Stop... Mommy time!

My mom came to visit from Colorado for a few days. She bought me some groceries that I subsequently cooked.

Malaysian-style curry with seared shrimp

Recipe to follow

Ditto the salted banana pudding with candied pistachios
and molasses caramel

I ate an embarrassing amount of this.

We went to see Jersey Boys, where she thought she saw Kirk Douglas. Andy discovered that we're creepily similar, e.g. in our inability to finish more than two-thirds of a hot beverage and our stomachs' propensity for animated conversation. I discovered that I missed her more than I thought I did. And then when I came home on Monday she had left for her flight, with only some inexplicable shredded sticky notes to mark that she had ever been there.

The carnage!

Seriously, Mom, why torment the sticky notes like that?

Somewhat unrelated note: Helen Dewitt's out-of-print masterpiece The Last Samurai is so good that I sucked it up and bought a copy online. Fine, so it cost 1 cent, but the shipping was $3.99!

Curry with seared shrimp
1/2 pound shrimp (domestic, please, that imported stuff is no good for the environment)
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp paprika
chopped cilantro
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
3 to 4 inches lemongrass
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup canned light coconut milk (or coconut cream, if you're feeling indulgent)
1 cup diced tomatoes (canned or otherwise) with juice
Sriracha to taste
Coriander, turmeric, paprika, black pepper to taste
lime for garnish, more cilantro if you wish

Clean and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Toss with the paprika, turmeric, cayenne, cilantro, lime juice, and fish sauce. Let sit in the fridge while you prepare the rest.

Saute the onion and carrot in hot sesame or canola oil until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Add the lemongrass, tomatoes, soy sauce, and about 1/2 to 3/4 cup water. Cook until the mixture thickens and the tomatoes are breaking down. Add the liquid that is now at the bottom of the shrimp marinating bowl, along with the coconut milk and green bell pepper. Season to taste with coriander, black pepper, Sriracha, and more turmeric and paprika, keeping in mind that you're going to cook everything down a little more. Salt it gently; because of the soy sauce and fish sauce, you won't need much. Cook until the sauce is thickened and the bell pepper is just soft.

Meanwhile, heat a little bit of canola oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. When the oil is very hot, drop the shrimp in, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then flip and cook some more. Serve the curried vegetables and shrimp over rice with some more lime juice and cilantro.

Salted banana pudding
Who am I kidding, just look up that recipe in the NYT. I made a few changes (e.g. roasted the bananas, added some mastiha instead of the vanilla bean) and did a candied pistachio instead of the crumble, but the proportions were the same. Oh, and instead of normal butter, I used this random coconut oil faux-butter stuff that Andy bought on a whim.