BBQ Shrimp and Salmon

Thrift Store Shopping along with BBQ Shrimp and Salmon

Good Morning Beautiful!!    

Any day is better when you have this gorgeous face to look at!  Jenny and Miss Ella decided to stay at Nana's house for a few more days at the last minute on Monday.   We were so glad!!  Miss Ella's daddy is studying for a GREAT BIG TEST (Radiology Oral boards) and working long hours so he let them stay longer.  YEAH!!

We have been having so much fun.  Yesterday Jenny, Miss Ella and myself hit the road for adventure heading to the local thrift stores looking for 100% cotton men's shirts to recycle into beautiful scrap quilts.  EUREEKA!!!!  We hit the mother load.  It was 99 cent green and white tag, and 3 for 99 cent yellow tag day at the Value Thrift Shop!!  I quit counting as I got involved in pattern, color and design of each shirt.  I am so excited to "debone" these babies and use them in the "Holy Toledo" quilt I started this week.


 What a beautiful site....Pretty baby girl above and a sofa full of colorful men's shirts below waiting to be "deboned" and used in my quilting projects.

While being "Thrifty" Jenny went on a quest to make Nana's house better equipped for baby Ella.  She found a great children's consignment store and we now own our very own bouncer that vibrates, plays music and lights up!!.  We got a great swing and a bathtub.  I feel like I have babies in the house again.  It's great to be able to find all this great stuff at "Bargin Basement" prices.  Now Miss Ella has everything she needs to be comfortable at Nana's house.

Along the way we shopped at Whole Foods and got some great seafood to grill for dinner.  Wanna see how I did it?

Barbeque Shrimp and Salmon

 

1 pound large shrimp - I peel and clean the shrimp.  You can leave the tail on if you like.  My family is lazy and wants the tails gone.

 Shopping List:

1 pound large shrimp

BBQ Dry Spice Rub ( I make my own .....and will show you how too!)

1 lemon- juiced

Worcestershire Sauce - 1 Tablespoon

Olive Oil - 2 Tablespoons

Hot Sauce - 4-6 dashes

 BBQ Dry Rub Spice Mix 

1/2 cup paprika

1/4 cup salt

1/4 cup black pepper

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup chili powder

1/4 cup cumin

1 Tablespoon Cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl; blend well with wooden spoon.  Makes 1 3/4 cup.  Store in airtight container.  Can last 3-4 months.  (Mine never does....I use it on everything!!)

About 20-30 minutes before grilling:

1. Peel and clean shrimp

2. Put shrimp in large plastic bag

3. Juice the lemon into the bag over the shrimp

4. Add Worcestershire sauce, Olive Oil, Hot Sauce, and BBQ Dry Rub Spice mix.

5. Close bag and rub the shrimp and ingredients together until well mixed.

6. Return to refridg and let marinate 20-30 minutes.  NO LONGER!!!  Shrimp is delicate and the lemon will start to cook and break down the fibers.  This is not one that longer is better.

Now we will prepare the Salmon......

I chose to grill the Salmon on a cedar plank for flavor.  I just love that!

 You can buy cedar planks for cooking at any cooking store or where they sell Grilling supplies.  Be sure it is for cooking and not treated for using as a shingle.  Then you must submerge the plank in water for 2-3 hours so it soaks up the fluid and doesn't burn away quickly. I use a full can of tomatoes to weight the plank down during this time.  The wet plank insures the smoking process also.  BTW this is a Native American Cooking technique!  COOL!!

Gorgeous Fresh Salmon!!!  Mine had the skin on it so I left it that way to grill.  In the end we will remove the skin and not eat it.  But that is a personal choice.

I like to use a dry rub on my salmon.  You can use the same as the one we made for the BBQ Shrimp if you like.  I  like a sweeter rub  on salmon so today I am using a Sweet 'N Savory Salmon Dry Rub from Weber.  They know how to grill.  Last year I got to go to Lincoln Park in Chicago for "Grill N Chill" Weekend put on by Better Homes and Gardens and Weber.  It was Fantastic!!! I will share more from that weekend as the summer progresses.

Rub the fish amply with the seasoning, gently massaging it into the flesh.  I also love the "Potlatch Seasoning" from Williams-Sonoma for this.

Rub a dub dub!!!!!!  Rub, Rub, Rub!!

Time to Grill!  Turn on the Grill and get it HOT!!

Now when the grill is hot, put the plank on .....alone!!  Close the lid and wait several minutes for smoke and crackles!!  The smell of cedar will be wonderful!!  This is what you want to capture in your salmon.

SMOKIN'!!!   Ready to grill fish!  Carefully put your salmon on the plank and shut the grill lid immediately.  You want to capture all that smoke.....it is FLAVOR!!

Monitor the salmon every 3-5 minutes.  Cook to your desired doneness.  We like ours medium which took about 8 minutes.  Look at all that beautiful smoke!!  Close the lid quick!!

Remove salmon to platter when complete.  I put my used cedar plank in the chiminea and the smell wafts through the patio for hours.  YUM!!

Cover fish with foil and proceed to cook shrimp.  This will take 3-5 minutes.  QUICK!!

I use a mess flat pan I got last summer at Williams-Sonoma.   Use whatever you have but you will need something flat to cook the shrimp on.  You could skewer the shrimp and cook on the grates if you don't have a grill pan.  Remember to stay at the grill, shake the pan every minute or so and as soon as the shrimp are pink remove to a platter.

I grilled some fresh asparagus to go with our seafood.  Just trim the asparagus, toss with 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil and grill for about 5 minutes.  Turn as needed.  Remove to platter and sprinkle with Kosher Salt.

I added a brown rice/lentil mix I got while at Whole Foods.    A Platter full of fresh  grilled goodness just waiting to be devoured!!

Our first "Picnic on the Patio"!!!  Hope you Enjoy it as much as we did!

Happy Trails,

Mtn Mama

 

Holy Toledo Quilt Blocks and Pico de Gallo

Monday, Monday!!!

Today my sweet little angel has to go back to Chicago with her mama.  I think Daddy is missing them greatly.  It will break my heart to put her on the plane but she will be back in two weeks.  I can make it...I think I can, I think I can, I THINK I CAN!

Jenny has them all packed up....Did we have that much stuff with our kids????  Probably I just don't remember!!
Today is a BEAUTIFUL Sunny Day here in T-Town.  We got storms yesterday but the really wild weather missed us.  Thank you Lord!  Ella, Jenny and I took a nice hour long walk.  I am able to walk without much pain but have to wear really cushy shoes.  The bridge of my foot and toe are very swollen.  Dr. says may be 3-4 months before the swelling goes down.  GREAT....I hope I can wear shoes to Kristy's graduation in mid May!

I have been working upstairs in the sewing room for about an hour while Ella sleeps.  Jeff is still working from home.  He is busy downstairs in the office so I try to get out of his way.  I am working on Bonnie Hunter's  quilt, "Holy Toledo".  Jenny was born in Toledo.  We lived there in 1983-84 while Jeff was an intern at Parkview Hospital.  Working on this quilt reminds me of her when she was Ella's age.  Good Stuff!!

This is my first project out of one of Bonnie's book.  I just recently found her on the web.....I know where have I been all these years but to tell you the truth prior to Jeff having this Bone Marrow Transplant I didn't spent much time "surfin the web".  In the past few months I have had a lot of "time on my hands" while sitting at bedsides, going to clinic and doctor appointments,.etc.  Anyway I LOVE her work, her attitude toward the environment and her "sparkle".  She says she has a sense of humor but I say it is unique to her ....The Sparkle God gave her to be who she is!!!   I have been to the Goodwill and got 8 shirts which I have deboned.  I organized my scraps into strips, bricks and blocks.  I am ready to sew!!

Here is my new "potable design wall" that I got at the Dallas Quilt Show.  I planned one of Jeff's clinic visit's at Baylor to be on the Friday of the Quilt Show.  He went with me after clinic.  He had even had a bone marrow biopsy that day.  What a TROOPER!!  It was his first quilt show.  I love the design wall because it is portable and has a small handy dandy carrying case.  This way I can take it with me when I sew at the lake or with my friends.  As you can see I sewed the top three blocks together....I am like that....I can't wait to see what the pattern is going to look like.  I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!   More to come...soon I hope!!  I never seem to get to sew as much as I would like to...but then isn't that every quilters dilema??

Fiesta

Chicken

Fiesta!!!!

Yesterday we had friends over to meet Ella.  We had our own Fiesta using the Fiesta Chicken I had made on Saturday!!!  The white casserole is full of chicken goodness.  I made some delicious toppings to add to the buffet.  Let's show you what I made:

Pico de Gallo

Shopping List:

2-3 medium ripe tomatoes
1 large red onion
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
1 jalapeno or small red peppers
1 lime




Simple fresh ingredients.  Tomatoes, Red onion, cilantro, lime and salt.

You can see that I dice my ingredients to medium dice.  I like chunky pico!!
Add the tomatoes, cilantro, and onion to a bowl.  Toss to mix.  If you like jalapeno carefully dice the amount you like and add it to the mix.  I did not have any jalapeno but had some small red peppers which I diced and added.  It gave a nice crunch.

 Now cut your lime in half and squeeze the lime juice over the bowl with the tomato, cilantro, onion and pepper mixture.  I have this lime juicer so I used it.  It's just so cute!!    Now sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt over the mixture below and toss gently till combined.

Isn't that beauty to behold but I tell you it tastes even better!!  Just use it within a day.....maybe two.  Pico de Gallo doesn't last very long....not a problem at my house!!  Store in fridge in air tight container IF you have any leftover.

Years ago I bought this Longaberger Basket with these cute little inserts.  I have used them for my "Mexican Bar" for years.  I put out both hard shell tacos and whole wheat tortilla wraps to cradle our chicken and we can build up from there!!

 I put the "Fixin's" in each divided insert such as sliced green onions, sour cream or creama, shredded Monterey Jack Cheese, Pico de Gallo and Shredded Cheddar cheese.  You can put out what you like!!!  I had Guacamole in another BIGGER bowl....we like Guac too.

Enjoy Your Fiesta Chicken however you like it......share pictures back here with us so we can show the world How you Eat Your Fiesta Chicken!!
Off to the airport and then I have to teach a Pediatric Advanced Lifesupport Class to a large group of Physician's tonight.  Glad I ate Fiesta chicken on my salad for lunch!!

Happy Trails,

Mtn Mama