use real butter

Recipe: drunken spicy shameless shrimp with brazen cocktail sauce

I like to think that I’m not a shallow person… and then a recipe like this comes along. I read the title and immediately knew I wanted to try it – just because of the name. Perhaps from now on we should indulge in creative recipe names? Beyond the name, after skimming over the recipe I realized it was a fast and simple dish that makes traditional shrimp cocktail look like a wallflower. This take on shrimp cocktail is like the *hussy* of the shrimp cocktail world – spiked heels, overly tight jeans, bad lipstick, and cleavage. I love it.

a kilo of lovely, raw shell-on shrimp

mixing up creole seasoning

The recipe comes from the Dinosaur Bar B Que cookbook, which I always seem to rediscover each summer. I can’t recall if I bought it for myself or if my friend, Carrie, gave it to me. Even if I bought it for myself, I wouldn’t have known about Dinosaur BBQ had it not been for Carrie’s love affair with the place. So thanks either way, sweetie.

BRAZEN sauce! she’s got a bite

the boil requires beer

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: vietnamese spring rolls

I know it seems that I was MIA here, and I was… but I wasn’t. I was completely in action all weekend which was why I had nary a minute to sit down and write anything coherent (although that assumes what I typically write is coherent…). But it was a lovely weekend and I’ll tell you why: my eye doctor had a last-minute cancellation and asked if I could come in last week instead of July 28, 2036. I have new Oasys contacts for dry eyes on and life has become a lot happier. A lot happier.

wildflowers fully underway in our yard

Just a few of the highlights with lots of pictures, okay? I finally got myself to the Boulder Farmer’s Market on Saturday. Seems trivial enough, but Saturday mornings for us are typically spent UP in the mountains, not DOWN on the flats.

fresh picked lettuce

itty bitty strawberries

boatloads of colorful radishes

The reason I wasn’t in the mountains was because I had a shindig at The Cup, which lovely Gwen organized for Denver/Boulder bloggers. Lady bloggers. Kickass lady bloggers. It was actually a pre-meet for Blogher 09 goers and a great opportunity to network in person with local women who move in different circles. Fascinating, but more importantly, fun. All of the photos from the pre-meet can be viewed here.

these two = definite trouble (manisha and dana)

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: tzatziki

I’m talking about calcium! Minds out of the gutter, please…

But before we get to the recipe, there is the business of the giveaway. Today is the last day to leave a comment on this post to enter the $100 giftcard giveaway. If you have not yet entered… what is wrong with you!?

Oh! I’d also like to share some images from Thursday morning with you. Continental Divide, snow storm, white out conditions, high winds, and early season alpine flowers – all in a typical June day in Colorado.

our destination – up and into the white

snowing the whole time

snowing across the valley

snowing harder

what a blast!

glacier lily

**Jump for more butter**