drunken.shrimp.pasta

Paula Deen once said that seafood should come walking out of the ocean with a lemon wedge tied to their backs. She couldn’t be more right. There’s something about fresh squeezed lemon on seafood that is just well…..perfect. Add a cold beer and you’ve got a perfect meal in our house.

So, last night I got to thinking – what if we skipped a step and let the shrimp get drunk marinate in beer before cooking them? I like beer on a hot day so, why shouldn’t shrimp be allowed a little fun, too? I decided to give it a whirl and whipped up a drunken shrimp pasta.

Ingredients:

16 oz. fresh shrimp, peeled

can of beer (I used BudLight Lime)

1 tbsp Old Bay, separated

2 crowns raw broccoli, chopped

1 package of whole wheat pasta

4 lemons, sliced

E.V.OO

Sea Salt

There’s really just 3 main steps to this recipe dinner. 1st preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil. Set aside for roasting. Fill a pot with water and SALT the water. I’m serious…salt it like its never been salted before. It should taste like sea water when you’re done salting. Trust me…..it gives pasta a whole new flavor.

Step 1- Shrimp

Peel all of the shrimp. Be sure to remove the tails. Place in a bowl, pour the beer over the shrimp, and douse with 1/2 tbsp of Old Bay. Stir and set aside in the fridge for 20 minutes (time it takes to roast the broccoli).

After the shrimp has marinaded, drain it into a colander, add the remaining 1/2 tbsp of Old Bay and lay onto one of the two cookie sheets. The shrimp only needs about 5 minutes in the oven, so I usually place in the oven alongside the broccoli about 5 minutes before I pull the broccoli out.

Step 2 – Broccoli

1st things 1st: You can use any green veggie here. I thought about roasting some spinach but TCBITW wanted broccoli and I wasn’t going to argue. Chop up the broccoli, removing the stems completely. Toss with e.v.o.o and sea salt to taste. Lay it out on the other cookie sheet and place into the 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until crispy. Remember- when your broccoli has about 5 minutes left in the over, toss in the shrimp!

Step 3- Pasta

Cook pasta thoroughly in sea salt. Note- I used whole wheat pasta which takes a few extra to cook. Drain into a colander and add a spat of butter to the colander. Stir until the butter is melted. 2nd Note- I place the colander in a bowl before adding the butter. This allows extra water to drain off the pasta as well as excess butter to drain into the bowl beneath the colander. You’re left with seasoned pasta, not seasoned mush. You’re welcome!

FINALLY, leave the pasta in the colander in the bowl and toss in the roasted broccoli, shrimp, and squeeze a few lemons over the colander. Toss lightly and serve in a glass bowl.

full bellies & satisfied souls

Its no secret that I’m from “these parts”. I’m obnoxiously proud of the fact that I’m from the south. Life doesn’t get much better down “here” and if you disagree go back to where you came from…which is probably the north. Bless your heart. 

Its also no secret TCBITW is a Yankee. He is the smart kind of Yankee. He moved down south and stayed.

Being from the south, I like to cook. (I also like to drink but that’s another story for another day.) The Joy of Cooking is my culinary Bible. I’m a firm believer that full bellies make for satisfied souls.

I am not the type of cook that follows recipes to the finest detail. Recipes are kitchen rules and,  aren’t rules made to be broken? I think so. So, I  cook with what I have in my kitchen on that particular day. Recipes are a good plan of attack for me but I don’t freak if we happen to be out of a spice it says I need 1tsp of. And I certainly don’t drop my saute pan and run to the store to get it…that’s a rookie mistake. I might not be Paula Deen but I’m certainly not a rookie.

Tonight I made a drunken roasted shrimp pasta dish and homemade peach butter. My recipe, I mean my “if I were you I’d do it like this” to come tomorrow.

what a difference a year makes

I started this blog about a year or so ago when I decided to count my life’s blessings. You see, sometimes life just “happens”. Being that my roots are southern, and I was raised by a fearless redhead (my mama), I know the way to tackle life when it “happens” is to send out a few choice “bless your heart(s)”,  throw on your best pearls,  and move on.

So I did. Right back to the Piedmont. Where I met the Yankee….also known as TCBITW (TheCutestBoyInTheWorld … its sweet potato queen’s lingo…don’t know sweet potato queens? Go here – http://www.sweetpotatoqueens.com …and you’re welcome). And the rest is history.

A few weeks ago…

A few weeks ago, one of my most favorite-est folks who ever set foot on this Earth passed away. While it wasn’t a surprise, it was a shock to my system when the day he passed finally came. My Uncle Bob was a wonderful man on so many levels that I won’t stack on you here.

Uncle Bob is my grandmother on my mama’s side’s brother (southern relations always sound…..well, southern when you try to explain who someone ‘is’, don’t they?). He was a saint in my eyes just like my Grandmother is. Couldn’t do no wrong kind of saint. Could have whatever he wanted because he was a saint kind of saint. Maybe I thought so highly of him because he was my Grandmother’s brother and she might as well walk on water in my book.

From a young age, I remember Bob throwing sarcasm around the room and I was eager to catch it and toss it right back. We developed a greeting that I only ever used when I saw him – “I’m glad you got to see me today.”. As I got older and, well, so did he, our game of sarcasm catch never wavered. As he battled unimaginable cancer, and loved his wife as pieces of her were lost to dementia, he never lost the twinkle in his eye and his smile.

The evening before he passed, I visited him in his hospice room. As he struggled to breath I held his hand and just sat with him. He couldn’t speak and I had no words. My mama has always said death can’t be planned – in the end its only between that person and God. That evening I saw my mama’s words manifest : I saw the twinkle in his eye come back and a smile grow across his pain ridden face. While I would like to think that smile was because he was ‘glad he got to see me today.’, I know he was smiling about much much more. And for that I found peace.

I am thankful I was able to know him, blessed to have been loved by him, and hope we can all find the peace he now knows.

finding ‘goodbye’.

Today I say goodbye and give thanks. All at once.Talk about a powerful cocktail of emotions to experience at one time. But experience it I will. And, it is my prayer that I will be able to find beauty and peace in the ‘goodbye’.

Today, more than ever, I am thankful for Andy and the gift the universe gave me when it brought Andy into Cafe Europa where the only empty seat was beside me that evening. Life changed for me that night. And for this, I am forever thankful.

 

 

 

fluff. floats. away.

Lent kicked off yesterday with Ash Wednesday. I didn’t make it to church to receive alms, nor did I start yesterday having decided what I’m giving up for Lent. I’m fashionably late to a lot of things (Hey, Elizabeth Taylor and I have the same birthday…she was even 15 minutes late to her own funeral); I guess my tardiness to Lent isn’t much different. But…better late than never, right?

Some people give up silly things for Lent. Things that make you wonder if they realize Lent isn’t about egotistical sacrifice. It’s about sacrifice to make yourself a better soul.

This year,  I took some time to think about what to give up for Lent. To really think about something I wouldn’t crave in the “I will maim someone if I don’t get chocolate STAT!” kind of way:
Chocolate? NO.
Bread? NO.
Meat? NO.
Wine? um…..NO. NO. NO.

That kind of sacrifice is good from time to time, but not what Lent is about to me. So this year, I’m learning to live happily without:

I’m giving up fluff in relationships. And well, fluff-filled relationships. We all have them. Those people who are in our lives for one reason or another who are convenient friends. People who only care when its all about them. When its not about them, they turn off the friendship and walk away. People who associate with you for their own benefit. People who treat you with nothing but disrespect because they think friendship is a power struggle.

So, this year, I’m giving them up. I’m not going to be hateful about it. Starting today, I’m going to refuse to be stepped on like friendship is and always will be a one-sided street. I’m going to stop caring about the fluff; it’s not like fluff really cared about me in the first place.

messy.beautfiul.

Life has a way of rushing by. Speeding by. Whooshing by. It seems like only yesterday I spent a few minutes reflecting on what I’m thankful for and that was 3 months ago.

It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say (GOD knows that’ll be the day!). It’s not that I not any less thankful than I was in November, either. I’m still thankful. That won’t change. I’ve just been so wrapped up in this beautiful mess we call life. To recap, the lapse in time here whirred by like so:

thanksgiving.andy in nc. football. home renovations. countless trips to lowes. hunting camp. cookie swaps. gift exchanges. florida. disney. epcot. a dreadful sister. patience needed. christmas eve flight. home for christmas. christmas. florida. new years. outside bar. no coat needed. shopping. more trips to lowes. more home renovations. car rides. business trips. mountains. camping. hotsprings. snow. puppies. finding trust. understanding love.

See what I mean? Messy, right? It might be. It wasn’t always organized. The finishing touches weren’t always…well, touched. The ‘little stuff’ was either ignored or done half-a$$. And that was okay. Know why? Because my life went along in its own shabby-chic kind of beautiful.  Looking back my life over the past few months looks well, lived in. Every day was full. Not full of ‘stuff’ but full of laughter, tears, trust, give&take, understanding, love. And, it doesn’t get much better than that.

thankful.

Life has a funny way of falling into place. This has been a year of transition for me; some of it welcomed, some bittersweet. Looking back I am thankful for all of it. While I could draw out all of the transitions I have been through this year, I won’t. Its a waste of space, time, and energy. It was what it was. What isn’t a waste  is being thankful for what I have as a result of my whirlwind year. So, here goes….

i am thankful for phil and cathy who always know what to say. most importantly, they know when to say nothing and just silently love parker and myself.

i am thankful for parker; my brother who is my best friend. if all sisters had a “parker” the world would be a better place. this i know.

i am thankful for those who have gone before me; they left a lasting impression on my soul and their love has, and forever will be, with me.

i am  thankful for old flames who burned out.  through their words & actions they showed me what love isn’t. and, because of them, i know what ‘velveteen rabbit love’ really looks like.

i am thankful for figuring out what forgiveness really is – a way to let go.

i am thankful for my girlfriends who somehow know when to email, text, call, or sound the “girls night out” alarm just when i need it.

 i am thankful for new people in my life who make me wonder how i lived so long without their friendship and love.

thankful. thankful. thankful.

 

happiness is like a butterfly.

 

AMEN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

forgiveness.

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return you will receive untold peace and happiness.”

Recently, I forgave someone. I thought I had forgiven people before but, it turns out I hadn’t ever REALLY forgiven someone up until just a few weeks ago.

I can hear people saying to themselves right now “How can you have never forgiven someone before?! Thats awful!” Well, yes and no. I have thought I have forgiven people before by saying “it’s okay” when it wasn’t yet. I wasn’t  done hurting and I wasn’t ready to move on. But, I would give the “it’s okay” green light and would trudge along pretending it really was alright. I hadn’t let go of what happened in the past and the pain would eventually  rise back to the surface and well, spill over. That’s the problem with trudging through life though; you never get the crap off your shoes. You end up shuffling along accumulating more and more crap on your soles until you’re so weighed down you can’t take another step.

Years ago my mother told me something that has stuck : “You forgive for yourself. Not for anyone else. You forgive so you may move on.” She’s right, she always has been about these things. But,  she raised an independent, and often times stubborn, daughter. And well, my stubbornness coupled with the maturity that goes with forgiving, truly forgiving, has been a difficult thing for me to accomplish.

But, I have. I have forgiven someone. Completely. Whole-heartedly. No resentment is harbored, no pain will resurface.The person might never know that I have forgiven them and that’s okay. Mom was right; I didn’t forgive for them for their sake, I did it for mine. I’ll be honest, it didn’t come easy or quick. The process was painful. But, one day, when I least expected it, the pain left and love moved back in.

I think I might just have to throw love a “welcome home” party.