Cure for a Bad Day

I had a Bad Day(tm) yesterday. Total, woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed, felt cranky, tired, frustrated, annoyed, everything. I wrote some snippy emails. I ranted on my blog (see below post, which is apparently being viewed in a much more positive light than I had any suspicion it would be). I got a little upset about a problem at work.

And I really wanted to go home and be in a bad mood. I wanted to fight with Sailor Boy, to force myself to read a wretched book, to eat yucky food and pout and mope and wallow in the mud of my Bad Day(tm).

This would have been a Bad Idea(tm). Luckily, around three o’clock, I had an intense craving for shrimp. Maybe it was reading this, a guest post of Marley’s on Pam’s food blog. I don’t eat salmon (though I promise I’ll try yours, M!), but I started craving shrimp.

So when I stepped off the Metro this evening, I turned left instead of right and headed to the grocery store fish market. I picked up a pound of gulf shrimp (which they totally overcharged me for, by the way, and I’m lucky I didn’t discover that fact until this morning, as it might have completely obliterated my cure) and a few Dungeness crab clusters, went home, poured myself a lovely dirty martini (which no, I don’t usually do, but today was a special circumstance), and started making dinner.

When Sailor Boy came home, it was almost ready. He knew about my Bad Day(tm) and hadn’t had such a hot one himself, and so was understandably surprised when I told him that I was having crab, shrimp, and crispy rosemary potatoes for dinner. In the past, he has hinted around at the fact that he loves me for my crispy rosemary potatoes (and I overcooked them last night, but I think he loved me anyway).

Anyway, I cooked up the potatoes, reheated the crabs, and proceeded to make the “Shrimp My Way” recipe from How To Cook Everything. It’s delish. Get about a pound and a half of shrimp, and cover the bottom of an over-safe skillet with oil, warm on low heat, toast a few cloves of garlic in the hot oil until they are golden brown, then add 1 tsp. of cumin, 1.5 tsp. of paprika and the shrimp. Toss until everything’s coated, then cook it under your broiler until browned and bubbly. I think next time I might add a dash of something to make it a bit more sweet — chili perhaps, or maybe a bit of honey. I like my spicy a little sweet, you know? But it was good.

Then we had Hagen Dazs Dulche de Leche for dessert, and watched Young Frankenstein. And I slept for nine hours.

I’m cured.