What (NOT) To Eat When I Say Dinner is ready...{Shrimpy Garlic Shrimp}

I have a fantastic recipe for Garlic Butter Shrimp.
However, it had been a long time since I made it, and there was something I forgot when I recently made it for the first time in a few years....
So you don't want to do what I did, here are  tips for this  easy  shrimp recipe:

• Buy fresh shrimp
• Deveined shrimp...
• Buy BIG, FAT jumbo Shrimp
• I repeat, BIG, FAT shrimp

Easy, Fast Garlic-Buttery Shrimp
{serve with  a side of dirty rice, and asparagus}

Ingredients:
12 Oz. of fresh or frozen peeled, and deveined shrimp
2 Tablespoons of butter or margarine
3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons snipped parsley
1 Tablespoon dry sherry (this is what gives this recipe a rich taste-)

Thaw shrimp, if frozen. In a large skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for one to three minutes, until shrimp turns pink. Stir in parsley, and sherry.
Makes four servings.

{Now, here is [a really gross story!] what I did first, and you should not do:}

I was having my parents over for dinner on a school night. My husband was working late, so it was my night to cook. {That means pick an easy, fast recipe because as you cook, you are also helping with homework, and monitoring the three year old as he colors...}

I grabbed a bag of frozen shrimp thinking that would just be cheaper, and easier than fresh shrimp. They were all frozen in a big lump, so it was hard to tell the size-but I could tell they were a little tinier than I usually buy. (No matter, I thought: Shrimp is shrimp...)

That is not true, I found out...

When the shrimp cooked up, I saw it shrink, and shrink, and shrink.

They turned out to be smaller than the size of dimes.

As I plated it over the rice, I kept looking at it.

It smelled good. It tasted good, but somehow it was unappetizing to me. Hmmm.

Everyone else seemed to think the same thing, because we all pushed it around our plates for a while. The rice disappeared, and all the asparagus as well. The shrimp remained. No one complained.

I finally spoke up: " It isn't very good is it?"

"Oh, honey, it is!" My mom replied. "Ummm. I like it..." said my dad with his voice trailing off, and still with a bunch on his plate...

My husband (the real cook around here) even said, "It does taste really good..."

"But there is something wrong, isn't there?", I replied.

I couldn't figure it out. I didn't want to eat it either!

"Something is grossing me out, and I don't know what it is!",  I said.

Then the light bulb turned on in my head.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I figured it out.

And I said it out loud:

"It looks like grubs."

"Those things in the grass sometimes-"

"That's it, isn't it?!?!"

My husband, said: "I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but, yeah, I think that is it!"

We all pushed our plates away, no one willing to take one more bite.

(And I was fine with that-I was completely grossed out as well!)

So we filled in the chinks with brownies, and coffee. Brownies always taste great....and look good!

{Moral of the story: DO NOT BUY ITTY-BITTY SHRIMP! They taste just fine, but look SO terrible!}

My husband knew I was so irritated with how dinner turned out, he calmed my nerves by doing the dishes that night...and then the following week-picked up some nice, fresh, FAT jumbo shrimp...
And THEN it was perfect!

(...who is not a grub lover!)