We’re still all gaga over our circa 2022 new kitchen, the Glover Gardens Kitchen 2.0 as it’s known here in the blog.
I mean that. G-A-G-A gaga.
It’s really fun when someone who was a regular in the pink galley kitchen sees the new one for the first time and they go all gaga, too. My bonus niece Carmen was this weekend’s first-timer, and she warmed my heart when she said, after the requisite “check out all the bells and whistles” tour, “this is my dream”. 😊
Carmen was here for a long weekend with my sister-in-love and my niece, pictured together here from a birthday celebration back in April. Carmen was the birthday girl, wearing the tiara. They are all royalty, to me.
These women are family and besties, and we have bedrock relationships. The Grill-Meister was surrounded by femmes at Glover Gardens this weekend and didn’t seem to mind at all.
Back to Carmen and the kitchen. This Gen-Z college senior is a serious cook. She wowed us with a key lime pie last summer.
This time, Carmen arrived with desire to cook in the new kitchen and a menu in mind. “Do we have the meals all planned out, or can I make fettuccine alfredo one night,” she asked.
Hmmm, let us think about that. For about half a second…
Yes, yes, a-thousand-calories-and-worth-it yes! Let’s do it!
Carmen’s fettuccine alfredo was ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS, but it wasn’t the classic dish. She added mushrooms and loads and loads of lovely lemon: juice and zest from 3 large lemons.
It was basically a marriage of fettuccine alfredo and shrimp scampi: the cream, parmesan and fettuccine from the alfredo dish, and the lemony, garlic-laden scampi in olive oil all put together in a beautiful presentation that had the bonus of blue oyster mushrooms she found in our trek to the Tomball Farmers Market. Lone Star Mushrooms, your product was a hit with us! The mushrooms added a different texture and an umami density that truly complemented the rich and lemony cream sauce and shrimp.
It was an exquisite meal. And of course, conversation, conviviality, connections and witty banter accompanied the food and wine.
I was too busy being a sous chef (making the garlic bread and peeling, then baking the shrimp) to take pictures during the cooking process or capture the recipe, but it is DEFINITELY a keeper. I’ll pester Carmen to write it down next time, and then, my friends, it will be yours. And, it could easily be a vegetarian dish by simply leaving out the shrimp. Or, you could go the other way and add bacon. 😊
So Carmen, you can cook in my kitchen ANY time. I will happily be your sous chef.
© 2022, Glover Gardens
That’s the best kind of guest to have!
Oh, I see your blog has the anonymous problem. This is Anabel!