The Roommate's Not Going to Die

After the roommate's Fourth of July weekend tubing accident, her arm is no better. In fact, it is getting worse. As in spreading up and down her arm and lumps are forming.

So yesterday with fear that the lumps could be blood clots, she attempted numerous times to find a doctor's office that was open. And after being given the run around for more than four hours, she saw a doctor who said it was not blood clots. But the bruise was only going to get worse, although I'm not really sure how. It looks worse than the day the tube beat her up.

In celebration of her not having blood clots, I made a fancy dinner. It's not everyday that you can celebrate someone overcoming a near death experience.

On the menu: Spicy shrimp with roasted brussel sprouts and garlic broccolini.

What you will need:
1 lbs. of peeled and deveined uncooked shrimp
Olive Oil
Garlic
Red Pepper Flakes
Brussel sprouts
1 package of broccolini
Sea Salt
Black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. This makes for easy clean-up later, which is something I'm all about.

Cut the ends off of the fresh brussel sprouts, and remove all the extra leaves. ***Note: If you bake the extra leaves, they will turn into burnt brussel chips. Trust me. I tried to take the easy way out.*** Slice the sprouts in half lenght-wise. Throw the halves on the baking sheet. Pour a generous amount of olive oil over the top, and sprinkle copious amounts of sea salt and black pepper. Mix around on the baking sheet, and make sure all the sprouts are lightly covered in oil and seasoning.

Bake for 15 minutes. Then flip them around on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 more minutes. Brussel sprouts should be lightly roasted and glorious.

While the brussels roast, prepare a pan for the broccolini. Put broccolini in a pan, cover with water, put a lid on it and bring it to a boil on the stove.

Begin heating a separate pan of olive oil for the shrimp.

Once the broccolini is boiling, turn the heat down and simmer for 6 to 7 minutes. Drain water, and transfer cooked broccolini to a plate. In that same pan, heat up some olive oil.

Mince up four to five fresh garlic cloves. (I used two mammoth-sized cloves, but most garlic cloves are much smaller. So just use your best judgment.) Throw garlic into the heated olive oil, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Return cooked broccolini to the pan. Simmer on low until everything else is ready.

Remember that pan of oil I told you to heat for the shrimp? Well it should be screaming hot by now. Add red pepper flakes into the hot oil and let cook for 1 minute. The flakes will infuse the oil with its spicy flavor. Turn the heat down a tad.

CAREFULLY add the shrimp into the pan. I say carefully because when I did this last night my shrimp exploded. Not literally, but you know what I mean. Cook shrimp until they are pink throughout. Take care not to overcook the shrimp because they will become tough.

Now plate it up.

It should look a little something like this. And every bite is so delicious. If you don't have access to fresh shrimp at your grocery store, I'm sure the frozen ones will work just fine. Just be sure to thaw them out, or you could have a big problem when you throw them in the oil.

For dessert, I bought an angle food cake and some fresh strawberries. I cut the strawberries up and put them in a bowl with a teaspoon of sugar to get some juices to come out. And then I got crazy and made my own whipped cream.

What you will need:
1 small carton of heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons of sugar

Put your mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer about 30 minutes before you want to make your whipped cream. Pour cream into the chilled bowl. Add the sugar, you can add more if you like. I like my whipped cream very lightly sweetened. Beat cream slowly at first. And then faster. Stop when you see soft peaks form.

It should look like this. Now you will have whipped cream left over. So this morning I did this.

Now tell me how good that looks? Morning coffee is so much happier when it's topped with homemade whipped cream. You guys have to try this. If not for the cake, do it for your coffee. You won't be sorry.

After my coffee delight, I made a froached egg sandwich. I say froached because that is what I did. I fried and poached it.

Put some butter in a pan. Crack the egg into the pan. Once the whites turn white, put 1 Tablespoon of water into the hot pan. Cover the pan and let the egg poach until it's cooked the way you like.

I put my froached egg on a whole wheat sandwich thin, and then I topped it with salt, pepper, cheddar cheese and mango salsa. Something is up with the salsa and egg combo. I'm starting to become an addict. My egg was slightly runny, just the way I like it. It was so good. I could have eaten 5 more.

The roommate and I will be running this evening when she gets off work. The heat has been out of control all summer the last few days, but I think a nice evening run will be really great. Hope you are having a nice, relaxing Sunday.

What did you have for breakfast?

How was your weekend?