It's fun...

...to go to a restaurant with paper tablecloths and crayons. Even more fun to have a Vodka Gibson at happy hour prices.

Shrimp and Shells

I wish I'd taken a photo. It looked so nice! We had shrimp and pasta shells for dinner last night.

I sautéed about 18 medium shrimp in some oil in my cast iron frypan, then I removed them to a plate. I then sautéed a medium chopped onion and a chopped green pepper, until they were soft. I added a couple if minced garlic clices and sauteed them for a minute. Then, I added a chopped, peeled, and seeded tomato; plus salt, pepper, dried basil, and dried oregano; plus a cup of frozen corn.

In a pot, I'd been boiling a few handfuls of medium pasta shells. I tossed a ladle or two of the starchy pasta water into the frypan. When the pasta was done, the corn was heated through, and the tomato was broken up, I put the cooked shells into the pan ad mixed it thoroughly.

I served it bowls with sourdough toast on the side. Iced tea to drink. If I'd had white wine, I might have cooked it into the sauce. Delicious!

Savory Coeur à la Crème

We're going to a dinner party and I tried my hand at bringing a savory cheese dish to have with cocktails before dinner. This coeur à la crème is mostly from an Ina ("Barefoot Contessa") Garten cookbook. Cream cheese was mixed with heavy cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. It was packed in a cheesecloth-lined sieve for a few hours, then unmolded on a serving plate.

Garten tops hers with Major Grey's chutney, but I went for a sweeter topping of fig preserves. The mold is surrounded by cut fresh figs. We'll serve it as a spread in water crackers.

Cool Sup'

Tuna salad topped by a poached egg and hot sauce. Dill pickle made by the vendor at the farmers market. Kalamata olives. Also, Triscuits and iced tea.

Gaeran Tost-u For Lunch

I stopped by the supermarket today on the way home from the dentist. Forty-eight cents of shredded carrots, cabbage, and onions from the salad bar were all I needed. At home, I toasted two slices of onion rye I had in the freezer. The veggies were sautéed in a little olive oil, then mixed with a beaten egg to make a flat pancake omelet. Put them on the toast. Topped the omelet with a little ketchup and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Gaeran Tost-u. Delicious with iced tea out on the screened porch!