A Swimming Saturday

I woke up at 7:30 AM on Saturday and immediately went out and started a pot of coffee. Then I stripped the bed and started a load of laundry. I grabbed a cup of coffee and went in to post to the Blog.

I'm not sure why, but I felt a little lazy today. So, I putzed around, making my grocery lists, washing pots and pans and loading the dishwasher. I finally realized how late it was getting and shaved and showered. I had a 10:30 AM haircut scheduled, you see.

From there, I went to the Feed Store to buy more bird seed and suet cakes. Then I went to Kroger's to do the bulk of my bi-weekly grocery shopping.

When I got home, I treated the cats (they now demand this) and unloaded the car. I put away all the food and threw away the plastic bags.

Then I got started on what I thought was my own invention! I used Ina Garten's recipe for Buffalo chicken wings: I put one stick of unsalted butter with a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, four teaspoons of Franks Red Hot Sauce and a teaspoon of Kosher salt. But, instead of adding chicken wings, I put in the two pounds of the cooked shrimp I bought yesterday.

I let that all get happy while I made the dipping sauce. I put 1 1/2 cups of crumbled Blue cheese, one cup of good mayonnaise (as Ina always stresses), 3/4 cup of sour cream, two tablespoons of whole milk and 3/4 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce in the food processor. I pulsed it until it was almost smooth (I like a few chunks). I put that in a four-cup container and cut up some celery sticks. Those went in a baggie.

When all that was done, I again tossed all the shrimp in the buffalo chicken wings sauce and pulled them out with my tongs. I set them on a rack that was on a paper towel-lined cookie sheet to drain. Meanwhile, I loaded up my cooler. I put in the blue cheese dip, some ice cream sandwiches I thought would make a good dessert and, finally, the Buffalo Shrimp.

Before I leave, I must tell you: I Goggled Buffalo Shrimp and found recipes for it. So, my "invention and creation" was just a joke! It could be that there are no new recipes to create. Anyway, I left home at 1:30 PM and headed to Jake and Carla's house. I am going swimming for the first time this year.

When I got there, I invited them to try the shrimp. They seemed to like it. My own impression was that the sauce didn't stick to the shrimp enough (of course with Buffalo Chicken Wings, you are basting the meat as it cooks and caramelizing it). Hmmm... Next time I'll try using raw shrimp and cooking it under the broiler or grilling it and adding the sauce. Still, it was pretty damn tasty!

Then we all changed into our bathing suits and got in the pool. I loved it and spent probably two or three hours swimming. They both got out way before me to fire up the grille and start dinner.

When I finally did get out and changed, I was a little nervous about the redness of my face and head (I hate being sunburned, if I haven't mentioned that before).

Jake had grilled hamburgers and red hots and Carla cut up the toppings.

So, I had a made-to-order cheese burger and a red hot in a bun. Along with that, I had some chips and a dollop of Carla's homemade Ranch dressing. Since I raved about the Ranch Dressing, while Jake cleared the table, Carla made another batch of it for me (I wish I'd paid more attention to the ingredients).

I put that in the cooler and headed for home around 6:30 PM. I was completely whipped from the swimming, BTW. When I got home, I put the ranch dressing in the fridge, my swimming suit and towel in the washer and made my bed from the now-dried bedding.

Then I took a nap.

I woke up at 9:00 PM. I watched a little TV and then decided to go to bed for real. BTW, my head (which has been exposed to the sun since spring) still looked red but did not hurt to the touch, but my shoulders (remember those T-shirts) did seem a bit burnt.