Stirrin' Somethin' Up

It has recently come to my attention that several of my wife's friends told her that their husbands can't cook. I say noooooo, anybody can cook, you just have to know a few basic things and anyone can turn out a nice meal with a minimum of experience and effort.
So, for all the women who want their men to be able to cook something besides their favorite Spaghetti recipe(we all have one), I am going to give a few pointers and give you my world famous(sorta) Pasta Alfredo.
Please note I said pasta, because any pasta will work on this simple recipe. And guys, let me tell you something, you make this for that lady in your life and she will think you are one special kind of man. You see, several studies have shown that women think one of the sexiest traits a man can have is being able to cook well.
Okay, here's what you need to make this:

8-12oz Dried pasta
Cracked black pepper
1 stick salted butter
2 lemons
Parmesan Cheese*
Olive Oil
Salt
Water

This a real simple dish and can be served as a main course or as a side dish. For a main dish I recommend something like a spaghetti, linguine or a fettucine. It looks good on the plate. Okay here we go.

Take a large size pot and fill about 2/3 full with water and bring to rolling boil.
While water is heating, add 2Tbsp of olive oil and 1tsp salt. this is important as it will give pasta a little flavor and aid in the cooking process. Juice one of the lemons into the pasta water, then slice used lemon and add to water. Add 1 Tbsp of cracked pepper to water.
When water comes to rolling boil, add pasta slowly and carefully. Maintain a good boil on the water and make sure the pasta doesn't cook together. Work the pasta to make sure its all seperated.
While pasta is cooking, finely grate Parmesan Cheese. Men, this is important, do not use the dried paremsan you put on spaghetti. It won't work. Some grocery stores have the preshredded parmesan, it will work fine. Look in the cheese section and you should find it. Then soften the stick of butter in microwave. DO NOT heat to long or it will seperate. just soften it enough so the heat from the pasta will melt it.
when the pasta is done to al dente (when you test bite it there should be a slight amount of resistance to the teeth) drain well, remove the lemon slices and drizzle a small amount of olive oil into pot and return pasta to pot. Add softened butter and toss pasta until well coated. Then, transfer pasta to a large bowl, add cracked pepper to taste and 2/3 grated cheese. Toss well and top with remaining cheese. This can be as cheesy as you like it. Let stand a moment or two and serve. Slice the remaining lemon into wedges and serve on the side to to squeeze over dish. It's just that simple.
Now then serving suggestions and variations.
If you want, you can add some bonless chicken chunks, or even some precooked shrimp to the pasta before adding the cheese. just add when returning pasta back to pot and the heat from pasta will heat the shrimp or chicken.
I would suggest serving this with a hearts of romaine salad(sold in bags at store)
and a nice crusty hot bread.
This meal's prep and cooking time is under one half hour. I told you it was simple and I promise you they will love it. This makes a great way to start an evening with that special lady you want to impress or just to thank her for all she has done for you.
One last thing, you made a lot of points tonight, don't lose them by making her clean up. That, men, is a certified deal-braker if you catch my drift.