Eat, Pray, Love & Peter Rabbit

 

“It is impossible to live pleasurably without living wisely, well, and justly, and impossible to live wisely, well, and justly without living pleasurably.” ~Epicurus

💕

Hello, I hope you are doing well. It’s late Thursday evening and I’ve just returned from out of town where Joe and I enjoyed a belated celebratory Valentine’s Day. I’m now scrambling to finish writing this week’s post so I can meet my publishing deadline.😉

 

 

 

wow…

what a week!

 

 

Let me try to explain…

 

 

I suppose it all  began when Joe and I went to the movies and saw Peter Rabbit.

 

 

A delightful movie experience on many levels. There were quite a few children in the theatre and I experienced a deep joy hearing their heartfilled laughter.

 

 

 The movie’s scenery was beautiful and now thinking about it I must one day visit Sydney Australia where it had been filmed. I left the theatre feeling so good.

however….

oddly…

I began thinking of Easter.

which just happens to fall on April Fools Day this year.

 

 

Ok, Let’s face it… this week was all about eating.

Case in point..this past Tuesday wasn’t just any Tuesday it was Fat Tuesday (if you’re Christian.) a.k.a. Mardi Gras (if you’re in Louisiana.) a.k.a. Paczki Day (if you’re Polish)

I’m not Polish…

 

 

However I do LOVE rich doughnut like pastries.

 

 

 following Fat Tuesday on Wednesday marked the beginning of the Lenten season. For me Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting.

 

 

This year Ash Wednesday fell on Valentine’s Day.

By now you must know that…

any day that celebrates love with hearts, flowers, & yummy chocolate

you can count me in!

 

 

All I can say is that I’m really grateful that I was born with the  event planner gene, since this week’s logistics of making sure I did what I was suppose to and not what I wasn’t took a bit of planning.

 

 

 

 

As you might have guessed (exhausting as it was) …I rolled up my sleeves, sorting and figuring things out as best “I” could

said a little prayer…took a leap of faith

and

jumped right in!🎉 (with joy)

Most likely I need to thank Peter Rabbit or perhaps the memory of the children’s laughter that afternoon as Mr. McGreger tried to outsmart his predicament.

👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳👩‍🍳

Joe said that his favorite part of this week’s recipe was that with the combination of cajon seasoning, plump shrimp flavors of vegetables it created a fabulous eating experience. (Pretty impressive Joe😉) Of  course my favorite thing about this recipe was that it’s the perfect nosh for any fun gathering!

 

 

Cajun Shrimp Dip

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 large bell pepper, seeded and diced small (I used green….should have used red)

2 ribs celery, diced small

6 green onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning

1 1/2 lbs. large shrimp, cooked and chopped

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Toasted baguette slices, for serving (Joe made his own from rolls we had)

 

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper and celery to the pan and saute until begins to soften, about 6 minutes. Stir in the green onion, garlic, and Cajun seasoning. Cook 1 minute more, just until fragrant. Stir in the shrimp, cream cheese, and Parmesan. Stir over low heat until the cream cheese is melted and everything is evenly mixed. Spoon the mixture into a baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is browned an bubbling.

 

 

Serve warm with toasted baguette slices.