grilling

Okay, so it’s not Sunday, or dinner, but I had to share as marinade for grilled shrimp that I discovered last night. I picked it out from AllRecipes.com after seeing that it had over 500 5-star reviews and that most of the reviews involved ALL CAPS and lots of exclamation points!!!!!!

I went in a little suspicious - I mean, it’s marinade, not some miracle drug, but I went ahead and tried it out on our new grill. I wasn’t convinced - the ingredients were really simple and didn’t seem to fit together well. And it didn’t seem to be bad enough for me health-wise or hard enough to make to taste that good.  AND THEN BEN AND I ATE THE SHRIMP AND TALKED ABOUT HOW GOOD IT WAS IN ALL CAPS FOR THE REST OF THE EVENING. IT IS THAT GOOD!!!!! AND I HATE EXCLAMATION POINTS, EXCEPT WHEN I REALLY MEAN IT!!!!!

Even putting the delectable taste of these shrimp aside for a moment, which is hard for me to do even 12 hours later, this recipe has everything going for it: it uses only “kitchen staple” ingredients (with the exception of the shrimp). It does not involve a stick of butter or deep-fried batter, like many other shrimp recipes I’ve test driven.  It cooks in six minutes. It makes you look like a  celebrity chef to anyone you have over for dinner.

In any case, without further ado, here’s the link: Marinted Grilled Shrimp.

A few notes:

1. If you want the shrimp spicy, double the cayenne pepper. As it is, the pepper only gives the shrimp a little heat.

2. If you’re using wooden skewers, soak them first.

3. Don’t marinate the shrimp for longer than an hour - the vinegar will start breaking down the meat.

I once again apologize for the absence of picture or many links - things will get better when the cable guys bring the magic of the internet into our home on Monday.

Go forth and grill shrimp!

We have successfully moved into our new home. It’s in the South Hills area of Missoula, Montana, which is about ten minutes from downtown and on the edge of town (and obviously in the hills). More importantly, the house has a front and back yard, a patio, a fire pit, a basketball hoop, and a dishwasher. Even more importantly than that, it has three bedrooms, which means that Ben and I each have our own office now. Oh - and there are closets! Seven of them! As compared to the zero closets we had in our New York apartment!

We’ve spent the last two days buying furniture and putting furniture together (note that Target seems to have the clearest directions of anywhere and the least likelihood of missing parts). We’ve also spent the last two days constantly grilling things (for example, tonight we had salmon, bell pepper, and pineapple skewers on a bed of brown rice). In the evenings, after our one-on-one basketball games, we gather round the fire pit and say things like, “I can’t believe we’re here!” and “Look! Remember stars!” and “This is so much better than the city!’ and “I can’t believe you made that jump shot!” I wonder if it will wear off.

Ripley is now an outdoor cat again, which she loves. She has a kitty door that she learned to use after Ben showed her how just once. I know it’s a little more dangerous to let her outside, but I really do think that it improves the quality of her everyday life so much that it is worth the added risk. Plus, it is just adorable to watch her roll around in the grass. Outdoor Rippy pictures will follow in the coming days.  I’ll also post a few pictures of the house once we’re a bit more set up - like the panoramic view of the mountains you can see from the toilet.

I should also mention that our internet connection for the next week - a connection we are temporarily stealing from the neighbors until the cable guys come - ranges from “poor” to “piss poor.” All internet activities will be spotty until next Monday, but I’m trying hard to post once a weekday.

There’s so much more Montana culture to catch you up on - in the coming days I’ll write about our time playing in the river, our glorious return to our favorite bar, Flippers, our experience at the infamous Testicle Festival, and… pain.