"What do you like to do?" "Eat!"

Yes, I'm pulling that title from "Julie & Julia." I have no idea if Julia Child ever said that, but it's fitting. I've always liked to eat, and as early as I can remember, I've always liked to cook. It's my therapy, my downtime. When I got married, I managed to find someone who shared my passion for food (although as a marathoner and a triathlon-er and a half-Iron Man-in-training, his food obsession shows much less noticeably than mine). Both of us have the luxury of an 8-to-5 job and no kids, so we may have more time for cooking than others, but we normally save our most "extravagant" meals for the weekends (extravagant meaning a Julia Child-inspired roast chicken, which requires literally standing by the stove to monitor it for 1.5 to 2 hours). Our Sundays usually consist of pulling out the myriad cookbooks stuffed in an ever shrinking cabinet space and planning out a week long menu while watching Food Network. I'm the classic recipe-follower, while my husband is normally in charge of the grilling and smoking of meats with some impromptu sauce he's concocted. We're not professional chefs, just a regular couple with a hobby of food.

A New Year (and a new MacBook and a persistent husband) has prompted me to start this blog: our recipes, suggestions, menus and pictures of what we love to do the most. No recipe is definitive, just a place to start. With that, I'll start with tonight's menu: shrimp tacos with honey-glazed citrus salad.



Shrimp Tacos
Sprinkle one pound of shrimp (not pre-cooked, the kind you can just pop into a shrimp cocktail, but the almost translucent, fresh shrimp) with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and fajita seasoning to taste. Drop into heated tablespoon of olive oil and cook until a bright, coral color. (Tip: never, ever overcook shrimp, because it can go from succulent to rubber in minutes, so monitor closely.) Serve with heated tortillas, diced tomatoes, lettuce, avocados, your choice of taco sauce (or an avocado-based dressing), and cheese. Tabasco sauce is ever-present on our table, so that's always a condiment staple in our house.



Honey-Glazed Citrus Salad
2 tbsp. each of honey, cider vinegar, and olive oil
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned
1/2 lb. grapes
2 c. shredded iceberg lettuce

Combine the honey, vinegar and oil and drizzle over remaining ingredients. Toss to coat. (Of course, you can substitute any citrus-based fruit you like). Optional: top with sliced almonds, walnuts, or chopped pistachios.



And that's supper. Normally we cook with leftovers in mind, but shrimp is not so great re-heated, so we figure one pound for the two of us. Granted, the menu isn't a normal southern winter menu, but having just returned from Charleston, SC, I was still craving seafood. And it's all much lighter than your usual heavy winter fare.

To top it off, I did choose a winter staple in my family: Hot Fruit Drink. This is usually too sweet for my husband, so it's normally all mine. You'll need a rather large, clean stock/soup pot for this one (one that has been thoroughly cleaned so no other taste infuses the drink). Or you can half the recipe--your choice.

64 oz. cranberry juice
46 oz. pineapple juice
1.5 c. brown sugar
1.5 c. water
3 sticks cinnamon
3 tsp. whole cloves

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Leftovers can usually last in the refrigerator for one to two weeks.



Look for much more--there is normally only one or two days out of the week when we don't cook something different. In the (very much real and immortal) words of Julia Child: bon appetit!