Tuesday, January 29, 2008

All That Shrimp

About a week ago the Verizon guys came to lay the fiber optics for our FIOS line. While they were tearing up my front lawn, they managed to hit something and blow a fuse in my house. I didn’t realize this until a few days later when I discovered the light in my basement refridgerator wasn’t on - and neither was the fridge. I don’t keep a whole lot in the fridge part except beer and soda (which was fine), but the freezer was full of bagged veggies and about six pounds of frozen shrimp I had just bought on sale. Fortunately the stuff in the freezer was still cold and partially frozen, but it still needed to be eaten. So we had shrimp three days in a row…ugh.

Anyway, I thought I’d share a recipe a friend gave me that I tried for the first time - very easy and very tasty. Even the 3-year old ate it. And with Lent coming up, this would be a good Friday night dish for you Catholics out there. Bon appetit!

Shrimp Tetrazzini

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

8 ounces shrimp, shelled and deveined

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

1/4 cup sherry

1 (8 ounce) package spaghetti

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
  1. Cook spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well.
  2. Over a medium-low heat melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add onion to melted butter and stir until onion is soft. Add shrimp and mushrooms, cook for 5 minutes stirring often. Remove shrimp mixture from saucepan, place in a medium size bowl and set aside.
  3. Remove saucepan from heat. Combine flour, mayonnaise, salt, milk, and sherry in the saucepan. Mix well. Return the saucepan to the heat and cook until sauce thickens.
  4. Pour sauce into the bowl containing the shrimp mixture. Add the spaghetti to the bowl and mix well.
  5. Place all ingredients in a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish (baking pan). Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top of the mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.
Posted by Laura in 21:35:00 | Permalink | No Comments »

Listen Up!

I was reading Kate Wicker’s blog today, and with Ash Wednesday right around the corner, she specifically asked people to share thoughts on Lent, or the carnival celebration that precedes it.  So, now that the kids are in bed, and the last “Mommy, I have to pee” call has been made down the stairs, I have a few moments to reflect on this.

For as long as I can remember, “giving up” something for Lent has sort of fallen in the same category as New Year’s resolutions. I do the same ones every few years, with questionable amounts of success. I’ve given up chocolate, ice cream, swearing, and alcohol. Of course, these are all things I’d be better off without anyway (though they have proven now that chocolate is actually good for you, in case you needed further proof that God exists…), so I’m not sure that my motives were all that perfect. Yes, they were things I loved, or at least really enjoyed, but my end goal really was usually to shed a few pounds or break a bad habit. Not all that noble when you put it that way.

So much has happened in the last three years, however, that I think this Lent might actually be different for me.

Though I’m still nowhere near the Christian I’d like to be, I finally feel like I’ve gotten on the right path. God has led me to the right people, in the right place, at the right time. Everything has come together in a way even my non-religious husband can’t ignore. Every great thing (new baby, new job for hubby, and an incredible group of friends in our new neighborhood) and every unfortunate event, (including a miscarriage and a house fire), has opened our eyes to God - to the point where we feel like he’s been smacking us both upside the head for the last 36 months.

Some of us are a bit slower than others, but finally I can say, “I GET it. I’m LISTENING!”.

And so I’ve decided that that’s what the next forty days are about for me - quiet contemplation over all I’ve learned, all I’ve experienced thus far on the journey, and listening, really listening - to my friends, to my family, and to God. 

Posted by Laura in 02:29:38 | Permalink | No Comments »