Tiny Eggplants

Shopping at my local grocery store I found an intriguing jar of whole tiny eggplants the size of jumbo olives (you know the kind kids put on their fingers).  The eggplants are packed in a vinegar brine, but not too acidic.  Delicious out of the jar--but I had to take it a step further.  I threw them into the saute pan with olive oil and garlic.  Quickly searing and sauteing them.  Served with the season's first burgers off the grill (Niman Ranch beef that I ground myself so that we can eat them rare of course).

These little eggplant gems were the perfect counterpoint to the decadent burgers.  The eggplants are by a company called Kvuzat Yavne, apparently from Israel.

Very Quick, Handmade, Homemade Dinner

Promoting handmade (specifically my handmade) takes tremendous market research. The day quickly speeds past with reading Etsy forum posts, checking out blogs, deftly spying on my competitors in the "Bags and Purses"category, uploading to Flickr, converting dollars to euros for DaWanda....

After all that dedicated stalwart work to the handmade cause, 5:00 looms and there ain't gonna be no handmade dinner. Frozen mac-n-cheese last Friday--

SOOOOO in honor of my Catholic school upbringing, being today is a Fish Friday I am making this awesome recipe, that I forgot I knew. Super easy and good--and healthy--hope you try it! Also, only one dish gets dirty!

Grilless BBBq'd Shrimp

Take out a 9 x 13 baking dish (i.e. pyrex)

Drop into that dish 1-2 lbs shrimp (uncooked frozen that has been rinsed and at least partially defrosted):

Onto the shrimp drop:

1/3 cup olive oil

1-2 cloves chopped garlic (1/4 tsp granulated okay too)

dash of cayenne and paprika

juice of a lemon or lime

2 tbsp of soy or worstershire (sp?)

1 tbsp honey or brown sugar

Mix it all up very well (okay so a spoon gets dirty too.)

Pop it into the fridge until you are ready to cook (from early that same day to at least 1 hour before).

When its time to cook--preheat oven to 450, bake about 10 minutes--until the shrimp are a nice pink.

Serve over rice or crusty french bread.