One Winter Night in the Poconos

During a business trip to New York, three cars were enroute to the Poconos Mountains, where we were to have our planning sessions. Five women, including myself, were in the first car. The other two cars were to follow, bringing with them our supposed dinner. We arrived at the house in the Poconos at 7 pm and we were told that they were on their way. An hour later, they were still nowhere in sight! We decided to wait a bit longer, but after a few more minutes passed, they still had not arrived. Eventually, we got a call from them, explaining how traffic was terrible and how, since they were famished, they had stopped to eat somewhere else.

"What????" we women of the first car chorused with smirks on our faces. This was unfair; we came all the way from the west coast and we were on the verge of passing out! Ok, that may be overstating our condition, but you know how it feels to be that hungry. And it definitely didn't help at all that it was already dark outside, with 7 inches of snow that had accumulated and we were unfamiliar with the place. But then, a colleague of mine had an epiphany, an a-ha moment as she blurted out "Ah, fret not! Malou is here. She could cook up something delicious in a jiffy... "

From my "corporate" outfit, I changed into more comfortable clothes and with a trusty white apron on proceeded to concoct my magic... True to the impromptu calling I had heeded, I started cooking with whatever I could find in the pantry!

So for the hungry ladies, I first prepared bruschetta, using what was available in the kitchen: red tomatoes, fresh basil, french bread. As soon as I served it with a bottle of Pinot Grigio, the entire tray was empty. "Wow. we have some hungry wolves right here" I mumbled.

In less than 30 minutes, I was able to come up with a garlic inspired dinner: Green Salad, Garlic Shrimp, Garlic-filled Mashed Potato and cream chowder, which came from a can, but was topped with lots of toasted garlic. "Wow this really hits the spot" my friend commented. "Glorious garlic!" said the other, as we discovered that all five of us loved garlic!

Garlic Mashed Potato (it got the oh-so-delish-rating!)
4 large potatoes
butter and Olive Oil
garlic
egg
cream cheese/sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
parsley
1. Microwave potato for 10 mintues with skin
2. In a saucepan, brown the garlic with butter and Olive Oil (i like the garlic light to golden brown)
3. Mashed the potato in the saucepan
4. Add the egg
$. Stir the cream of choice (available at that time was cream cheese)
6. Season with salt pepper and parsley

Creamy Garlic Shrimp
3 lbs Shrimp
6 cloves garlic-- glorious garlic!(minced)
cream cheese
parsley
salt and white pepper
1. In a large skillet, put the butter and garlic together (I usually put the garlic together with the butter and olive oil to avoid the burnt taste of butter).
2, Add the shrimp over medium heat, turning frequently until the shrimp just turn pink. This usually takes about 4 to 5 minutes.
3.Add the parsley, cream cheese. Add a dash of salt and white pepper and stir well. Remove the pan from the heat and serve it hot. You could have this with white rice or pasta.

and voila... it's done!
Enjoy!!!