I love Ben for many reasons, but one of the things I love about my husband is he will do things with/for me that he hates.  On Thursday, Ben ASKED me if I wanted to decorate the Christmas tree.  I emphasize the word “asked” because if you know Ben at all you know that he is not a huge fan of the Christmas season (i.e. music, decorations, etc).  The fact that he brought up the tree showed me just how much he loves me.  It was a perfect evening encompassed with many things I love:

• Spending time with my family.
• Shrimp Scampi – Ben even cooked, it was as good if not better than Red Lobster.  We were only missing the garlic, cheese bread.  I will include the recipe at the end of this post.
• Decorating the Christmas tree while listening to Christmas music – Ben only made a few negative comments!
• Hot Chocolate and magazines – I am little behind on my magazine readings, so we made up some homemade cocoa for me (see this post for the recipe) and eggnog for Ben-JAM-in.
• A bath – When I was pregnant with Mikayla I took a bath almost every night.  I love baths!  I haven’t taken that many since she has been born, so this was very relaxing!

Here are a few pictures of us decorating the tree.

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Shrimp Scampi Recipe for Two (courtesy of Ben Kickert)

Preheat oven to 450

Peel and Devein 1/2 pound shrimp, wash and place in single layer in small corningware.

In small sauce pan combine 1/3 cup butter, 1/4 cup white wine/sherry (I did half and half), 1 tablespoon of lime or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, parsley, salt and pepper and/or ground grains of paradise, onion powder, oregano (listed in descending order of amount).

Heat mixture until butter is completely melted. Pour mixture over shrimp (cover so 95% of the shrimp is covered, but allow some edges to protrude).

Sprinkle Cajan Seasoning over shrimp and bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes or until shrimp is pinkish-white and opaque.

Place on top rack and broil for a few moments until mixture begins to boil.

Enjoy.

We serve with french bread, steamed broccoli and garlic/olive oil or parmesan pasta.  It makes a great meal!

Tags: Ben, Christmas, Mikayla, recipes

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 5th, 2009 at 10:41 am and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.