Zen Dinner for Two (Thank you Nigella again)

I'll confess, I love the thought of ceremonial eating. Light candles, lay out the linens, matching ceramicware. But when it comes down to it, the thought of washing a few extra dishes wins out. So more often than not the food is served in the pots they were cooked in. Which of course is not really a bad thing, especially if you have invested in a few Le Creuset pieces. I decided to put our tea light holders to good use yesterday. Lightly bergamot-scented tealights. This unique holder is also from Taiwan, a replica of a silver urn. The placemat printings are copies of that was actually inscribed on the real thing. Something a little special.

Dinner was soba noodles courtesy of Nigella again (how will I ever thank her). Only I had to substitute whole wheat spagetthi as I could not find any in Miri. Accompaniments: grilled pork tenderloin coins, marinated in my old standby Maggie seasoning, sugar and pepper, and stir fried shitakes. The noodles I served warm instead of cold, as I have an aversion to cold savoury foods (with the possible exception of smoked salmon). But otherwise I followed Nigella's recipe to the T, and loved the crunch and savouriness of the lightly scorched sesame seeds with the spring onions and lightly sweet noodles. I'd make this again in a heartbeat.