Pasta with Shrimp and Tomatoes, a surprise attack and a meme

My oldest daughter getting her Blue Belt!!!

First off the "surprise attack". My oldest daughter takes Karate and attends classes 2 nights a week. Last night was the first night in months and months that I have not taken her. T. took her. Well they must have only just gotten there and my phone was ringing. She was testing for her Blue Belt tonight and did I want to be there? Well hell yah!!! My youngest daughter and I got into the car and took off. We made it in plenty of time. How special is that! I was so incredibly proud of her. She is now more then halfway to her black belt!!! She has a few more colors and degrees of those colors to go through so it will be a few years yet but we are on the right track!!! Not bad for an 8 year old girl!

Now for the recipe:

With the "surprise attack" I needed to have a quick and easy dinner to prepare. I had some shrimp and basil so I decide to throw it together with some tomatoes and pasta and call it done!


Pasta with Shrimp and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 pkg of you favorite pasta
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lb of peeled and deveined shrimp
1-1/2 Cup of tomato, seeded and chopped
1/2 Cup white wine
1/4 Cup parsley, chopped
1/4 Cup fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbsp fish or shrimp stock
2 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper
Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Place pasta in a colander.
2. Heat olive oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic, stirring constantly, until the garlic is tender, about 1 minute. Do not let the garlic burn. Add shrimp, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove shrimp from the skillet, and set aside.
3. Stir wine, parsley, and basil into the skillet. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half, 8 to 12 minutes. Add the butter and stir until melted . This adds a nice creaminess to the sauce. Add tomatoes and shrimp, and continue cooking until the shrimp are heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve the shrimp mixture over the pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Loved this dish and was able to pull out some of the shrimp and sauce before I added the tomatoes for my tomato hater! I will definitely be making this one again!!!

I was also tagged for a meme by superfinefeline at Gastronomic Ruminations. Due to lack of time I used the answers to a meme I did a while ago and changed some around and added a new one!

6 Random things about me...
1. I once ran away from home when I was 16...spent the night trying to hide out in a park, slept in an apartment stairwell and realized that the life I ran away from was not nearly as bad as it seemed the day before!!! LOL

2. Used to suffer from Hyperhidrosis but found a product called drysol which has cured me!

3. Was diagnosed with ADD as a child but my Mom stuck it out and never medicated me (thanks Mom!). Funny thing is what goes around comes around. I am fighting the same battle with my youngest daughter...any advice out there??

4. This is my second marriage. First one lasted for a very, very, very short time (felt like forever).

5. I have been married for 12 years (together for 4 before that) to my very best friend! It even sucks when we fight because I can't go bitching to my BF because it is him!

6. I have an incredible and irrational fear of pond and lake water. I can swim in pools and the ocean but a lake or ponds with weeds and stuff in it will do me in!!!

I am not going to tag any one blogger on this but consider yourselves all tagged and take a few minutes and let us get to know you better! If you decide to do this let me know so I can come and read it!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred

I have seen this showing up on quite a few blogs lately, so I thought I would post my version. Andrew, who co-runs Very Good Taste, has made a list of 100 things he thinks every omnivore should eat at least once.

It certainly looks as though I need to expand my horizons here and start eating more Asian food!!!

Here's what to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

This was really fun to do!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile-Alligator?
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam Chowder
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - Cognac and a cigar but not together? Count or not?
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole Insects (chocolate covered ants!)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu (why risk it?)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill (depends how fresh?)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (these were my favorite when I was young)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

This was really fun to do. It gives you some perspective towards the fact that what we think is normal to eat others think is crazy and vice versa!

Where do your foodie boundaries lie???

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

www.nofearentertaining.com

Off to the farmer's market and a meme!

It is freezing here! Yesterday I swear to you that it was 85 and we were all in shorts and tee's. Last night I left the house all open. The french doors in my bedroom leading to the pool deck were open and then came the wind. It is 52 outside right now and the winds is at about 25-30 mph. That was blowing into my bedroom ALL NIGHT LONG!!!! It was so windy the covers kept blowing up over my head...I know, why didn't I close the doors? I was trying to sleep and was getting mad at being woken up over and over again! I know the logic of a woman!!!

Anyway I have been tagged to do a meme! Susan at Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy and somebody else but for the life of me cannot remember who (please email me or leave a comment if it was you!!!)

The rules for the meme are as follows:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.

2. Share 5 facts about yourself.

3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post, and list their names- linking to them. (I will not be doing this...I think that all of us food bloggers have had to write about enough things other than food...sorry if I seem like a spoil sport but I barely have time to cook, bake, eat, take pictures and blog and I am sure that there are others who feel the same!)

4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

5 things about me:

1. I once ran away from home when I was 16...spent the night trying to hide out in a park, slept in an apartment stairwell and realized that the life I ran away from was not nearly as bad as it seemed the day before!!! lol

2. Used to suffer from Hyperhidrosis but found a product called drysol which has cured me!

3. Was diagnosed with ADD as a child but my Mom stuck it out and never medicated me (thanks Mom!).

4. This is my second marriage. First one lasted for a very, very, very short time (felt like forever).

5. I have been married for almost 12 years (together for 4 before that) to my very best friend! It even sucks when we fight because I can't go bitching to my BF because it is him!

This was fun and thanks to Susan and whoever the other one was!!!

Check later for my fresh market pictures!!! Wednesday...the best day of the week!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com