After 7 days without power I am amazed with small things. This is the longest I have ever been without power so if you have had this kind of experience, bear with me. We are so enjoying a warm room. Now, we had a couple of warm days and the house even got up to 54 degrees at one point. The nights are the worst. It gets dark around 6:00 p.m. and then what? We were going to bed around 8:30 and it was a chore to stay up until then. Life got really simple. It was just basically about staying warm.
The storm came in Monday night, January 26th. We had power part of the day on Tuesday then we were out. We heard a lot of cracking and then crashing of limbs. It was the only noise for a couple of days. Then we heard the hum of generators and the buzz of chain saws.
The upside of this is that we have gotten to know our neighbors better. We all pulled together and watched after each other. We stood in the street together talking and laughing. We had neighbors knocking on our door just to keep in touch and we did the same.
I often take my dog on walks and wave and talk to neighbors but not like I did this last week. When we ran into neighbors everybody wanted to know if you had power and how you were keeping warm and how you were able to eat. We shared stories and wishes for good luck. In that sense, I think it was worth it. I’ll say that now that it is over (except for the cleanup) but it was rough going. Around our house we are really hooked into technology. Getting our computers back on was kind of overwhelming after 7 days off.
Things I don’t really think about and didn’t know I’d miss:
- Forecasts and temperature on command
- Reading by lamplight
- Warm rooms
- Soft bed (we slept on the floor in front of the fire)
- Food from the fridge
- Light after dark
- Cell Service (ours was on and off)
- Washer and Dryer (I don’t like to do laundry but I really like clean clothes)
- Coffeepot with a timer (ready when you get out of bed)
- TV
- Microwave
- Oven
- Light in the bathroom when you get up in the middle of the night
- The garage door opening
- Dishwasher
- Garbage disposal
You get the idea. So . . . now, on with life. And that is what it is really all about, isn’t it? We deal with the difficulties and then we move on. There are still many without power that we should all keep in our prayers.
Today’s Lagniappe: Barbeque Shrimp
(from gumbopages.com)
- 2 pounds butter (Yes, you read right. Two pounds. Eight sticks. Don’t whine. This feeds 8 – 10 people! DO NOT use margarine! Real butter only.)
- 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning, to taste; OR
- 2 – 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper and 3 – 4 teaspoons black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary leaves
- 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 6 ounces good beer
- 5 – 10 cloves garlic, finely minced (or as much as you like)
- 1 medium onion, very finely minced
- 3 ribs celery, very finely minced
- 3 – 4 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 5 pounds shrimp, heads and shells on
Melt a stick of the butter in a skillet. Saute the garlic, onions, celery, parsley, rosemary and seasoning blend for about 2 – 3 minutes
Melt the rest of the butter. Add the beer (drink the rest of the bottle). Add the sauteed stuff, Worcestershire and lemon juice.
Drown the shrimp in the seasoned butter, using as many baking dishes as you need. Make sure the shrimp are more or less submerged. If they’re not … melt more butter and add to the sauce. (Aah, what the hell … what’s another stick or two when you’re already up to these butterfat levels?) Bake in a 350 degree oven until the shrimp turn pink, about 15 minutes.
Serve in big bowls. Put in a handful of shrimp and ladle lots of the spicy butter sauce over it. Roll up your sleeves and wear a bib (DO NOT wear nice clothes when eating this!) Serve with plenty of French bread to sop up da sauce!
Try to avoid going to have your cholesterol and triglycerides taken for a few weeks afterward. Remember that this is a special treat. Don’t eat this all the time if you want to live. But hey, every now and again … LIVE!
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