April 29, 2008
It wasn’t until I started working for Marx Foods and reading multiple food blogs that I realized that there are several obscure holidays – some are actually declared national days. Some really bizarre ones include:
- January 12: Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day (sounds delicious)
- June 23: Take Your Dog to Work Day (or work where you can take your dog every day, as I do)
- October 2: Name Your Car Day (glad I’m not the only one who does that)
I love any reason to celebrate or make a day a little extra special, so I’m really excited about this discovery. I’m a big fan of silly things like Taco Tuesday, because then I have a good excuse to have fish tacos and beer for dinner on Tuesday nights. But this new found knowledge will really help me add some variety to my food “holidays.”
To those of you out there who also have a soft spot for turning an ordinary Tuesday into an extraordinary furlough, please listen up. I have found the Mother of all unappreciated national food holidays. It is by far the most awesome holiday that I never heard of. It is…. National Shrimp Scampi Day!!!
I love, love, love shrimp, prawns, or spotties (as Justin calls them) and cook them all the time, but I’ve never actually made shrimp scampi, so I’ve got some cookin’ to do.
I’m going to browse through my cookbooks and online because now I obviously have to make shrimp scampi for dinner next Tuesday (or shrimp scampi tacos). I think in honor of the day, I’ll wear pink, and possibly bring to work the shrimp-shaped oven mitts that I received from my distant cousin, twice removed.
If anyone has favorite shrimp scampi recipes, please post them here.
Comments 4
As the main person that gets to benefit from Emily’s cooking, I have to say I’m thrilled to learn about this holiday because I absolutely love shrimp. Although, I am a little disappointed it took me 29 years to learn of this holiday. I am looking forward to dinner next Tuesday!
What are we celebrating this week?!
Author
Not sure if this is scampi, per se, but my favorite way to make spot prawns is as follows:
Marinate spotties in their shells in lots of minced garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Marinate for 1-24 hours.
Heat a saute pan on medium-high heat. You don’t need oil, because the spotties should be plenty covered with oil.
Once the pan is good and hot, add the prawns and cook until they are bright red.
Peel and eat. It’s that simple.
Not a big shrimp fan myself, but I got this recipe from a co-worker who thinks it may change my mind:
Shrimp Scampi
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp
1/3 cup unsalted butter
4 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
Rinse shrimp and set aside. Heat butter in large skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic 1 or 2 minutes or until softened but not browned. Add shrimp, green onions, wine and lemon juice; cook until shrimp are pink and firm, about 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Do not overcook. Add chopped parsley and salt and pepper before serving. Garnish with lemon slices and parsley sprigs if desired.
So when I heard last week that April 29th was National Shrimp Scampi day I was elated! I became more excited when I realized April 29th was also Tuesday and therefore my night to cook.
Last night I got home from work, tired and hungry (as usual) and asked “What’s for dinner” to which Brock replied with a big grin, “BBQ’d Shrimp Fajitas”.
Well, I guess we missed this awesome holiday by a day and celebrated in a slightly less “Scampi” kind of way, but the fajitas were great and I think it should still count.
I guess there wouldn’t be anything wrong with shrimp 2 nights in a row (Missy’s recipe looks good!), right?