Is it Summer Yet?

A day at the beach with shrimp or lobster rolls, a bag of potato chips and a cheap wine cooler sounds like heaven about now. You might recall that I started daydreaming about summer back in January. I know that warm days are not in the immediate forecast. Hell, the Weather Channel warned me that another dusting of snow is on the way.

But there's something to be said for indulging in a little bit of fantasy -- so I headed to Costco this afternoon and bought a pound of precooked shrimp to mix up a batch of yummy shrimp salad. After all, winter is only a temporary affliction. Tomorrow I think I'll drag the grill out onto the patio. Stay tuned.

SHRIMP SALAD
1 pound large cooked shrimp, chilled, peeled and coarsly chopped
1 tablespoon capers
2 sweet gherkin pickles, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped ( dried just won't do)\
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon red cayenne pepper

In a medium bowl stir together mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice until smooth. Stir in capers, pickles, cayenne pepper and parsley. Fold shrimp pieces into the sauce and chill one hour before assembling into sandwiches using toasted thick sliced sourdough or challah bread. Makes four sandwiches. Tastes great with tomato soup for a fast and easy weeknight supper.