Incredible! Straight out of the Bayou, 8 pounds of large shrimp from a troller's nets on Sunday to me today...and "headless" too. Marie, thanks for staying up late last night to pop the heads. Must make a N'Orleans girl feel like she is home again!

Of course fresh shrimp do not come task free. After work, John and I sorted the shrimp, prepared several dozen for freezing and the rest for immediate eating! Around 9:00 pm, I called my dad to let him know I was driving over with 1.5 pounds of shrimp. To my surprise, he was standing at the window when I arrived, pot of hot water, shrimp boil and vinegar in hand. In went the shrimp for a quick 5 minute steam. We stood over the pot and watched the grey, translucent shrimp boil to a succulent pink. We could hardly contain our anticipation as we drained the pot. The cocktail sauce that Daddy had uncapped remained untouched, not needed on these sweet, tender shrimp! When I left (bag of Bing cherries in hand- an exchange for shrimp), Daddy was still shelling and eating. Not sure how many shrimp made it to his fridge for lunch tomorrow.

It is a happy June 1, 2005 for me!