Ina Garten Shrimpspiration!

We're sending off Sam today for her last two months at college before summer. And, she's been such a busy gal, we haven't had a chance to all sit down together for dinner. We managed to carve out some time last night and Sam also assisted with the dinner preparations.

Awww...Here's Sam w/ a

lovely parsley bouquet to 

celebrate the Springtime weather. 

Speaking of Sam, we were planning on making Ina Garten's Oven Roasted Shrimp last time she was in town for a break. She enthusiastically tore off the shrimp tails, so we "made do" with an off the cuff shrimp creation as an appetizer instead. I thought I would give it another try and with a little training, Sam experienced shrimp prep success. 

I was also inspired by Friday night's visit to Bela, our favorite restaurant in Northampton. Over the last couple of years, they have daily dinner specials of pasta or rice dishes with butter sauces. Their most popular creations are orange butter sauce, lemon caper butter sauce and miso butter sauce. Considering that I am having a bit of a caper obsession as of late, I opted to make a lemon caper butter sauce with pasta. This sauce was a cinch and is moving into heavy rotation. To make it a little more heart healthy, you could use half olive oil and half butter. Enjoy and let me know if you give this a try. 

Pasta with Lemon Caper Butter,

Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Oven Roasted Shrimp