Maine Shrimp Season!!!!

Well, I love shrimp. Pretty much any kind of shrimp - I'm not picky. My love affair with the little pink bugs began early - I remember being entranced by a lovely ice carving filled with shrimp cocktail at the Queen City Club in Cincinnati as a toddler. My grandfather was thrilled, and ordered me a large platter of shrimp. Thus began the endless odyssey. . . .

Around this time of year, our local Whole Paycheck carries Maine shrimp. The season is fleeting and I like it that way - it just builds anticipation all year long. The same goes for fiddleheads. Anyway, these shrimp are incredibly delicate tasting with very thin shells. Every year there is the quandary of how exactly to cook them - but there is NEVER a quandary as to how to eat them. In the Whole Paycheck I was also tempted by, and succumbed to, a huge bunch of fresh dill. So much for my "only in season" leanings!

Last night, I made some dill pesto, out of some of the aforementioned dill. I usually use it as a garnish for carrot and dill seed soup. It's really easy - 2 tablespoons each of olive oil and pignolias, and a cup of packed fresh dill, thrown in the mini-prep or food processor. Perhaps a little lemon zest would enhance it - I put a few drops of lemon juice in for fun. I set some water to boil and made a half package of lemon pepper papperdelle pasta (thank you Trader Joe's!), and quickly sauteed the little pink bugs with some butter and dill pesto and tried out my new Peugeot pepper mill. I was going to take a picture, but, um, I ate it. All of it. Okay, I shared with Jim, but suffice it to say I wasn't going to wait to take a picture!!!!

Today we're down below freezing again, so it's time for pot roast. But, the memories of Maine shrimp with dill pesto linger on in my taste buds for another year....