Yummy goodness from the Gulf

Greg's mom brought us a treat this morning - fresh shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico. I cooked it up right away, just a few minutes ago. Doesn't it look tasty? I love shrimp - boiled shrimp, shrimp scampi, shrimp salad, fried shrimp, butterflied shrimp, shrimp toast - I sound like Bubba from Forrest Gump, don't I? :o)
I never got to have shrimp when I was a kid, since it really was pretty expensive here in the middle of the U.S. On those rare occasions, it was heavily breaded and deep fried - most of the succulent flavor lost, but I liked the texture and the fact that it was a rare treat.
Then Greg and I made Red Lobster our "special place" for celebratory meals. We at there when we became engaged, when we found out Nick was on the way, and for various anniversaries. No more breaded shrimp - I discovered scampi and was hooked!
My dad loved shrimp, too. I didn't realize this until he was sick and bedridden. I was with him one afternoon when a TV commercial for Red Lobster came on, and he said he would love to go there for the "all you can eat" shrimp feast. Obviously that wasn't in our realm of possibility, but I had some Sam's Club shrimp at home in the freezer. A few days later, I brought some from home and made him scampi. His house smelled of garlic the entire evening, but he feasted and we were happy he ate a good meal.

This particular pile of goodness will be for salads. It was boiled in a mixture of water, a splash of white wine, one lemon, and some celery salt. I'll leave some whole , and the rest will be chopped and mixed with celery and mayo for sandwiches - and that's what I'm having for lunch!