Shopping, Quiet Day, Cell Phone, Shower, Bean Sprouts Recall, Exercise Class,

Today was the day our cleaner comes and then I dash down to the grocery store and she brings it upstairs for me. She is such a super help. I could do with more people like that around.

Apart from the job of putting groceries away, it has been a quiet day and tomorrow will be another. I somehow managed to find lots I need to do though. Boring stuff but it has to be done.

This bloody cell phone I now own is driving me batty. It keeps ringing, just a short ring, and I don't know what for. I keep checking messages and stuff but I cannot find what it is notifying me about, if anything. So, if you find a future blog ranting incomprehensibly you will know what happened.

Thought you might like to know that the W I painted on the tiles in the shower seems to be working OK I haven't been fool enough to get in the shower with my watch on again.

Damn, I was intending to buy some fresh beansprouts for a recipe but I see they are on the food recall warning list today due to possibility of salmonella. Come to think of it, I ate some yesterday at Mandarin.

I went down to the exercise class and for a Wednesday it was busy, i.e. 4 of us, very often not too many people in the middle of the week. Because I seem to have twisted both knees now, I wasn't sure

what I would manage, but actually did quite well. Basically only one exercise I had to go a tad easy on although my hip was giving me gyp in another. Ain't old age wonderful. If you are getting on you know what I'm talking about, if you are still relatively young, you have lots of lovely aches and pains to look forward to. Oh, a couple of the members in the class assured us they had seen Robins. The American Robin, which is a thrush, is considered to be a harbinger of spring. It does have a lovely song, I honestly don't remember whether English Robins sing or not. It is of course called a Robin because it has a red breast which inspires comedians to say things like they had seen a robin but it turned out to be a pigeon with a chafed breast!!  No David, I am not trying to compete LOL. Although you probably think I should have included the Latin names.

Another quiet day tomorrow. (Thursday) maybe I can persuade myself to do a bit of sewing (repair work). The only housewifely duty I have ever been any good at is cooking and sewing has always been the bottom of the heap. At boarding school we had repair mornings on Saturdays and I used to tear off a button from my pyjamas and sew it back on, show it to the teacher and mostly I got away with it.

This looked quite a nice salad recipe - only thing is, I'm not sure we can get hominy round here. I do enjoy salads though and often have them for lunch.

Shrimp Salad with Hominy, Arugula and Lime

With similar ingredients you'd find wrapped up in taco, this brightly colored shrimp salad is light but

very much satisfying. Enjoy with chips and beer on a hot day.

VINAIGRETTE
1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tbs orange juice
1/2 Tbs shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper

SALAD
1 Tbs of olive oil
3/4 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 29-ounce can hominy, rinsed and drained
3/4 lb cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 avocado, quartered and thinly sliced
3 oz crumbled cotija cheese
4 cups baby arugula, packed
Salt Lime wedges

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the citrus juices, shallots, garlic, cumin, cayenne, honey and salt together until combined. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil in a thin and steady stream until the dressing becomes emulsified. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper and set aside.

2. Pat dry and season peeled and deveined shrimp on both sides. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, heat for a minute or so, and drop in the shrimp. Cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side until shrimp are pink and slightly fried. Take off heat and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the hominy and sliced tomatoes to the mixing bowl and pour in half of the vinaigrette. Toss to coat and let sit for a few minutes.

3. Meanwhile finely chop the cilantro, thinly slice the avocado, and crumble half of the cotija cheese. Add the prepped ingredients to the shrimp and hominy mixture and fold in the arugula. Pour in the remaining vinaigrette and toss to coat. Season the salad generously with kosher salt and a squeeze of lime juice.

4. Transfer salad to a serving platter, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and serve.

Yield: 4 to 6

Author: SARAH BOLLA
Source: Food and Wine

Have a great day