Lazy Day

So I slept late, had breakfast in my bath robe on the patio (coffee and some honey cake courtesy of Nuvia), then sunbathed some more. Didn't end up going anywhere as planned, but will definitely be hanging out with folks later this week. Can't wait! And here's what I made myself for dinner:

Shrimp and grits! I was kind of already started on it when I decided to look up a recipe on my iPhone food apps, but all the recipes were these overdone productions. It's just shrimp. With grits. I don't need some 5-star polenta with parmesan and 17 spices, etc. So I grilled the shrimp in a way that I like and just did the grits as usual, except added corn.

I added frozen corn to the water for the grits while it came to a boil (before adding the grits - yeah, I used instant). Then added the grits and cooked as usual. Added salt while it cooked, then butter afterward. I ended up with quite a lot, probably too much actually. But that's ok. It was probably over a cup of cooked grits; I didn't measure before cooking.

As for the shrimp, I cooked them on the stovetop grill pan. While the pan warmed up, I put a glass bowl of olive oil with chopped garlic and some lemon juice next to it. That way the oil would get some of the garlicky flavor. Peeled off the shells on the shrimp, leaving on the tails (they're deveined and cleaned, other than shell and tail). Sprinkled on a little salt and pepper, dipped the shrimp in the olive oil and put them on the hot grill pan. After a couple minutes, I used a spoon to pour a little olive oil on each shrimp (I don't have a brush, so I just spoon a really small amount). Wait another minute or so, then flip. Wait a minute or two, put a little oil on that side. Cook until done basically. Shrimp really don't take long at all, which is wonderful. I cooked 9 medium-ish shrimp. I dunno anything about shrimp sizes.

I added tomatoes for a different flavor and texture. That may or may not be orthodox; I can't remember (and again, unable to find a straightforward recipe, etc, blah blah). I did grate a slight bit of cheddar cheese on, but not too much. And that's about it. Well, then I ate it. With a giant glass of sweet tea.

Ok well, that's pretty much my day. No joke. I did a lot of nothing. Off to bed because there's work tomorrow...

Beginning

So to help fill some of my summer boredom, I'm taking my roommate's idea and starting a blog. It won't be solely about food, but since my life often revolves around food, there will be a lot of it. This will probably end up consisting of many of my random thoughts, as well. We'll see where it goes.

So for lunch, I did cook. I made myself a turkey veggie burger and some asparagus. The veggie burger was a frozen one that I got at the store; it's Quorn brand, one that I hadn't tried before. It was ok, probably not my favorite ever. But I grilled it on the grill pan on the stovetop, then covered it with avocado, tomato and spinach on pita bread, and it was a pretty good sandwich overall. As for the asparagus, I used this Ribboned Asparagus Salad with Lemon recipe as a starting point; I pretty much did my own thing with it though. I don't care for raw asparagus so much (though I admit, I did not try a raw asparagus ribbon, so that might be pretty good). I used a veggie peeler to get my ribbons, put a little lemon juice, pepper and a small sprinkling of salt (not too much because the cheese is salty) and then threw them on the grill pan quickly. Just to heat them through a bit, maybe for about a minute, as my turkey veggie burger was finishing up. Put them on a plate, added some more lemon juice, then used feta cheese instead. I was going to toast some sliced almonds and add those, but I forgot somehow. It was still ok. Next time, I'll probably stick with the parmesan cheese though and remember the almonds.

Then I enjoyed my meal on the back patio before doing some sunbathing. I'm enjoying all this sun while it's not too hot yet. It's fantastic laying out on the patio or in the back yard with a glass of cold sweet tea. Not like home where it's, oh, around 100 degrees per day with a heat index of 105 or higher. Way too hot.

I did miss the Bruins parade. I've never followed hockey; I'm more of a football girl. But Wednesday night, I got to enjoy the championship game at a pizzeria in the North End with some friends. We had a great time and enjoyed getting to watch the Bruins win the cup. As we left to get home, we saw hundreds of people pouring down the street celebrating in all their gold and black gear as they headed toward the Garden. It was a pretty cool scene actually. I didn't sleep well last night, so I slept late and was lazy all day instead of going out to deal with crowds. I'm sure the real, dedicated fans had a wonderful time though.

This is apparently going to be a long post. Again, the blog is kind of something to help fill my time during the summer. I am working, but currently not getting a ton of hours. I am hoping for more because I wouldn't mind the bigger paycheck and something to do, but we'll see. In the mean time, I'm also coming up with other ideas, crafts, hobbies, etc. In fact, one of my biggest goals is to organize my living space. I honestly don't know how I've lived like this for almost a year. Things are findable, but could be much more organized. Organization would make my life that much easier, so it's a big priority while I have the extra time. I'm hoping to use some materials I have laying around to a) save money and b) use materials that would otherwise sit around or be thrown away, and will probably post pictures as I go. If I do read anything (who knows?), I'll try to write about that as well. This blog could go many ways.

Thanks for reading.