The Story Behind the Ramen Bath

​You know when people talk about food like, "OMG - I love it so much, I just want bathe in it!!" Welp, that actually happened.

The day I decided to draw a ramen bath was also the day that I hit 10,000 followers on @FoodsofJane AND the day that I finally (6-year plan) graduated from college. It sort of started off as an inside joke with my fam since all I ever ate as a kid was ramen.  So I threw on an old bathing suit and filled my parents' giant tub (which by the way, is super nice - if I wasn't 20-something I would of totally gotten grounded.) The ramen noodles float, so I didn't actually have to fill the entire tub, it was mostly H20. I used the hottest water setting - I figured that would be hot enough to soften the noodles and I was right. It was also hot enough to basically cook myself, it's like I was the protein in some sort of human soup. My sisters took photos while hysterically laughing and the whole thing was just great.

Did you know that "ramen is actually good for your skin?" At least that's what the owner of this one Japanese Spa says. Can you even believe that there is a place in this world where this sort of thing actually happens on a daily basis? Here's more on that: http://bit.ly/2hI6K6b. 

So a few weeks later I got an email from a producer at ABC's The Chew. He somehow came across my photo and asked if I would mind if they showed it on TV. What a weird question to be asked, I'm pretty sure in the email he was like "I can't believe I'm actually saying this but..." I said yes, and sure enough, there I was - takin a bath in ramen noodles on national television. The cool thing about it was that they mentioned I was from Cleveland, OH and my dude Michael Symon (who is also from Cleveland) just so happens to be a co-host on The Chew. I love the way he screamed "CLEVELANDDDDDDDDDD" when the photo popped up behind him. I ended up officially meeting him later that year at the Fabulous Food Show in CLE - walked right up to him with a screenshot of my ramen bath photo and said - "Hi, remember me?!" and then of course his giant, loveable, best laugh ever roared and the rest is history. Love that man. <3

This is my favorite part of the story. I was out at a bar in The Flats (part of downtown CLE) and someone who was talking to a couple of my friends (without knowing they were my friends) pointed to me and said hey - isn't that that noodle girl? It's the only time I've been recognized by a stranger in public and I love it so much, I wouldn't want to be recognized any other way. "That noodle girl."

You can find the original Insta post here and no I did not eat the ramen afterwards because...that's disgusting. ;)