First day of Spring Lemon Shrimp and Fresh Pea Bowtie Pasta with Mint Chiffonade

     

      ~ A childhood spent in southern California comes with many blessings… unfortunately an appreciation for the seasons is not necessarily one of them. Days and forecasts idle along and pleasantly blend together without any major meteorological drama. It took living in Baltimore to truly appreciate just how brilliantly green a new spring leaf can really be. 

     Late Winter is grey and gloomy…all the crisp and sparkly white snow has turned into dingy, grey slush, dull naked tree limbs are faintly visible against sullen skies…everyone is in post-holiday, worn out, vitamin D starved depression…blah, blah, blaher…and then there it is…that first teeny, tiny nub of green promise. 

       My default color authority, Crayola box of 120, calls it most appropriately “Screaming Green”, renamed from “Ultra Green” in 1990. About 5 days after those tenuous leaves appear, the entire landscape is gloriously, screaming green!  Salvation comes to our winter bleary eyes! The earth starts popping out a sexy palette of crocus, tulips and fruit blossoms in every luscious coral/pink shade imaginable.  The birds and bees start to mambo and then the rest of us join the line… reborn, hopeful and in love.

        What we hunger to eat follows the same song…after hearty, soul-full, warming stews, soups and roasts, our palette is starved for bright, fresh, tangy, and crunchy.  To me Spring’s plate is tart, lemony asparagus, dill dusted salmon,  sun-warmed morning strawberries, tender green onions and the only time of year peas are tolerable.

Lemon Shrimp and Fresh Pea Bowtie Pasta with Mint Chiffonade

~To “Chiffonade”… Stack leaves on top of each other, roll them tightly into a tube, then cut across the rolled leaves with a sharp knife, producing fine dainty ribbons…a ceramic knife will help keep the edged from browning.

1/2 cup shallots, minced

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups fresh peas

1 lb medium shrimp, shells off

2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1 pound bow-tie pasta

1/2 cup mint leaves

sea salt

black pepper

Gently sauté the shallots in butter, in a

saucepan over medium heat until softened.

Add the lemon juice and wine.

Boil until the liquid is reduced in half.

Add the cream, peas, shrimp, zest, and Parmesan to the pan.

Reduce heat and cook...stirring frequently... until shrimp just turns pink, 3-4 minutes….remove from heat.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente… drain well.

Toss pasta in a serving bowl with sauce.

Season with salt and pepper to taste…add the mint just before serving.

*I guess if you must…frozen peas would be acceptable.  Please, please don’t use canned…I am afraid in the middle of all the bright lemon yellow and minty green that baby poop color would just be too depressing.

From: "Love Fest: Everyday Celebrations and Exclamation Point Meals For Those You Love and Cherish," by Mango Dragonfly.

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Photograph by Malene Thyssen

Planned vs. Impromptu Picnicing

    

~Dining leisurely Al fresco has got to be one of life’s most pleasant experiences.  A concert on a sunny afternoon at the park…even better under the stars…lolling on a blanket enjoying a delicious meal is absolutely sublime.  Every spring, stores and magazines explode with creative and cheery bright picnic gadgets and ideas.  The layout can be as elaborate as you have the will to pack and manpower enough to load up and carry it in.  I have been to picnics where everyone was handed a sack lunch at the car and also on lavish expeditions to deeply hidden secret spots with all of us loaded down like pack mules trekking thru the Grand Canyon.   

    

    Some people are perfectly happy to stop at 7-11 along the way for a big gulp, slim jims and a bag of Doritos…they probably are not reading this blog.  For the rest of us, the trick is finding the delicate balance between spontaneity and providing for everyone’s...especially children's...needs in a remote setting.  If you are or want to be a impromptu picnic-er...take a moment to gather a few supplies and keep them in a festive tote.  Store the tote in the car and you are ready to ride the whimsy of the moment! 

Some things to have on hand are: 

• a spare large plastic bowl for hand washing, berry picking, sand castle building
• a small bowl a pet could drink from
• a plastic shower curtain for under the blanket in case of dew or recent sprinkler activity
• baby wipes…good for much more than baby's bottoms!
• an large sweatshirt or two
• heavy large trash bags...excellent instant tablecloths and raincoats!
• a serrated knife, wrapped in an extra towel
• small cutting board
• bubbles...will cheer up party poopers of all ages and give you soap if you need it.
• aspirin and allergy medication
• flashlight
• corkscrew/ bottle opener
• bug repellant
• waterproof matches 
• a snack bag of Doritos or Fritos...the chips make excellent fire starters!

     The first picnic menu I was responsible for included sliced apples, cheddar cheese and Ritz crackers…he brought a bottle of Boones Farm and read from a book of poetry by Keats.  The apples were brown, the cheese soggy and the crackers not much more than salty dust.  But on a warm, breezy spring day, stretched out in the grass under a massive oak tree, surrounded by wild poppies and lupines…it was pure perfection.

    

Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art
Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priest like task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors
No, yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft swell and fall,
Awake forever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever, or else swoon to death.

John Keats