Food List Friday: Shrimp Selection as a Guest Dinner

I am a planner. That being said- I like to prepare myself for a guest situation by listing in menu form the items I would like to make for my company. I then like to make sure I have all ingredients available to prepare my special selection by listing what each item is going to need to be prepared. If some of those items are not already in my fridge, freezer, or pantry- then there’s another list beside the menu list titled: “Need to Buy” items. Today’s food list Friday is associated with my guest dinner plans that will take place sometime during this three day weekend. I am planning on making available a “Shrimp Selection and Snack Buffet” to enjoy until there are full stomachs all around.

Here’s the list of what my menu will include this weekend- but I won’t bore you with what is needed make each. Some are by scratch and some are just bought “as is”. If you’d like to share your ‘make by scratch’ recipes for any of these items- I’d LOVE to see you post a link to one that you like or to one you’ve come up with! Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Dinner/Appetizers:

Salad

Onion Rings

Fried Popcorn Shrimp

Chipotle Marinated Shrimp Skewers

Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair Pasta

Steak Fries

Chunked Fresh Pineapple

Sauces:

Cocktail sauce

Tartar sauce

BBQ/MAYO Sauce

Ketchup/Mustard

Drinks:

Juice, Soda, Water, or Milk

Dessert:

Best Ice Cream Cake Ever (Have to give this away- Coldstone Creamery 🙂

 

Memorial Day BBQ- Rub it down with Big Herm’s BBQ!

This week,in honor of the three day weekend BBQ kick off of the season, I’m sending out a shout out to a fellow Etsian artist of delectable delight. Nick with Big Herm’s BBQ seems to have some amazing looking rubs available for sale in his shop- and though I’ve yet to try them- they look delish!

I love BBQ foods- who doesn’t? I especially love it when there is an extra kick added to flavor up my juicy steak or chicken breasts that I can convince my husband to occasionally grill up. (Another part of my love for the BBQ season comes from not having to do the cooking myself!) Seriously though- If we don’t have nice enough weather this weekend to be outside and eat- that doesn’t mean we can’t still fire up the barbeque and enjoy the smoky smell and flavors on our meat!

Please go see my feature of Nick and his rubs on my website: http://delightfullyperceptive.com/perceptive_delectables/featured_food_designer

My Self Diagnosed OCD Makes it Difficult To Garden!

I am unsure what makes a person completely OCD- but I am sure some of my ‘symptoms’ are very similar. Here is just a funny example that I wanted to share with fellow gardeners- and perhaps get some encouragement that I’m not the only one out there that is like this!

Here’s the sign of my first OCD tendency: I had pre-planned where to place everything in my garden space on some graph paper a few weeks ago. Turns out- I wanted to add a couple of other things to my garden that weren’t there before. I didn’t have the time to re-draw everything out on graph paper- so I just put some sketches together on othe paper. It was frustrating me though because my paper didn’t show the wierd and natural tendencies of our garden area that have to be worked around and it was harder to get proportionate measurements when not using graph paper this time. In other words- the garden space has a few hiccups in it that aren’t smooth and perfect as everything on paper can be. Duh. It’s nature. Why didn’t I just accept that without feeling frustrated?

Second sign: It REALLY stressed me out that my perfectly pre-planned baby starts that I had in my house all had to die in one way or the other. (See the “My Greenhouse Effect… post for more details). But ok— I think I’ll be ok with this. I’ll just restart everything in the ground.

Third sign: I can’t exactly split my garden right down the middle and have there be patterns to what I plant. I was going to do potatoes in the middle, pumpkins on each side, 2 lettuce patches with spinach in the middle, the herbs lining the front, tall sunflowers in one corner and tall corn in the other, etc. That’s not happening due to the hiccups of soil types, easier watering areas, etc that I couldn’t write out on my paper. Oh well- I’m learning to get creative and try to organize the garden space into one that is pleasant to my eye and won’t drive me crazy that it’s not “matching” or proportionate.

Fourth sign: I’m working on my first set of rows and for the life of me I can’t get them to be even. I keep ending up with the first ones being longer than the last ones, or vice versa. Oh forget it. It’s dirt. It’s going to move around and get watered down. Not to mention- my dog keeps running through them and our new little piggie keeps trying to enter in the area too! AGHHHH!!!

So- my point is. Being OCD can make it difficult to work with nature. But that’s ok… I think?

 

 

 

My Beautiful Machine

My husband spoiled me this year and got an amazingly large and gorgeous rototiller for me to get my 5000 square foot garden area ready. He also bought me some peat moss and dumped some of his grass clippings from his lawn business into the dirt so my soil would be improved to have better growing conditions for my veggies and fruits. And guess what- I got to use this machine ALL BY MYSELF! It feels so good to start up a big machine and push it around ALL BY MYSELF! And it’s great to know I am putting in the work ALL BY MYSELF to make my garden great! I am SO looking forward to the fresh items that will come of this hard work for me and my family to enjoy!

Giving the gift of a well balanced meal to your good little student!

Giving the gift of a well balanced meal to your good little student!

This is my featured “delectable gift” on my website this week. I love being able to reuse certain food containers to hold leftovers and to pack lunches fit for my family. This is a gift that can be given daily and for no good reason except to express your love by satisfying a stomach.

If you have any ideas on delectable gift ideas- I’d love to hear them! Please peruse my web pages for details on how to reach me and what information I might need to feature your idea!