Cooking Date! :-)

Where to begin!  Just to warn and possibly excite you, there may be several posts on their way... I did a lot of cooking to bring 2010 to a close.  What a good food year it's been.  :-) 

My friend, Beth, and I had a cooking date last Thursday.  She came over and taught me some tricks.  She's modest, but she is quite the master chef!  I don't think I've ever eaten anything that she's made that wasn't delicious.  Several things I learned:

1.  Always use fresh citrus. 
2.  Always use fresh herbs. 
3.  Grill pans are awesome. 
4.  How to butterfly a shrimp. 

Now, you should know that I've never cooked shrimp before.  Mainly because hubby is allergic to shellfish!  ...but, I love shrimp.  Now I know how to butterfly it, grill it, and put it on a yummy salad.  Very tasty!

That's the shrimp prior to being cooked.  Deveining them was quite interesting... and a little gross.  So worth it though.  I don't think I've ever touched a shrimp that was not cooked.  Now I have!

THAT is a grill pan.  Just in case you didn't know.  You probably did know because I think I might be the only person who didn't know what a grill pan was until I googled it.  Yeah, I'm definitely still learning.



Shrimpies all cooked!  :-)

Southwestern-Style Shrimp Taco Salad

There were lots of leftover shrimp, so I made this salad again the following day when hubby was home.  Instead of shrimp, I added leftover ham to his salad and he raved about it.  This would work with just about any kind of meat!  Or, obviously, you could leave it just veggies.  Yummy.

Southwestern Ham Salad

After that, we made the best pot pies ever.  I say that because I've typically never been a fan of the pot pie.  To be fair, I also haven't had a pot pie in at least 15 years.  I remember hating them when I was little... as I did with most things that contained any kind of chicken.  I'm working on my hatred of chicken.  It's getting a little better now that I'm cooking more...

Anyway, we made turkey pot pies.  Here are some pics:

Turkey Pancetta Pot Pies

You can probably see the progression there without my explanation!  Soooo good.  Either that means I've been sleeping on pot pies all these years or this recipe is just that good.  You be the judge.  Sorry for the tease, I really will link the recipes soon!  :-)

I shall leave you with a picture of the largest box of baking soda in all the land.  When I pulled it out of my pantry, Beth may have laughed for a good five minutes at the absurdity of this box.  Hehe.  This is what happens when you send your hubby to the store for baking soda.  (Love you, Jim! <3)