Do you have big Memorial Day plans? Not me, thank goodness. May has been a crazy-busy (fun!) bacchanal and I'm looking forward to a quiet, healthy reprieve. I took a long bike ride yesterday, and followed by the grilled fish and pile of vegetables I prepared last night, it put me in the right mood for a long weekend of dialing things back a bit, taking a deep breath, ahhh... No restaurants, parties, birthdays, travel, illness, entertaining - nothin'. Just a good book, my deck, exercise, flower planting, light meals, perhaps a movie, and a few good nights of sleep. Dang but that sounds nice! (I may very well not pull it off, but at least I'm going to try!)

Tonight I'm back to the wild-caught Key West shrimp I found at Whole Foods. Since it's just John and me, I'm going to boil them in their shells for a little peel-n-eat action. Served alongside a saute of tomatoes, okra, onions, and a little bacon, I'm going for a Southern-ish feel. Southern light, that is - no fry, no biscuits, no pie. Just plenty of yum!

Moderate it: check out this neat article in Health Magazine - beautiful, quick meal ideas based on farmer's market produce. They bill it as a "diet," but I'd call it an outline for healthy, delicious, every-day eating. Nice!

If it appears I'm cooking more than usual, it's because...I am. Don't know why exactly... Overly house-bound in truly deep-freeze weather? Trying to cheer up a Blue Johnny? Whatever the reason, I'm going with it while the inspiration moves me. Bonus One, children + husband = very pleased, ha, since I even made dessert last night, which I usually only do for dinner parties or holidays. (Scrooge Mommy? Perhaps a bit, but in the name of moderation, we have to trim somewhere... And since sweets aren't "my thing," the effort goes into dinner, which is. My thing. Bah humburger.) No fancy tortes, just my stepmom Susanna's Apple Crapple (Apple Crisp), easy to assemble while Nathan and John grooved at the U2 3D movie (they loved it). Bonus Two, makes the house smell like heaven (Apple Crapple, not the U2 3D movie) and best of all - with its extra-generous crust - it's pretty insanely delicious. And Bonus Three, uber-fab the next day. Nathan had a big ol' scoop for brekkie, oh yeah, happiness.

I also baked bread (yesterday) and turned it into French Dip sandwiches for dinner - the last hurrah, and third tasty iteration, of the beef pot roast I braised on Saturday afternoon. I feel like such a Depression-Era Leftover Queen (Waste Not, Want Not!) with my hash and roast beef sandwiches. Not fancy, just rib-stickin' cheap eats which happen to taste damn gooood. Happy, happy. Happy.

Tonight, I had a bag of frozen shrimps to turn into...something. Different. Grill 'em, stir fry 'em, toss 'em with pasta, toss 'em into a salad, meh, I wanted a new groove. Something Frenchy, perhaps. Under puff pastry? Just did meat pies last week. Soup? Just did the clam version the week before. Think think think. Ooh, I know, crepes! I forget about crepes! I'll Pimp my Shrimps with crepes! Easy peasy, totally scrumptious, I whipped up a batch, and a quick, creamy sauce (not terribly rich, actually), folded the shrimps into the sauce, spooned the sauce into (and onto) the crepes, ran 'em under the broiler, et voila. Browned, crusty, shrimpy Fondue de Crustaces en Crepes (a la Julia Child, by the way; once again, thank you Julia...recipe posted in comments, below). Serve with a simple, crisp salad and you've got dinner (or a pretty, special luncheon).

Tomorrow - no balmy walk like I scored this morning. Back into the deep freeze we go, sigh. Man, it felt nothing short of amazing to be strolling bare-headed, without windpants, without huge mittens, and best of all, without a wet, soggy scarf over my face (ugh). Well, perhaps more inspired eats to cheer my about-to-be-chilly-again soul. Hey, lunch with my stepmom Susanna at Luci Ancora will be a great start! (Props for the ongoing celebration of my 41st year, yes!) Stay tuned...

Fun! That's what Cocktail Jewelry Parties are - just plain FUN! Here it is, after 1:00 a.m., so this will be a quick post, one of those I'm-Too-Jazzed-To-Fall-Asleep-So-I'll-Write posts. I do need some sleep, since Cooper Cuteness will be here at 9:00 tomorrow (this) morning. So I'll post recipes later - I think the tres leches cake, shrimp salad, and carnitas went over best tonight. Stay tuned...

The Susie Silpada Bling Shopping was great fun, almost everyone found something to rock their boat(s). Rings and necklaces and bracelets and earrings, woo hooo! Thank you to Kathie, Chris, Mary, Lindsay, Kristi, Beth, Kim, Bev, Bobbi, Stacey, and Kasey for such a fun night!

So, tomorrow, recipes. And tonight (or morning)? Must. Go. To. Bed. Sleep well (hopefully you already are, and have been for a couple of hours)!

Hola! I'm gearing up for a Mexican-themed Cocktail Jewelry Party this evening, starring Suz's Silpada bling and lots of my spicy treats. Yay for parties! Yay for a reason to invite the girls over! I'm making carnitas to eat rolled in soft corn tortillas and garnished with chopped radishes, pickled onions, and a drizzle of crema. A spicy, creamy shrimp salad. A pinto bean salad with peppers and tomatoes. Bowls of guaaahcamole and salsa with tortilla chips and roasted vegetables for dipping. And a very easy and fun-to-make tres leches cake. After washing it all down with cold beer, snappy wines, and hot coffee, we should be properly fortified for chatting and jewel-browsing, I think. As if I need fortification for jewel-shopping, ha. (Mary P. or Kathie R., if you read this, you are invited, my dears, but Park Nicollet will no longer let my emails through - I've tried several times. So frustrating! I'm junk to Park Nicollet now, I guess. Junk! Sheesh.)

Well, back-to-school continues to chug along pretty smoothly. Although I am most certainly not a morning person, being up-and-at-em by 6:30 a.m. does have its benefits. (I used to voluntarily get up at 5:30 a.m. every day to walk before work with my former neighbor Beth - I'm too old for such craziness now.) I am walked, showered, and a good way into my daily chores and desk work by 9:00 a.m. Just like the good ol' days at Park Nicollet - you know, when they used to accept my emails... As a result, I'm checking several items off the ever-nightmare checklist I keep on my desk. Like clean my nightmare desk. Done! Sooooo done! Yeah!

So, back to the party, depending on how I think the food tastes at the party, I'll post recipes, so stay tuned...

After Saturday's Date Day and Monday's Date Night, we've had a couple of days of very simple, low-key eating (and tough, tough walks and bike rides in this heat, makes me feel like I've hit a brick wall, ugh). Moderation, you know, ha - woo hoo! Mostly salads, although tonight I made a simple, garlicky, brothy shrimp sauce to toss with pasta. I sauteed spinach and ripe tomato as an optional add-in (we had both kids tonight, neither of whom would be thrilled to find wilted spinach in their pasta, ha) for John, Stacey, and me. Turned out light and so pretty, with pink shrimps, dark green spinach and fresh parsley, and red tomato, yum.

Tomorrow night, we're back on for a bit of part-ay-ing. John's partners Stu The Wine Genius, Bill, and Joe, with their wives Debbie, Karla, and Genie (respectively), are coming for a casual dinner. Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Tomatoes and Onion will be the main course, alongside creamy polenta and a medley of grilled vegetables. A nice tart for dessert, I think (can't get enough of summer fruit desserts, rarrr...) Looking forward to it!

I had such a nice Father's Day it could have been Mother's Day! Romantically floating in the pool, pretty much all damn day. So yes, John's dream day, especially when Nathan joined us too. Lots of chatting, good tunes, insane amounts of sun, and eventually a dry off and dinner on the patio at Bacio. Their version of crispy fried shrimps is quite delicious - with just the thinnest dusting of Parmesan and flour, they come to the table searingly hot and crisp, served alongside a cool, creamy homemade tartar sauce as well as a zingy-with-horseradish cocktail sauce. Mmmm...

Today? I am TOAST, no more sun for me for at least a few days, ack. Instead, I'm in full-on driving mode as of this morning - let the camps begin! Golf league and basketball so far today, with a baseball game later this evening. Dinner plans are obvious - leftover steak (yum) and a big salad with the first load of my LaFinca CSA veggies. Mixed greens including lots o'arugula, radishes, scallions, and fresh dill from a pot on my deck. Crumble of feta, few sizzling slices of steak, and it's all good.

Oooh, it's a hot one out there today, definitely a day for hangin' by the pool. Just John and me, since my stepdaughter left for a trip today, and Nathan's spending the afternoon with his dad's family. So...a little sun, a late-afternoon shower, a simple, light dinner of grilled shrimps with spicy braised green beans, a 6 pm baseball game, and we're all gooood. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

A confused (clouds-sunshine-rain...decide already!) and muggy day turned into a lovely evening, which I spent on our screened porch under the twinkling white lights and paper lanterns I strung up today. I am on quite the house project bender these days, sort of late-spring cleaning, I guess. Happens to me every year, as soon as I start planting flowers and pots of herbs. The satisfaction in the beautifying of my external space apparently inspires me to polish off all sorts of projects.

We're lucky to have a screened porch, but with bits and pieces of hand-me-down furniture it's never been as comfortable and inviting as it should be. I finally invested in a comfy sofa, and some new cushions, and strung up the lights, and it's all coming together nicely. It's a lovely spot for a warm night's cozy, romantic (bug-free!) dinner, perhaps a creamy-zesty cold soup, such as Potage Aurore, from my new-old (c. 1979) Perla Meyers' cookbook, From Market to Kitchen (recipe posted in comments, below), with crusty bread, cold white wine to sip, and ripe peaches or berries for dessert.

No soup, but a nice salad tonight - I chopped up the leftover grilled shrimp, stirred in lemon juice, pickle relish, a bit of mayo, and salt and pepper and piled it on top of greens and chopped red bell pepper tossed with lots of fresh dill (yum, I'm having a dill thing right now, can't get enough of it) and a drizzle of mustard vinaigrette. Light yet satisfying on a warm night.

And now, at 9:15 p.m., it is time for a shower. I am literally filthy from planting flowers today, sweaty from hanging those lights, and slightly sunburned from not taking the sun peaking through the cloud-rain-cloud-sun combo seriously enough. Time for a rinse with Agraria lavender bath gel, clean jammies, and a good night's sleep. G'night!

Well, we ended up with an absolutely lovely Memorial Day. I hope you did too! It threatened to be rainy/stormy this morning, but then cleared up nicely. Humid bugger out there, but that's OK, that's what the pool is for, and we opened with a big swim. In fact, we opened with late morning swimming with Dan and Ethan Hatzung from across the street. Ethan, age 3, so adorable in the pool, the little kicks are the sweetest. Then Stace, Coop, Dad, Susanna, and their dog Jake (check out his amazing leaps into the pool, below) arrived and Coop changed into his birthday-present (from us!) rash guard and shark trunks, ready for action. He LOVES swimming, and just like Nathan - and Jake! - once he was in he wasn't much for getting out. But eventually everyone had to climb out...for food.

Oh, hey, I just realized we forgot to make s'mores! Ah, well, we had plenty of other treats. I'm sorry, but nothing beats tortilla chips with guacamole and a cold beer on a hot, sunny day. Damn, friends, that is good stuff. The rest is all just background noise as far as I'm concerned. Tasty background noise, granted. Shrimp tacos with grilled tomatoes, onions, and peppers + guacamole + crumbled feta + chopped cabbage + spicy salsa-mayo alongside spicy roasted potatoes + sour cream = I'll admit, tasty background noise. Black coffee, coconut macaroons (from Byerly's, deadly little mothers), chocolate rugelach (from Crossroads Deli, ditto the deadly little mothers' rave), and fresh strawberries made for a nice ending. To the eating...

After lunch it was time for a digestif game of croquet. Who won? Let's just say her (my) name starts with an S and ends with an E...hmmm... Then back in the pool for Nathan and Cooper, and finally, an end to all the fun, darn. You get tired pretty quickly when you're 1 (or 40), and as the sun sets, it's time to mosey on home for a warm bath, clean jammies, and a good, long dark nap.

Have a good night!

Yay, it's sunny! Yes, we have actual sun on Memorial Day weekend, we Minnesotans are thrilled. We are so by the pool today, first with Andrew, Rishia, and Noah for brunch, then just us, and then later still John and I plan to take (drag) the kids to a county park reserve for a family bike ride. Then back home for turkey/ciabatta sandwiches on the deck. At least that's the plan, who knows how it will actually play out...

Tomorrow, Stace, Coop, Dad, and Susanna are coming over, hopefully to play some croquet and get Cooper Cuteness in the water - and more important, into a teeny tiny swimsuit! - for the first time in '07. I was mighty challenged in trying to come up with something to grill that 1) everyone likes, 2) is relatively healthful, and 3) tastes damn good! I settled on...shrimp tacos. I'll thaw/brine the shrimp first (water seasoned with plenty of salt, crushed garlic, cayenne pepper, and oregano) for a couple of hours. Then skewer them and either brush them with olive oil or give them a spritz of olive oil nonstick spray (good product, use it often for grilling). I'll also do my usual veggie skewers of cherry tomatoes, peppers, and sweet onion (ditto the brush of oil or spritz of nonstick spray) sprinkled with a bit of coarse salt. Soft tortillas wrapped in foil and warmed on the grill. Big, BIG bowl of guacamole. Chopped cabbage. Side of spicy roasted potatoes. So there - not your typical Memorial Day barbecue, but it'll work. Fresh berries with whipped cream, coconut macaroons, and of course s'mores for dessert - rinse the marshmallow off your face by diving into the pool. Ahhh...