My brother has been avoiding my phone calls.

I want to hear all about his middle school orientation and graduation and their field day at the Ultimate Goal and he is simply too cool and too busy.

And my dad says that Kevin is starting to be interested in girls now. Like, other 5th-grade-going-on-6th-grade girls, not his 23 year old overprotective sister. It’s devastating. But I feel bad for his first girlfriend because my sisters and I are going to give her hell. No girl will be good enough for Kevin from Heaven.

He’s going to be a nightmare of a teenager because we (I) spoil him so much. I’m not home very often but when I am, I want to pick him up from school and play the Wii with him and make him food. Typically he turns up the radio in my car, quickly accepts that I’m better than him at Mario Kart, and only eats plain pasta with butter.

This is not plain pasta with butter. He’s growing up fast, and it’s time to broaden his horizons.

Soba Noodle Salad

1 lb soba noodles

1/2 medium red onion

1-2 bell peppers

2 cups green beens

3 tbs vegetable oil

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

juice of one lime

2 cloves garlic

1/3 cup basil, chiffonade

Cook the soba noodles according to package directions. If you’ve never had soba noodles, they’re made with buckwheat flour and you can find them in the Asian food section of your grocery store. They only cook for about 3 minutes, and then I put them into a bowl of ice water quick to stop the cooking process.

 

Blanch your green beans (boil for 3-4 minutes then drop into ice water), and do a quick saute of your peppers and onions. You don’t want them to lose their color, just get a little soft.

For the dressing, combine vegetable oil, soy sauce, lime juice, vinegar, and garlic. Toss everything together and top with basil for garnish. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

 

I sent the GS with a tupperware of this for lunch and he reported that it was his “new favorite noodles, but watch out for the bad breath.”

I’m convinced Kevin doesn’t do a good job brushing his teeth in the first place, so maybe if I make these for him I’ll skip the garlic.