RECIPE: Barefoot Contessa's Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

As you're planning summer get-togethers, a delicious alternative to traditional shrimp cocktail, and a big hit with my friends, is roasted shrimp cocktail. As a quicker fix, you may buy the cocktail sauce in your market's fish department instead of making it.

FOR THE SHRIMP:
2 lbs (12-15 count) shrimp
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE SAUCE:
1/2 c. Heinz chili sauce
1/2 c. Heinz ketchup
3 TBS prepared horseradish
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce

Preheat over to 400˚.

Peel & devein shrimp, leaving tails on. Place them on a sheet pan with olive oil, salt & peper, spread in one layer. Roast 8-10 minutes, just until pink and firm and cooked through.

For the sauce, combine all ingredients. Serve as a dip with the shrimp.

Recipe taken from:
Garten, Ina. Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. New York: Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2008.

(photo: Great Diamond Island)

Weddings

Weddings bring out the best in people, the best in families. My niece got married last weekend, the first of the next generation in my husband's family to do so. She graciously and lovingly included all of us - uncles, aunts, cousins - in all the planning and celebration, and each time we spoke to her, over approximately eighteen months since her engagement, she gave us the exact count of days left until the big day. Her enthusiasm was catching...and quite beautiful.

She is marrying a wonderful man, a man who has been deeply loved by his own family. It's obvious through his smile; his confidence in himself; his calm, kind spirit. It's interesting to me that sometimes you can look at a person today and know their history just from their demeanor, their actions, their path they've chosen, their way of being in the world and with others.

By inviting guests to weddings, the couple is offering us the opportunity, time and space to take a glimpse back into our own pasts. It makes us remember our own weddings, our childrens' weddings, our own journeys over the last five years or ten or fifty as we sit quietly in pews or in folding chairs on a beach at a resort destination and remember. It gives us guests the opportunity and the nudge to remember.

Weddings offer guests feelings of joy, hope, enthusiasm, love, community, and tradition. At formal weddings, we revel in dressing up and dancing in a room that sparkles with lights and candles. We mingle. We smile and laugh and cry. We reacquaint with friends or relatives we've not seen in years, and we remember and talk about good times past. We catch up with one another.

Weddings remind us that life is good, that we are blessed to have such family and friends. We are hopeful the new couple has a lifetime filled with happiness and togetherness. As older folks, we know there will be trials, as there are in all lives, all marriages, so we wish them the strength to hang in, forge forever forward together with grace and civility, and be ever-compassionate and caring toward each other. Lengthy journeys are made one step, one day, at a time. To start the journey under the auspices of all that is good is a solid base from which to build a beautiful future together.

"Drink & Dry" CD hits iTunes

My son, Matt's, second CD, Drink & Dry, was released on iTunes April 20, 2010. He says it's a "commentary on freshman year of college -- about drinking and drugs, fame, religion and the addictions people have." (Frank, Jr. has opinions!)

Some of the songs are aggressive and darker than his first CD. It's definitely exploratory as he's tried all sorts of musical styles and a wide variety of instruments. In fact on København, his goal was to use every instrument he owns (3 guitars, mandolin, drums, keyboard, synthesizer, cowbell, didgeridoo, etc.) and see if the result was music or a cacophony....it turned into one of my favorite songs. Just like his first CD, In My Rage, Matt has written all lyrics and music, played all instruments, and sung all vocals with a few guest artists whom he names on the songs.

Matt doesn't drink....really. Knowing Kaliquor is about date rape will have you listening in a much deeper way; it's clever and it's sad.

D351GN4T3D D13R translates to Designated Die-er, a song about drinking and driving. He's taking a stand by being vocal about the partying every day that he's seen.

I don't recommend some of the songs for kids earlier than 8th grade. He has a few of the songs available for listening on http://www.myspace.com/mattkalicky or he'd appreciate your support if you wish to purchase any of the songs or the CD on iTunes or letting people you know about it.

Putting one's art out to the world isn't easy; it takes guts. I'm always one to showcase others' art because of this. During a year with a lot on his plate, Matt has done this creative project, on the side, while getting through freshman year in Burlington. I share this here in my blog to recognize and honor him for the fine creative work he has done and because his leadership in taking a stand in this way seems unusual and worthy of us, adults, to ponder.

As Matt tends to do, he makes you think. Enjoy!