I mentioned our day of shrimping.

What to do with a pile of shrimp? Remember the movie Forrest Gump? Bubba recommended:

“Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it.”

I guess I have my work cut out for me. Though I doubt I will get through that list of shrimp-options with my current stock of shrimp, I can certainly get a jump start. First up: shrimp cakes.

Shrimp Cakes
1 LB large shrimp, peeled and deveined, patted dry
1 large egg
2 green onions
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T dijon mustard
1 T minced cilantro
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
1/2 tsp salt
pinch black pepper
2 cups (plus) bread crumbs*

Oil/butter for sauteeing

Coarsely chop shrimp, add egg, onions, lemon juice, mustard, cilantro, hot sauce, S&P. Stir to blend. Add 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs, and up to 2 cups, depending on desired consistency. Form into shrimp cakes, 2-3 inches in diameter, coat both sides with remaining bread crumbs and refrigerate 10-30 minutes (up to 4 hours ahead). Saute in oil (maybe a pinch of butter too) on medium high, approx 2-3 minutes per side. Serve with an aioli sauce.

*I made fresh, airy bread crumbs as they had nice moisture and ‘loft’ for the cakes. Process fresh bread in food processor; I used hamburger buns.

**I didn’t love the sauce I attempted as an accompaniment. I will try more in the near future. But no doubt there are a good number of aioli recipes already out there. Here are a few I am excited to try:

• From Epicurious: Aioli and Spicy Lemon & Paprika Aioli
  
• From the Inadvertant Gardner (whose tagline I adore, by the way: “It’s amazing what I will do for a good tomato”): Lemon Basil Aoili
• New York Times recipe for Aioli
  

It isn’t very summery is it? Smooth beige soup in a bowl.

Though this soup has deep, earthy flavors, and beckons your deliberation of forest undergrowth and fertile mounds of earth, it may not pass as summer fare… you can almost taste the forest floor when a spoon of this mushroom soup settles in your mouth. But to be fair, I did just receive cremini mushrooms in my farm box, appropriately tucked into a beige paper bag. I think the best way to give this soup some summer love is to be creative with the toppings. Suffice it to say, I was spooning beige forest floor into my mouth long before I got to thinking about toppings. Next time, perhaps?

I like making soup. I don’ t make enough soup, nor do I have enough favorite soup recipes. The only way to add to my list of favorites, is to start making more soup. (Much like a wine connoisseur once told me, you can only read so much about wine notes and profiles and terroir—pretty soon you just need to start drinking wine.). If I want to become a better soup-maker—become more comfortable in my soup-making frame of mind, from finding favorites to being creative—then I simply need to make more soup.

There is a reason it is good for the soul; soup was at the very beginning of bringing restaurants into being. Soups were considered healing broths, and believed to have medicinal properties. Perhaps an earth-laden soup such as this one would qualify:

Mushroom Soup
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for a vegetarian version)
3 T butter
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
10 ounces cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 leek
1 shallot (or 1/3 red onion)
4 T flour
parsley
thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 T cream sherry
S&P

Heat butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is released (about 5-6 minutes). Add leek and shallot and cook another 4-5 minutes, lowering heat to medium. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Pour in broth, whisk and bring to boil. Add your bouquet garni* (tie together the parsley, bay and thyme), lower heat and simmer 10 minutes. Puree. Return to medium heat, add cream and sherry, S&P to heat—to taste. Serve.

*Fun fact from my lessons at cooking school: Bouquet Garni, pronounced [boo-KAY gahr-NEE] is a bunch of herbs (the classic trio being parsley, thyme and bay leaf) are tied together and used to flavor soups, stews and broths. Tying the herbs allows for their easy removal before the dish is served.

(Great definitions from the culinary world can be found in this very approachable and useful book: THE FOOD LOVER’S COMPANION).

I wish, I wish I had had my camera with me this morning. If ever there was a picture perfect moment, one that sums up my sons’ lives right now, it is as they walk out the door to go to school every morning. And this morning was particularly funny. All or our arms were completely full to the brim; a passerby would thing we needed a moving truck just to make it through the day.

My fifth grade son had in his arms: a lunch bag, a small plastic bag with his name written on it, full of his costume for the school musical—it needs approval from the drama teacher—and his saxophone, with its respective music, for band this morning. He also had his backpack, a second backpack for soccer (because of course, he is going straight from musical practice to play practice and needs to change on the way), 4 large empty cardboard boxes (ironically, Dry Soda) for some recycling art event they have at school today, and a soccer ball at his feet. A picture is seemingly worth a thousand words.

My sixth grades son (this day was easily our record for hands-full, by the way) had his viola (practice at noon recess) and music, his lunch, his backpack, and two large plastic toolboxes that hold all the parts and pieces for a Robotics (think legos plus software/programming).

Huh. And I thought I needed extra arms.

Me? A few books (to study for culinary school), my computer with its power cord trailing along behind me like a long, black, bouncing, mechanical tail, and one large cardboard box—which I return as I pickup this week’s CSA box. Add to that my purse, and my workout backpack. And the smallest and largest item: my ‘to-do list’ which I might as well bungee cord around my waist, or better, carry it on top of my head like some sort of twisted, defiant, yet confidently forward statement.

Days like these are perfect for packing healthy snacks, to fill your pocket with food for later. When my kids are on the go, or when I am jostling from point A to B—and need a quick energy or nutrition boost—it is a relief to know your pocket is stocked. And what else screams healthy, energy-packed, omega 3 infused snack than a lemon-iced, zucchini-and-walnut filled cookie?

These will help you rally through your busy day (also good for on-the-go breakfast, and perfect for kiddos’ lunch):

Zucchini Cookies
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 T lemon zest
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup chopped walnut

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 T lemon juice

Cream butter and sugar; beat in egg and zest, sift dry ingredients and stir into batter. Mix in zucchini and walnuts. Drop on cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes; cool then glaze (make glaze: combine sugar and juice). Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Note: (taking Intro to Baking made me think differently about these cookies). I made sure to BEAT the eggs and sugar, as in really cream them well, on high for 3-4 minutes. I actually sifted the dry ingredients, and when adding dry ingredients, walnuts then zucchini, I stirred just to blend.

These are really awesome cookies. If you try them with a wheat or different flour, let me know, as I am curious how they turn out. Cheers!

I told you it was auction season, remember the year supply of dry sodas? Well, we get a kick out of picking one interesting item per auction, perhaps one with a story or experience. At a recent auction, I renewed our family pass to the Seattle Art Museum—which was brilliant timing as they just renovated a huge portion of the museum. It is gorgeous.

At last year’s school auction, we were nudged by our children (they let the kids drool over auction items, so they can ‘encourage’ their parents to gun for specific items—smart, eh?) to check out “shrimping for a day.” My kids want to shrimp?

We walked away with a day on a shrimp boat.

And it is May, and shrimping season has arrived. So we picked up our one-day shrimping licenses, wore layers and layers of long-johns and wool socks and shoved on our rubber boots… and got up WAY to early for a Saturday (why did we buy this again? oh yes, we spent money for a good cause… and it will be a memorable family experience…). And off we went.

And it was great. And for the sake of culinary school (couldn’t write a post without that in mind), having hoards of shrimp (80 per person, so we came home with 320) to deal with and learn to devein and clean and cook is, well, pushing me out of my comfort zone. And that really is the point, the ‘why’ behind culinary school: to push my kitchen knowledge and comfort and experience far beyond what it would ever be without school. And it all starts right about now, with all these live little buggers and their iridescent eyes, legs flailing.

Once we were home we simply had the meat in the shells and all I had to do was pick a recipe and clean ‘em. My son looked through my culinary book, while I was cleaning them, to verify the proper cleaning technique (well, I actually developed my own improper method, which will no doubt be corrected sometime this fall, at school, with yet another pile of shrimp). Because the index leaves much to be desired, he wrote up my own special little sticky note and inserted it on the shrimp deveining page.

My family is supporting my schooling efforts, one sticky note at a time.

Know what else warms my heart? My son learned how to clean shrimp, too.

Well they are friends the other days of the week too, but as it turns out Friday night was the night we invited these particular friends to dinner. I love looking forward to a night of basking in the company of good friends. It is a celebration, a happy time to enjoy one another’s company.

Of course, I like it even more when the meal practically makes itself. Whenever I make my favorite lasagna, I make two, then I bake one for dinner and freeze the second one for later. This particular Friday as luck would have it, I pulled a lasagna out of my freezer. I usually make sausage lasagna, but once in awhile I make a vegetarian lasagna. To compliment the layers of vegetables & cheese, my friend brought a pile of sausages for us to grill on the barbecue. It is a nice trick if you have a mixture of friends who are both vegetarian and non.

Because the main dish only needed to visit the oven before being done, I had time to focus on making a sampling of appetizers, a more exotic salad, and to try my hand at a new grilled rosemary flat bread recipe. To be honest, this menu would be perfect with only one or two of the appetizers/tapas and a leafy green salad (like the one I tried the other day: romaine lettuce with just fresh dill and blue cheese dressing). You could even skip the flat bread and buy your favorite artisan loaf, cut it up and offer oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. Voila!

So invite your friends over already!

Dinner Menu
Sangria
Simple Summer Tapas
Yellow Beans w/Leeks & Prosciutto
Endive Walnut Salad
Vegetarian Lasagna (guess you will have to wait for this recipe)
Grilled Sausages