The pie that saved the world. . .!

Yum!

Life is perfect this Monday morning. . .

BEER COATED BACON!

United States of Thanksgiving

Find your state here.

Always enough food. . .

My brother is never one to cook a little when a lot will do just as well.
This past weekend was no exception.
His oldest boy was turning 40.
Well, at least I think that was the reason. See, I broke my foot on the same day 40 years ago, so we my have been celebrating that.
But, anyway.

This year he planned a crawdad and shrimp feast for the occasion. The TV chef Emeril is one of his culinary role models, so there is always a little (or in some cases a lot) of Cajun influence.
And you can't get much more colorful than a craw-dad boil. Added were corn, shrimp, sausage and potatoes.
Cook it up, put it on a table and watch out!
No need for plates or silverware. Just beer and napkins.
I even tried some crawdads. And the sausage and shrimp were excellent.

Here is Grandma helping to diminish the shrimp population. We stopped counting her intake at about 30.

I took three crawdads home for daughter, who was away at camp, so she could try them.
I was correct in thinking that she would not want to peel them on her own, but she was willing to try them. After all, after peeled, they do look like small shrimp.

After she tried them she said; "Why did you only bring home three?"

"Well," I said, "I didn't know if you would try them or not."

"Well," she said, "Next time bring home five."

My mom has been pushing the perks of this brew for decades. . . . although we have never tried this recipe.

The Cocktail made for Sunny Summer Day Drinking.

Photo credit: StockFood / Foodcollection

The shandy is a mighty thing: The beer-citrus-sugar hybrid is ideal for porch sessions and barbecues, it’s easy on the eyes, and it’s a snap to execute.

And although the golden elixir pictured here looks at first to be simply, you know, beer, it’s secretly So Much More. Shandies are:

Ideal for work parties. This glass has got the look of a full drink, right? But it’s a chameleon: Typically a good glug of it is lime or lemon juice. That means you’re staying a good quarter drink behind the boss lady. Now just remember to stay that way. (Put down that tequilashot. Do it.)

Food-friendly. Pilsner, which the below shandy recipe employs, is a famously food pairing-friendly beer. And citrus is such a flexible flavor that you can be just as happy sipping this alongside a platter of salmon or a few carnitas tacos.

You can tweak it in cool historical ways. As this Saveur article notes, there’s a British variation of the shandy involving equal parts beer and ginger beer (with no citrus) called the shandygaff, which may trace right on back to Henry VIII! 

Really pretty. There’s a lot to be said for a golden glint of sunshine creeping into your shandy as you sip one outside. A lot.

Lime Shandies
From Everyday Food
Makes 4

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
4 teaspoons sugar
4 light-bodied beers, such as pilsner
Lime wedges, for garnish

In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice and sugar until sugar dissolves. Divide mixture among 4 tall glasses and top with beer. Garnish each with a lime wedge and serve immediately.

More recipes from Everyday Food

Source
History of the Shandy

Why do I like bad women?

I never really liked Martha Stewart all that much,. . . .  till she went to jail.

What does that say about me liking "bad women"?

I have to say she gained a lot of respect from me for doing the time.

I think she got a bum-rap, so maybe that has something to do with it. But that may be a discussion for another time.

We (wife) do get her magazine, and we (wife) go through it every month seeing how we can better our pool parties. Or hold the next wedding we plan in the middle of a cow field all the while making it appealing. Or how to turn left over potato peels into spring hats.

 All great ideas.

I can't tell you how many new ways we have learned to fold a napkin.

And I really love the 14 ways you can reuse a cocktail umbrella.

I'm just sayin'. . .

We really love her recipes also and try some of them every once in a while.

So, the July issue featured this image on the cover. . .

which seemed rather serendipitous to the fact that wife had just picked up some heirloom tomatoes from the local CO-OP.

I stopped at the local St Louis Bread Company and picked up the appropriate bread and we had all the makings of a great summer dinner.

We loved how it turned out (even though I added just a touch to much salt) and here are the yummy end results . . .

Our tomatoes were rather larger than the cover photos (yes, there is bread under there), but the three different varieties sure were delicious.

Here is a link to the recipe.

I am going there now to check her scone recipes

A little sweat makes it all that much sweeter.

While I spent a little time running stuff out to the cabin. . .











Mom and daughter worked up a sweat picking blackberries and peaches.

Pointing out the ripe ones.

Berries on the face proves she found them.

"Take the picture quick, they're heavy!"

 Rewards of their labor.

 A little coaching in the beginning.

 Her favorite job was the mushing of the berries.

 Adding a little ( a lot! ) of sweetness.

Finished product.

A sign that you have good friends and married into the right family. . . .

Within minutes of my post about my pledge to start a pilgrimage in search of the perfect recipe for Red Lobster biscuits, friends and family started to send in responses to save me from unnecessary hunting and baking of perhaps many unsavory recipes in search of said biscuits.


First came from good friend John, the answer to probably just about any recipe hunt in the form of. . . .

which probably has about every recipe you may ever be seeking. I have not tried the recipe yet, but it looks promising.

And then within two days of my mention of my pilgrimage, wife's mother shows up with. . . 

Can life get any better?

(This, at least for the time being, puts her in strong running for Mother-in-Law of the Year.)