I know its hot outside, but you've got to eat right?

For fuck's sake is it hot!! Down here in the Lone Star we don't screw around with summer heat, we bring it! So last night's TV weatherman, after spending 5 1/2 minutes of his allotted 6 telling us about what the hell has already happened with regards to our weather, slips in we are in for some seriously hot humid concrete rain forest depression for the foreseeable future.

Its hard to get excited about cooking when its so damn hot, but you gotta eat, so you might as well get refreshed in the process. So if I may...

With a summer tan like that, less is certainly more. Her summer tube top was pink and cute, but it needed to go. In the parking lot of our intended restaurant lunch spot I simply couldn't help myself. I moved over to kiss her from my passenger seat; not the sort of kiss that can be misconstrued for meaning anything other than 'I need you naked and I need you fucking me right now!' We headed to the back seat, or rather 3rd row seat of her mom-mobile. How much groping can really be had as two lovers move from the front of a vehicle to the back....thankfully, a lot.

You are going to need to drink something to cut this heat, something appropriate. AGUA FRESCA. The Mexicans drink it as a refreshing fruit drink made of nothing more than real fruit and water. Pretty simple. We'll play with it and proudly serve it here at My Floridita. First, ice.

(warning...another parenthetical aside here) I should note fair patron that I'm a snob when it comes to certain ingredients. Most all pros will remind us that its their amazingly fresh and flavorful ingredients from their private farms and suppliers that are their secrets and us common folk will just have to make do with 'Sam's Choice' slop. I might agree with them, partially, and we'll spend time on that later, but for now, just know that I do the best I can, and to hell with those know-it-alls anyhow.

For now ice. Most drinks I make should use store bought ice as it just makes the drink taste cleaner and thus better. So I buy a bag and stick it in my deep freeze every now and again.

My favorite Agua Fresca is watermelon based, with little in the way of scientific evidence other than ogling plenty of hot Latinas, I would guess its also the most popular with the locals south of me as well. Buy one, seedless and cube it up, you are looking for about 10 cups of melon, make sure that you are cutting it up in a container that is also catching all the watery goodness released from your cuts! In a blender, blend 1/3 of the melon with about 1 cup of water. Pour into pitcher. Repeat with remaining melon adding 1 cup of water each time. Pour off all juices from container into pitcher. Add the juice of 3-4 limes and about 1/4 cup of sugar; stir. Adjust the water and sugar levels to your likening. You can leave well enough alone at this point or keep going. I came across a recipe that adds ginger juice and I like that so lets add it. At the grocery store buy a hunk of ginger root about as big as your palm. Wash it, peel it with vegetable peeler and then grate it with a Microplane (own a microplane...life is too short) into a bowl that's lined with a coffee filter. Squeeze the hell outta that coffee filter to extract juice, add 1-2 TBS to pitcher. Chill pitcher. When ready to drink, pour over ice with our without your favorite libation, mine is either silver tequila or vodka here.

Drink in hand, lets make some shrimp. Stop passing up the damn fish counter at your grocery store. Just this once, buy something, have the lady in the hairnet select it for you if you like. Seriously, you need more fish, and we'll be cooking it plenty here.

Shrimp is a no-brainer so pick up a 1 lb or so if its just you or you + 1, large ones, not the mega freak sized ones or the tiny ones, the large ones, shells on heads off are fine. We are going to make SHRIMP IN LIME GARLIC BUTTER. I made up this recipe while at a rented beach house a couple of weeks back. I'm sure its not entirely original, but I free-handed it and so will you.

Its the sounds she makes in response to my advances that I yearn to hear. Her soft moans, her sharp inhales, her purrs, each in their own way encouraging me. From her earlobe, my lips trace her jawline and find her lips wet and parted. Further to her neckline. Its here that I like to spend considerable time, struggling to be careful enough to not leave unexplainable marks. Her breasts are heavy and shapely and her nipples are always hard and I love when she inhales sharply as I attend to her nipple with my teeth. I can see that look in her eyes, she needs to cum. Lower still now her shaven sex is wet and glistening. When she cums she cusses like a sailor, calling my name as her hands keep my head firmly in its place. Soon we are both spent, covered in each others sweat and cum. Even though this was just a few days ago, I haven't the faintest idea what I ate for lunch once we finally made it inside that loud restaurant, but I won't ever forget that spoken look in my lover's eyes...fuck me baby.

We are going to cook garlic lime butter and shrimp separately. I like to do this a lot when I use shrimp. First get a little olive oil in a saute pan getting warm, but not too hot! Now lets get started on those shrimp. If the shrimp are something a little less than right off Lt. Dan's boat, then brine them. Brine can simply be a couple cups of cold water, a cup of Kosher salt, some peppercorns, toss in a bay leaf or two and some ice. Let sit for 20-30 min. in the fridge. While shrimp are brining, prep your garlic, looking for thin slices here, maybe 3-4 cloves, sliced really thin.
Once shrimp are brined, rinse them very well with fresh water, otherwise they'll be salty. If you want, now is the time to devein the shrimp, but leave the shells on, simply run a small sharp knife down back of shrimp slicing thru shell, and remove "vein". I live too close to cajun country and the bayou to worry much over deveining but seems like most people prefer it. So, with shrimp ready, spread them out on a cookie sheet and set that oven on broil (HI if it has more than one broil setting). Take some olive oil and pour it into your hand and rub the shrimp with a little olive oil, both sides. Stick cookie sheet into oven about 6" or so from broiler heat (leave oven door cracked open!!!) and give it 2-3 minutes, then flip 'em and give em 2-3 min more. When they are pink, pull 'em out and get them off that hot cookie sheet, a plate is fine. When they are cool enough to handle, peel them.

When you just put the shrimp in and have a few minutes to kill, nows the time to throw that garlic into the oil, saute it slowly, slower the better, when those thin slices are soft squeeze in the juice of a couple of limes and start to add butter. No quantities here, just feel it maybe 1/3-1/2 stick, its your dish, the butter and olive oil together will do nicely add more lime if you like. Throw in the shrimp and toss 'em around to get good and coated. You are gonna want some good garlic bread to sop up all that butter so have some at the ready!

Here's a hint. Serve to yourself or yourself + 1 in a metal pie plate. That's right a pie plate. When the shrimp are out of broiler, turn off oven and stick your pie plate into oven to warm it up. Now you've got a perfectly shaped vessel to hold the shrimp, all that limey garlicy butter goodness, and its pre-warmed. If you are going outside, no fear of it breaking, I know genius right! Refill your Agua Fresca, find some shade, enjoy.

Now that we've disposed of the formalities...

lets get on with it, shall we?

Floridita?

We still have some introductions yet to share. My Floridita...WTF?

Even though I've mostly gringo blood coursing through these veins, I've always had a certain proclivity for things Spanish. And not just Costa Rican ticas and Salma Hayek! And while we are on the subject of Salma Hayek, who amongst us has seen the movie trailer of the yet to be released movie of Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson making out? And you people say religion is dead in Hollywood, who but the gods could have teamed those two up? But I digress, a thousand apologies...

Where was I, oh yes, things Spanish. Not just Spanish, but Latin, Mexican, Central American, South American, Shakiracan! So since I was but a pequeno nino, I've always named things in Spanish tongue. It started with my first sailboat...El Dientieso. Its a literary reference to a kind of shark that gave an Old Man of a particular Sea quite a bit of trouble. Twenty years later, I haven't gotten even the slightest bit more clever.

Ernest Hemingway: I am, to say the least, a big admirer. We will talk in later posts about him, we'll cook and drink and whore and chase German subs in his honor plenty. But briefly, he is definetly my favorite author, but more than that, this adventure I seek that I've mentioned previously. No greater adventure would there be for me than to follow in this man's footsteps.

Ok time for a parentheitical aside (hey private college education here folks, so gimme some space.) When I refer to Hemingway's footsteps, let me make a quick note that, oh say around the time I finally turn 60-61, I'm getting the hell off his footpath, no "self-inflicted" gunshot for me! Unless of course, on my 61st birthday, my wife finds me in a cuban whorehouse surrouned by piles of cash, cocaine, and barely legal ass, then that 12-gauge over-under will do nicely.

Hemingway, a man's man, a ladies man, a writer, a fisherman, and adventurer, a sailor, lover, fighter, father, husband, ex-husband, on and on we could go.

While living in Cuba, just outside of Havana, its widely known Hemingway's favorite bar to drink his beloved Daquiris in, was called El Floridita.

So in a bit of honor to him, and as I clearly can't get anymore clever than my 12 year old self, I decree the name of this blog...My Floridita.

An introduction...of sorts

So I should at the very least, introduce myself. In here, feel free to refer to me as the Gringo.

I am a man-child, mostly man, maybe, born and raised in the South. Rest assured there will be plenty of posts later defining and waxing poetic about where it is that I come from.

I've turned 29 a few times, and have celebrated that anniversary enough to say that while our 20s are great, our 30s ain't so bad either. But that's it, I've no desire to go any further, so I'll be maintain 30-something status for quite some time.

So what is this blog gonna be about? That's a good question and the answer might prove to be slippery and tough to nail down quite succinctly. But I do have at least an initial compass heading.

Food, sex, and my quest for excitement and adventure...'these are a few of my favorite things' Ok that was creepy, b/c that blond lady singing to those kids is now firmly stuck in my head. Sorry about that. While you attempt to clear your head, I'll break my big 3 subjects down a bit.

FOOD: Ok, I love to cook, and of course eat, but really I love to cook. I love the techniques, I love the tools, I love the ingredients, I love the history, I love the effort, and of course I love the result. I cook because I enjoy the retreat into the kitchen, and into myself, and I cook as an expression of emotion towards others. So one of the things we'll be bantering about is cooking and food and recipes and the like.

SEX: Ok, freaks relax; keep your pants on! Well, dudes, feel free to keep your pants on, ladies...indulge thy selves! While sharing that I do indeed love sex may not shatter blog site hit counters, I will most certainly be discussing, sharing and perhaps having, sex here.

ADVENTURE: I need it; I seek it, I search the Internet for it, but alas, I mostly dream of it. But I'm determined...fucking all hell bent on...stealing it!!!

So give me a chance fair readers, give the blog and its musings some time to reveal themselves, and always, feel free to order another round of whatever lights you up, here in My Floridita!

with but two feet, i've a 50-50 chance here of getting off on the right one

I'll take those odds...Welcome to My Floridita