Hi friends!
Have you ever been in a position where something really embarrassing is happening to you, but there is nothing that you can really do about it, because, who are we kidding, no one can just shower for hours and hours in the hopes that hair dye no longer dots the length of their hairline?
No?
Huh. Just me then.
Oh well, it’s all one.
But to get back to what I was saying – although I had (on the whole) an absolutely fabulous weekend, because I did have hair dye smattered all across my hairline, and because I didn’t have one bloody thing on the dye removal list given to me by the lovely Kacy, I spent the majority of my time outside wearing this on my head:
And while I really love my Forever XXI headband, on the one day that Vancouver finally cracked fifteen degrees centigrade, I was a little hot around the ears.
(Especially as M and I walked up the library to return our books, and to purchase our goodies for dinner.)
We thought the perfect dinner for such a sunny Saturday night would be spicy shrimp fajitas.
When I was first learning how to cook, as well as coming to understand that food was my friend, and not my sworn enemy, fajitas were one of the first things that I began to make on a regular basis.
What I’ve come to love so much about them is the myriad of colours and textures and flavours that all come to play, wrapped up tightly in those tasty, toasty tortillas.
You’ve got the crunch from the peppers, the spice from the seasoning, the sharpness of the cheese, the tang of the salsa, all dancing up a storm, to a perfectly timed beat.
And they are a fabulous meal to cap off a sun dripped, tuliped, early spring day.
Check it:
Like I always like to do, I laid out the goods before getting down to business.
And then I chopped it, chopped it.
Then I had sizzling sizzlers straight out of sizzledom. (Not to be confused of course with Jerry Sizzler, sister of Jerry Sizzler, the lounge singers and not two clearly insane people. See end video for more, and for proof that I am not the one clearly insane.)
Then we laid out a buffet of brilliance.
For an end result of:
What are your easy peasy meal choices that serve as the perfect topper to a smashing day?
And just remember, I’m not Roy Orbison. I work in colourization!
Rant and Roll 
I wish I knew how to cook shrimp. Its one of a very few water creatures I’ll eat (along with penguins and adorable baby harbour seals) and they’re so good when spicy. I suppose Ill have to teach myself one of these days. The Wife and I also tend towards easy Tex-Mex dishes when we (I mean I since I do most of the cooking) are feeling lazy. My favourite is probably dicing up some boneless thighs or chicken breasts and throwing them in the crockpot to make chicken tacos. We nearly always have salsa, tortillas (in both chip and shell form), sharp cheddar, onions and lettuce in the house so even when its not what we were originally planning for dinner we rarely have to pick anything up. And cider goes great with spicy foods; my favourite is either Original Sin or Samuel Smith’s; both are fantastic with a little more complexity and alcohol than the more common Strongbow or Woodchuck.
Shrimp can be tricky, because you have to make sure that you don’t over cook them. Overcooked shrimp are just awful.
And yes! These dishes are the best because as long as you have the basics, they are so easy to make! Hmmm, I’m going to check out those two types of cider the next time we’re down in the States. I like Duke’s and of course Strongbow. You dudes have so much more choice where you live! I suppose that’s the trade off though. :)
I don’t think I have ever heard of Duke’s. Is that local to your area? Original Sin is made in the Northeastern US if I recall correctly and thus may not have a wide distribution range. Sam Smith’s is an English brewery; they make a lot of really excellent beers (their Oatmeal Stout may be the best stout I have ever tasted) and just the one cider. Its organic, if you’re into that (I never care all that much either way), and really dry and crisp. In NJ, we are located perfectly for both local craft breweries and imported beer and cider (being snuggled between three of the biggest ports on the Atlantic) and having fairly low alcohol taxes. Its a drunk’s dream.
Yeah, I think it’s from the Okanagan (interior BC) so most likely only available in Canada (or even BC actually). I can take or leave Organic, I just always see it as a bonus!
“It’s a drunk’s dream” – is that on the license plates?
Mostly they just say Garden State or Protect our Shores (conservation not isolationism) or Pine Barrens (which are awesome forests that catch fire every year on purpose).
Versi, you crack me up. I hope you didn’t actually think I though your license plates would read something like that! I feel bad if you did :/
I have this major soft spot for NJ despite having never been. I think a lot of that has to do with Brodeur and the Devils, and that crazy kook Lou Lamoriello.
Well, we have a lot of custom license plates and I would totally request one that mentioned our craft breweries.
And now I know that you really are from Canada and haven’t just been faking the funk.
It’s insane the amount of hockey knowledge I have stockpiled away. The Canucks were my hockey life for so so many years. But after the gong show of last year’s playoff run, I had to take a much needed break this year. Unfortunately, I’ve been sucked right back in this post-season. It’s not good for my mental health!!
People are trying to suck me in to this post-season but I resist pro sports for the most part (hockey being one of the few I even find watchable). In my area of New Jersey, just outside of Philadelpha, most people are Flyers fans. Philly is a pretty annoying and ruthless sports city, so I tend to root for Chicago teams (my birthplace) when I root at all. And how’d we come
Urg, Philly. I can’t start writing too much about them or I’ll pop a blood vessel. Though I have a major soft spot for Daniel Briere. I love him. Our first round series last year against Chicago definitely took years off my life. However, Jonathan Toews is my (imaginary) hockey little bro. And Joel Quenneville is pretty cool.
We wouldn’t want that. You’d have an aneurysm and 3 or 4 million Philly fans would be trying to swarm Vancouver. You know way more about hockey than me so I will just defer on hockey talk to your expertise.
Yum! Excuse me while I run to the store to get the fixings for those!
Yay! Let me know how it turns out :) Thanks for the lovely note Mrsalexzan!
Looks yummy! And I like the headband! Eventually the dye will be gone. Hang in there and just keep smiling :-)
I will definitely keep the smile going! And thanks! I actually really like the headband, but I can’t help but laugh at myself anyways. The dye is 99.9% gone so I’m feeling pretty good :)
Of course you’re not… you’re Jean-Pierre, a respected French mime instructor! And I’m
CRUSHING YOUR HEAD! I’M CRUSHING YOUR HEAD! CRUSH CRUSH CRUSH!
LOVE. Haha, head crusher FTW always!
Ethel, babe, get some sea breeze and Vaseline before you dye your hair! Or a baseball hat. Nice lookin fajitas!
Btw I love KITH. Chicken lady rules.
OMG, chicken lady slays me. KITH are my comedy gods, hands down. I love them!
LOL =) you’re a funny kid Ethel
That’s the worst mall promotion I’ve ever seen!
lmao!
PS Manservant Hecubus is my personal favorite character. I would commit so much evil with that… I… mean… yay evil!
Lol. Too true! I’m on it. And thanks! They were delish.
That headband is super cute!! I could see how you worked up a sweat in it during our warm spell though.
And oh my gosh, the shrimp fajitas look fantastic! Love all of the color and you really had a spread of fixin’s to go with them. Yum…. Cider just tops it off with goodness. :) Did Mr. M get you roses???
I actually bought him roses :) Just a little reminder of how much he means to me!
I really love the headband too, but yes you are completely right. There is a time and a place!