiliar with jalapeno peppers and are not best friends with spicy food, my advice to you is to leave the seeds out and to have rubber gloved professionals place them gently in the garbage can and forget all about them.

As the third glass of wine is being filled with delicious liquids, I realize that that shrimp is still frozen solid. Desperate measures call for desperate acts; the shrimp go into a pot, get covered with water and defrost on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Be careful not to cook the shrimp in this stage of the process. Once the shrimp are ready, they are dried, peeled and mixed into the vegetable rice. All of the contents are then placed into a pre-greased (grape seed oil) casserole dish and covered with craft cheese singles. Seriously, if I had fresh mozzarella cheese then it definitely would have been a better choice for this dish. Pre-heat the over to 450 degrees and cook the contents covered for 15 minutes. Then uncover, stir and finish cooking for an additional 10 minutes. Don’t be afraid to add a little bit of water to the casserole dish while baking.

So, your meal is ready, your bottle is finished and you are ready to eat. Honestly, if you are anything like me, you’ll be prepared with another bottle of Pinot Grigio, your decent china and large forks. Just remember, you don’t need to have a plan, just bring your appetite, your desire to eat something delicious and the moxie to ruin two pounds of shrimp. Good luck!

Saturday my friend and I did our weekly brunch. Nothing is better than sitting back and enjoying a great meal that lasts a few hours. On the way back from our UWS brunch spot, we took a walk and popped into a few shops and noticed a cute little wine place - Wine and Roses. I loved that even though it was a chilly day and a little overcast, the outdoor tables has roses in a glass. Interestingly enough, later on that night, I had the opportunity to come back with a friend to try out this place for myself. I love the intimate vibe and the fact that the music went back and forth between current dance tracks and I believe some jazz in there. I have always been a fan of Shiraz and had a glass last night. Everything is centered around the wine and the menu has interesting items beyond cheese and breads. Although it was packed, I loved seeing so many people enjoying wine and sampling the food as well. I feel that this is a great spot for friends and small parties. After visiting the website and seeing the monthly pics that are updated, it made me want to become a regular as I noticed many of the same people within various months. If you happen to be in the UWS, make sure to stop by:

Wine & Roses

286 Columbus Ave (Btwn 73rd/74th)

NY, NY