Open For Business

Welcome back to the kitchen fellow readers! And let me just start by saying that I'm so, so, so happy to be back - I feel refreshed, revitalized, and anxious to begin this new chapter of my life. I'm quite sure that this blog will also start to take on a new life of its own as I start exploring and rediscovering all the things that I once loved about the Queen City. I'm hoping that there are still a few of you loyal Someone's In The Kitchen readers out there who are willing to stick around for just awhile longer while the dust continues to settle on my move.

I rolled into town early Monday and had a few hours to kill before my appointment with the staffing/recruiting agency that my lovely friend A. owns so I decided to have brunch in my old neighborhood. I'm not a stranger to dining out alone but it is one of those things that I don't think anyone particularly enjoys doing. I always try to keep a magazine in the car for such an occasion but I couldn't seem to dig one out of the heap of cra...er, stuff that I was hauling in the back of my car so as I went into the restaurant I picked up some literature to thumb through. You know what I'm talking about - the freebie, mindless publications that serve the purpose of giving you something to look through while trying not to look like the lonely table-for-one-please person that you really are. One of them, called Skirt, was actually worth reading and I brought it home with me to look at again later. It's published in various cities and is geared specifically toward women. I ran across a quote in one of the articles that pretty much sums up how I feel at this point in my life and I think I will adopt as my new mantra:

Nice, eh?

After a 2 hour round of interviews and testing with the recruiter, I finally get settled into the awesome condo that I'm renting from my friend C. It's fully furnished and move-in ready but only has very basic items in the kitchen. That wouldn't be a problem for most people but I'm finding it to be a bit of a challenge because I'm so used to having any and every kind of kitchen gadget, appliance and ingredient readily available. I'm having to go back to the basics and be creative with my menus. I'm trying to avoid, too, having to purchase alot of ingredients and pantry staples because very soon my personal effects will arrive from Arkansas and I don't want to have alot of duplicate stuff. So, I leave you today with a simple and delicious recipe that can be prepared using basic ingredients and basic kitchen tools. I served this over angel hair pasta with a side of sauteed green beans.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Shrimp Scampi

Serving Size : 4
Categories : Seafood

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 pounds large shrimp -- peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons butter
6 cloves garlic -- minced
3 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons parsley -- minced

In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat oil & butter. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds. Add white wine and raise heat to high. Add shrimp and saute for 3 minutes until shrimp turns pink. Add parsley. Serve immediately.