Fort Meyer(s) Lemon

Ah, spring break time. The time of year we make the tough decision about where to go for that glorious week of sand and sun - Scarsdale (yes, the one in New York) or Madison (that's western New Jersey people - which, to be fair, is actually quite lovely). Though we do live here in the Ocean State, our sand experiences tend to come in a box these days (a sandbox that is) and normally end up sounding something like this: "Not in your mouth!" or, "Oh, sweetie we don't throw sand" (kindly stated to some random park kid throwing sand at or near one of our children). Ah, vacation.

So as the Facebook pictures and other news feeds come our way documenting our beloved friends' and family's excursions to places exotic or at least positioned below the Mason-Dixon line (not exactly sure where that is but I'll bet it's south of Warwick), we here in little Rhody have to do what we can to brighten up our stacation-y existence. I ran (ok, I walked quickly) into Whole Foods early this week to get a few things I had forgotten to get or couldn't find at Stop n Shop and low and behold, was confronted by the Meyer Lemon pile. I had to have one. That fruit has perfected yellow. It IS sunshine. If rain slickers really came in that color no one would ever mind a drizzly day. And since I was also aiming to buy some shrimp, it seemed like a good pairing. Why shrimp? Shrimp equals vacation. And vacation equalled - note the past tense - Florida. (Sigh. I miss you you long, delishusly hot, alligator and mediocre Italian restaurant-filled state brimming with cute slash tacky mom-can-we-PLEASE-go-in-there shell shops and opportune afternoons of poolside magazine-flipping.) I digress...

When I was a kid, we rarely ate seafood - which is surprising because back in the 70's I'm pretty sure the Great Lakes were pretty clean, and Toledo, that hot spot of a hometown I so often boast of - Go Mudhens! (see what I mean?) - is nestled in there right close to Lake Erie and not so far from Lake Michigan. Anyhoo - we really only ate seafood when on vacation. (Correction! My badly damaged long-term memory is kicking in here - we did eat fish sticks! With LOADS of tartar sauce! ) And yet I digress again...actual seafood meant one of two things - fried shrimp or shrimp cocktail. My sister (the older one) and I would see it on the menu and ask, a bit nervously I think (it wasn't cheap), "Can we get the shrimp?" Big party when we were given the go-ahead. Pair that with a Shirley Temple and we were over the moon. Sigh. Good times.

Aaaaand back to dinner. I had seen a gorgeous picture in BHG of a pasta dish with shrimp, dill, lemon and spinach - flavors I love. I mostly copied the recipe but because I didn't have "Italian Seasoning" (I put that in quotes because it somehow feels as though it should be in quotes - like it's a bit of a joke or something, as in, "get it, 'Italian. Seasoning?' Ha ha ha ha ha." I had some reasonably fresh (as in: the fuzzy parts could be picked off) oregano and some actually fresh basil and used those instead. I used the Meyer lemon instead of a regular one, and this gave the dish a less acidic taste, which was nice. I also didn't use regular old white fettucine. I almost always buy whole wheat pasta. In this dish, I think (no, I know) I'd have preferred the lighter and more buttery, less starchy quality of white pasta. I also added peas because my kids will eat them. The more green the better, right?

Score one for mom - everyone ate it. Not at the same time, mind you, but everyone ate it. Small victories. Baby steps. Take the win when you can. And as for Florida, well, we'll get back there one day. Sand in toes. Lump in throat. Tiny wrists adorned with fantastic, if a little tacky, pinkish shell creations.