And I figured out why. This summer has, pretty much, for a lot of different reasons, sucked. And I just want it to be over. Don't get me wrong, there were awesome times, like when I got to party with my girls in Atlanta. And I do have a job that I love, working for an editor who is beyond fabulous (I'm not saying that to suck up. She totally rocks the kasbah!). But, my friends know what I am talking about here. The calendar says October, but the sun, heat and humidity says the summer still goes on.
(As an aside, I don't count last weekend at my high school reunion as the summer, because that was a total blast, and it was most definitely FALL!!!! It was so great to see all of you, and I hope it doesn't take 10 more years to see you again!)
I need a spark, or something. I can't change the world in a night, but I can make a great dinner. I find cooking relaxing, so I chose a recipe that is one of my favorites, Shrimp Mosca, which I got from Paige. As you can see, it's a well-loved and used recipe, covered in stains and it even has a knife slice through it... not sure how that happened.
It is soooo good. The sauce it makes... oh boy... OK, You start with a cupboard full of spices. Well, OK, just this many (plus olive oil and really dry white wine).
And, of course, shrimp. The recipe calls for 2 pounds of unpeeled shrimp. I'm just one person, so I only get 1 pound. And I like to eat it with a fork, so I peel them. That just means there's more sauce and it's neater to eat them.
So here are the spices in the pan with 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. I use the jarred garlic, because the recipe calls for 6 cloves of garlic, diced. That translates to 3 teaspoons of the jarred kind. I heap those teaspoons, because there is never such a thing as too much garlic when you're making a Mosca (Am I right, Paige??). It's also 1 teaspoon each of red pepper, crushed black pepper, rosemary and oregano. It calls for 1 tablespoon of salt, but I usually just do a sprinkle or two. Plus two whole bay leaves. The store-bought bay leaves are so tiny, I use four.
OK, when this starts heating up, the aroma... oh I can't even describe how awesome it is, with the garlic and the rosemary...sigh...OK, so add in the shrimp and stir them around to coat them with all the yumminess.
When they get cooking good, then you add in more yumminess in the form of 1/4 cup of dry white wine (and the cook gets a bit herself, of course!). And then you cook it all together until the shrimps are done.
And that is it. It's actually really easy, and takes not a lot of time! It's so worth the time it takes to peel all those shrimps! Put some in a bowl with lots of sauce!
A necessity, as you can see here, is a generous chunk of crusty French bread. This is how you get all that delicious sauce into your pie hole. It has to be crusty French bread. I forgot to buy bread once, and used an English muffin. While it served the purpose, it was WRONG!!!!! Crusty. French. Bread. I promise you, the sauce is that good. One bite of it, and every bad thought left my head, and I couldn't help but smile and sigh. I actually had to go back and break off a little more bread, because you don't want any of that spicy goodness to go to waste. Make this. I promise, you will wipe that plate so clean, you could almost put it back in the cupboard.
But don't. That would be gross.
And tonight's dinner was brought to you by "The I totally (accidentally) stole those batteries" playlist
Run for your Life The Beatles (Yes Mark, I listen to a lot of The Beatles.)
She's a Star James (So frightened that he won't lover her, she builds up a wall)
Genie in a Bottle Christina Aguilera
Shameless Billy Joel (This really is a beautiful song)
Caught in my Shadow The Wonder Stuff
Englishman in New York Sting (It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile. Be yourself, no matter what they say.)
Friend of the Devil Counting Crows
New Years Resolution Graham Colton (Here's to the ones you never forget. Here's to the year that we had)
Victim of Love The Eagles (it's such an easy part, and you know how to play it so well.)
Fallen Sarah McLachlan
I Want Your Sex George Michael (There's things that you guess, and things that you know...)
Stuck on You Elvis Presley (Yep. The King. Full of surprises people. Keep up.)
This is the Time Billy Joel (Another sad, beautiful one)
One Week Barenaked Ladies (Like Harrison Ford I'm getting frantic, like Sting I'm tantric, like Snicker's guaranteed to satisfy.)
Paisley Park Prince & the Revolution (The girl on the seasaw is laughing 4 love is the color this place imparts)
Eyes Without a Face Billy Idol
Human Human League
Head Over Feet Alanis Morissette
Love is the Seventh Wave Sting (In the empire of the senses, you're the queen of all you survey.)
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