August 9 – August 15, 2026

Monday:             Leftover Tapas:  Chicken Salad and Pork Sliders, Spaghetti and Meatball Sliders, Mozz w/ Tomatoes, Basil and Pineapple, Beans on Toast, Glazed Pork Sliders with Pineapple-Pimento-Jalapeño Salsa, Endive with Blue Cheese

Tuesday: Grilled Sausage with Peppers and Onions / Jalapeno and Fresno Poppers

Wednesday:     Zucchini-Basil Pasta with Almon-Parsley Gremolata

Thursday:          Mushroom Soup with Roasted Tomato Crostini

Friday:                Dunken Shrimp

Saturday:          DeFara Pizza with Pepperoni

Sunday:             Strip Steaks, Roasted Potatoes, Tomato and Burrata Salad

Memories of Barcelona

Many years ago, our son Andrew spent a semester in Barcelona.  His major academic achievement during this time was exploring the Shawarma shops of that city and layering a bit of Catalan over his pretty good Spanish.  We took the opportunity to visit him and I fell hard for Spain and its food.  SWMBO did not care for the food so much, but she didn’t mind the Tapas and Pinxos, nor did I and, what with the fairly constant excess of food that cooking for two produces, we usually have the makings of some good tapas every week.

And last week, the leftovers rose to Army Mess Hall proportions, and I decided that we needed to go full-Catalan to reduce the back-up in the pantry.  Leftover spaghetti and meatballs yielded meatballs on toothpicks with a nice marinara dipping sauce.  A chicken carcass gave us chicken salad nestled in lettuce wraps.  Leftover baked beans with chili and lime became a British favorite:  Beans on Toast.  Leftover pizza – well, leftover pizza is perfect without any further fiddling.  And there was a pungent blue cheese from Trader Joe’s which endive leaves alongside cherry tomatoes and basil, and some leftover mozzarella skewered to basil and tomato halves and to some leftover pineapple (try it before you say anything).  And, finally, leftover pork loin became sliders with pineapple-pimento-cucumber salsa.

There is, of course, no recipe for any of this – you simply make it up as you go along.  But you ought to lay in a supply of toothpicks and some endive, some good bread for toasting and always, always, tomatoes, basil, mozzarella or some other eligible cheese.  Peppers, onions and cucumbers are a big help as well.  And you ought to have mustard and mayonnaise.  Oh, and some parsley to pretty things up a bit.

I did not, it goes without saying, produce anything nearly as beautiful as the tapas on offer in the great city of Barcelona.  But then, neither did I offer anything nearly as pretentious or costly as those tapas bars.

As for Barcelona itself – it is a wonderful, walkable city with Gaudi houses and apartment buildings and Sagrada Familia and Parc Guelph.  And a train trip to nearby and gob-smacking Montserrat and its cathedral and hermit huts is highly recommended.

And, finally, I’ve thrown in a recipe for one of our favorite shrimp dishes because (1) I owe you a recipe, and (2) it involves Tequila which, I will admit, is not Spanish.  But Cortez and his bloody band of Spaniards colonized Mexico and gave the Mexicans their swagger and their language and, I’m pretty sure, drank a fair amount of whatever the equivalent of tequila was at the time.  And, if you are younger than I am and have never heard that wonderful party song “Tequila” by The Champs, connect to YouTube and listen to it now – it will raise your spirits (pun intended).

Drunken Shrimp with Tequila (Camarones Borrachos)

(Adapted from Milk Street Magazine)

Note:  Don’t skip the Tequila.  The alcohol cooks out and the delicious sauce/broth it forms is the primary reason to cook this dish.

Timing:  30 minutes plus the time it takes to thaw the shrimp and pat them dry

Ingredients:                                  4 large servings

2 pounds extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined but with tails left on

2 teaspoons lime juice, plus lime wedges to serve (2 limes)

½ cup tequila (you want a ‘blanco’ or clear tequila for this dish)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons salted butter cut into 3 pieces

6 medium garlic cloves, minced – we used ½ teaspoon garlic powder

2-3 teaspoons red pepper flakes

¼ cup packed cilantro, roughly chopped – we used parsley

½ cucumber peeled and thinly sliced – no need to peel, if using English cucumber

½ small red onion, thinly sliced – we used medium onion – we like onion

Prep:

Put the shrimp into a large bowl and stir together with lime juice and ½ teaspoon of salt and set aside

In a small bowl, combine the tequila and 1 cup of water

Cook:

Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium, then heat the oil and butter until the butter foams.  Now add the garlic or garlic powder and cook for 1 minute.

Add the tequila-water mixture, the red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper.  Over medium-high bring to a simmer, stirring from time to time, until the mixture is reduced and turns red – maybe 7 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp are pink and opaque – about 3 minutes – if you are deft with tongs, turn them over after 90 seconds, if not, just use a wooden spoon to flip and rearrange.

Off the heat, stir in the cilantro or parsley, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve:

Transfer shrimp to a serving bowl, or leave in pot and garnish with the cucumber and onion.  Serve with lime wedges.