Roasted Shrimp, Rose Parade and Happy New Year!

My favorite day of the year is December 1st when we put up Christmas decorations...my second favorite day of the year is January 1st, when all the decorations are packed up and I get my house back in order again.  Time to say good-bye for another year to the snowman and Santa collections, family ornaments, jingle bells and too many bows and rolls of wrapping paper to count. I breathe a sigh of relief as I can sit spaciously and comfortably in our living room again wihout the multi-colored LED lights blinding my eyes.

Happy New Year from our home to yours.

New Year's Day holds a very special place in all of our family's hearts.  My husband grew up in Pasadena right down the street from the annual Rose Parade route.  His family would sell parking spots in their front yard to parade goers each year.

1st Class seat at the Rose Parade, circa 2008

There have been a few years that we were blessed to attend the parade in person and go behind the scenes for a private tour watching all the last minute preparations as each flower, seed and greenery is applied.

Behind the scenes watching last minute flowers.

One year my daughter for her 4th grade historical California project, researched the history of the Rose Parade and made a replica of one of the previous year's floats.

4th Grade California History Project - The Rose Parade

In the spirit of this year's Rose Parade, I condensed the girls' birthday centerpiece into separate floral arrangements for their bedrooms to enjoy everyday.

For our New Year's Eve family festivities, we had "nosh night", with appetizer platters...Baked Artichoke Dip, Mushroom and Five Cheese Flatbread and Ree Drummond's Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp.

Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp
Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman

2 pounds raw shrimp, deveined, shells on
2 sticks cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cups fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 whole lemon, juiced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Rinse frozen shrimp to separate, then arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.

In the bowl of a food processor, add cold butter, garlic, lemon juice, salt parsley and red pepper flakes.  Pulse until combined.  Sprinkle cold butter crumbles over the shrimp.

Bake until shrimp is opaque and butter is hot and bubbly.

Serve with hot crusty bread.  Peel and eat the shrimp, then dip the bread into the butter in the bottom of dish.

We toasted in the New Year with
 Shannon Ridge, Sauvignon Blanc