Memorial Day 2011

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." 

-- President John F. Kennedy 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart:

William Henry LaPoint (my grandfather) Veteran, WWI, died at age 32 from the effects of mustard gas exposure in combat.

Hannah Agnes Power (my grandmother) Veteran, WWI [Army Nurse]

William Michael LaPoint, Sr. (my father) Veteran, WWII

Sunday Silence (on Monday again!)

[Sunday gnocchi-more pics tomorrow]

Sunday Silence: Rain, rain, don't go away....

[my flowers need you]

Sunday Silence (on Monday!)

[Mother's Day kayaking on the Willimantic River..taken with my iPhone]

30x30.3 (aka 30x30 Project, week three)

Week Three found me craving shrimp...

[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.]

{Can you guess what movie this quote is from? }

In fact craving it so much that we have had two shrimp dishes this week; 

Shrimp Scampi on Monday evening and Shrimp Pad Thai last night.

Shrimp Scampi (over linguine) I have made many times in the past

.

But, true to the rules, I needed to make a brand new recipe for the 30x30 project.

I googled shrimp recipes and Shrimp Pad Thai popped up.

I love Thai food, but Jim is not a huge fan, so we don't eat it too often. 

But I was determined to find a recipe that was not only delicious, but healthy too. 

Thai food notoriously can be high in fat, esp. Pad Thai.

I found just the recipe I was looking for on a blog I occasionally visit called Skinny Scoopers.

In fact, the recipe is called:

'Skinny' Shrimp Pad Thai

I thought I would entice you with a picture of the finished product 

before we begin the recipe...

How yummy (and NOT low fat) does that look?
But it is!

 

 Begin with raw, peeled and deveined shrimp.

One thing I always forget to do is to thaw my frozen shrimp ahead of time.

One way to thaw shrimp quickly and safely is to plunge them into cold water, making sure water is constantly moving, for about 15 minutes.

You can read more detail about thawing here.

 After about 15 min, the shrimp will be thawed. Drain in a colander.

You will need about 2-3 cups of cooked noodles for this recipe.

I happened to have had leftover thin spaghetti in my frig which

I am using, but you can substitute rice noodles if you prefer, 

which is closer to a traditional Pad Thai.

 

 Meanwhile, measure into a bowl, 1/3 cup of rice vinegar,

1/4 cup brown sugar,

1/4 cup reduced fat (I am using regular, chunky) peanut butter,

 

 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 

(I used just a pinch for the person in 

my family who doesn't like 'hot' foods)

Add 2 TBLS of Fish Sauce, 

(don't be afraid of the title, it adds delicious flavor to your dish)

 And 1 TBLS of ketchup.

 Whisk ingredients until smooth,

Lay shrimp onto paper towels to thoroughly dry.

 Heat saute pan (or wok) on stove to med/med high heat.

While pan is heating, mince 3 lg cloves of garlic,

And measure out 1 cup of fresh bean sprouts.

I like to rinse bean sprouts before using.

I also decided to increase the fiber, lower the calorie count per serving,
and give the dish more color by adding more vegetables to the recipe. 

Costco sells frozen stir fry veggies that are so good (I use them in lots of stir fries as well as fried rice) so I measured out about 2 cups full and popped them into the microwave for a couple minutes to start the cooking process.

 I also sliced and set aside one cup of green onions (scallions).

The pan was ready, so I added 2 tsp of peanut oil,

and quickly added the shrimp.

 After about 3 min they were practically all pink and just about ready to remove from the pan.

 Remove shrimp to platter or bowl and set aside.

(cooking shrimp too long toughens them)

Add the chopped garlic to the hot pan. 

(I also added about 1/2 tsp of oil here)

Saute garlic for ~3 min or until just golden.

Add the vinegar/peanut butter mixture to the pan,

 And simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Next, add in the chopped green onions,

And the drained bean sprouts,

And the cooked pasta to the pan.

 Stir gently to mix all ingredients.

 Add in the two cups of the stir fry veggies (which were thawed, but not cooked).

Mix gently.

Now, add back in the cooked shrimp,

And mix one last time.

Chop 2 TBLS of fresh cilantro,

As well as 2-3 TBLS of dry roasted peanuts.

 Remove Shrimp Pad Thai from stove and arrange on platter, and 

garnish with chopped cilantro and peanuts.

Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

 The/verdict? Delicious. 

Jim loved it too.

I personally would prefer a bit more heat in my recipe, 

but we will save that for another time and place.

Enjoy!

[For the complete, original recipe from Skinny Scoopers, click here.]

Confession: I am a lurker

Much like one might read a newspaper or magazine or watch the morning news, I have my own morning routine in which I use my laptop to 'catch up' rather than a tangible, physical news source like a newspaper or periodical.

Our television, while used routinely in the evening as an excuse to snuggle with my honey, is never on during the day.
(except in the winter when there is a snow storm coming and I obsessively check the local weather stations)

My morning routine-- (when I am not working) ---which some of you may think is decidedly lazy, is to make myself a cup of tea, some toast, and turn on my laptop. I then browse my homepage for headline news, both national and local. 

Chores (laundry, cleaning, shopping, etc) get done a bit later in the day, as I am NOT, 

(and never was or will be), a morning person.

At that point I then check in with my blog "friends".

The reason friends is in quotes is because these friends have no idea who I am. 

I am what is known in the blog world as a lurker. 

A label which sounds mysterious, and a bit threatening, but it is in actuality quite common, and represents the vast majority of blog readers.

Wikipedia defines the blog lurker this way:

In Internet culture, a lurker is a person who reads discussions on a message board, newsgroup, chatroom, file sharing or other interactive system, but rarely or never participates actively. Research indicates that  "lurkers make up over 90% of online groups".

So today I thought I would share with you my favorite blogs--those for which I would definitely fall under the description of a lurker.

Now, on the other hand, I also visit blogs of people I actually know and love, like my dear daughter's blogs here and here, and my dear friends here and here.

They "know" me, (I hope so--I actually gave birth to 2 of them!)

I "know" them, and I make comments. 

In these blogs, I represent part of that 10% who actually are personal friends of the blog owner.

Here are my top 5 must-read blogs (in no particular order):

1.Karen Russell, who writes a blog called Snapshots of a Good Life.

 Karen is an extremely accomplished photographer and blog writer. 

She teaches an online photography workshop, one that is hugely popular with aspiring photographers.

2. Amanda Soule, who writes a blog called SouleMama.

Amanda writes from the heart, and describes the daily joys and struggles of her life on a Maine farm, where she homeschools her four (soon to be five) children. 

She and her husband are already published authors, and they have a unique [and enviable at times], outlook on parenting and life in general.

3. Ali Edwards, who writes a blog called AE Blog, aka Memory Keeping for the Modern World.

Ali provides me with today's viewpoint on scrapbooking, and is especially inspiring in that she is the one who celebrates those precious moments of Everyday Life. The moments that we wish we had a visual or written record of back when we were little, or when our parents or grandparents were young.

Ali is a published author, an accomplished photographer and graphic designer.

4. Kelle Hampton, who writes a blog called Enjoying the Small Things. 

Kelle is a former teacher, is a professional photographer, and has a very unique writing style.

Her blog came to my attention a little over a year ago when I read her post describing her daughter Nella's birth. To say that this blog post went viral is an understatement. Kelle went from less than a hundred readers a day of her blog to thousands of readers a day after that story. She has been interviewed by major newspapers, talk shows and is asked to speak at conventions.

The reason for this explosion of notoriety was because Kelle described in so very eloquent words, her heart felt and heart wrenching account of giving birth to a daughter with Down Syndrome.

She continues to inspire mama's everywhere while raising two adorable daughters, one of which just happens to have special needs.

5. Lisa Belkin, who writes a blog for the NY Times called Motherlode: Adventures in Parenting.

Lisa dissects the hot topics of today and discusses how they relate to parenting children of all ages. One of my favorite aspects are the reader comments..many of whom are accomplished writers themselves.

Honorable Mention:
Ree Drummond, who writes a blog called The Pioneer Woman.

If you haven't heard of Ree or her blog before, you probably either live under a rock, or at least somewhere where there is no electricity, and no computers. Ree has become ubiquitous with her recently published cookbook, biography, and most recently, a children's book. She has been on the Today Show three times, demonstrating her most famous recipes, like this one.

 [my version of Ree's Cinnamon Rolls which we enjoyed on Christmas morning]

  Her blog sets the standard for other blogs, hands down. Full of stories of life on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, Ree also has sub-topics within her blog for her recipes, photography, home and garden topics and homeschooling.

So, there you have it. My five must reads, plus one.

What are your favorites?

Sunday Silence: SMC besties